Update for September 17

Happy Birthday, Bonnie - my ever-positive, fun loving sister-in-law! (Although the picture to the left is my featured friend, Olleke.)

This week has been more predictable for me with the chemo and then the nausea setting in in later week. I'm learning my drugs and how to manage so a good week! Thanks to everyone who has suggested books. Ironically, I tossed "Water for Elephants" into my Target basket only to get home to an email from Tom Rhode suggesting the book!

Last blog I gave a list of my healing team so I thought I'd start at the top with a little more info - my Wellness Coach and Wellness Plan:

Wellness Plan and Coach, Pam Gardiner - Getting into this whole life challenge, I soon realized the many aspects of healing - mind, body and soul. How to keep track of it all? I focus on one thing, but other challenges would arise. Thus, I enlisted my coach, Pam Gardiner, to help integrate and bring together all my efforts. Plus, we would identify several themes for each month - like re-introducing a practice of physical activity or researching treatment options. It's been so nice to have a great coach like Pam to listen to my ramblings of activities, concerns and focuses and bring it into cohesion. We follow through on progress and adjust each month. Pam has Wellbuddies Coaching and more information can be found on her website: http://www.wellbuddies.com/ and she writes a weekly blog that I find insightful and humorous - check it out!

My wellness vision is: I celebrate life today and declare the quality of my journey a success because: 1) I enjoy health and well-being supported by a diverse array of practices that address the four dimensions of wellness: spiritual, physical, emotional and mental; 2) I have a strong inner sense of living life to its fullness, being in the moment rather than focusing on the future or any particular end point; 3) I am authentic, able to receive what life offers and to learn from my response; 4) I am enjoying the release of ego that defines who I am by what I have done; 5) I have moved past a tendency toward black-and-white, life-or-death thinking and make a habit of dwelling on the living side of the continuum; 6) I have regular communication with the people who are important to me; that communication fosters connection while maintaining the energy I need to heal; 7) I am able to look directly at, and adapt fluidly to changing conditions - including discomforts and fears - while maintaining emotional stability.

Featured Friend - Olleke Rappe-Daniels - What a friend to make the commitment - "I'll go anywhere, any time to help you with your treatment"! Olleke and I have been friends since the 1980's where we were Forest Service colleagues. While I didn't work directly with Olleke on many projects, we belonged to a women's network that shared our Forest Service and personal life challenges and successes. One of Olleke's successes that we're all real proud is her position of Deputy Forest Supervisor on the Tongass National Forest (17 million acres) in Alaska! She retired as of a year and a half and returned to Missoula where she and Orville enjoy Missoula and their outdoor explorations - volunteering on the sage grouse lek monitoring, hunting, and enjoying what Montana and Idaho have to offer. Now I get to enjoy Olleke's retirement ventures: making the "best cup of coffee", remodeling her kitchen, and exploring the physical fitness side of life. Thanks Olleke!