Today has been quite the day. I started my radiation and hormone therapy today. I know most of you are probably tired of hearing me whine, but I feel like my body has been through hell and back. And in a way I guess it has been. I feel like I could  sit down and cry. I guess I am just overwhelmed with things I need to do and by trying to get back to work.

To be honest, this still feels like a dream . . . like it is happening to someone else and I am just watching. I still find myself thinking that all of this just cannot be real. You know – this stuff happens to other people, not to me. But deep down I know it is real; more real than pretty much anything else I have gone through.

I am really battling with fatigue right now. I went to work for four hours yesterday and this morning I felt like I had been run over by a train. My legs feel like the day after running a long race. They do not seem to have any strength, and they feel shaky most of the time. I guess I thought the effects of chemo would just magically disappear once the treatments were completed, despite being warned by my cousin Nancy Pat that after the chemo was over it would take a while for my body to recover.

Lorene went with me to my radiation oncology appointment today. The appointment lasted for about 30 minutes. Since it was my first treatment, I again had to be measured and now I have even more blue lines and crosses on my breast. The technicians were great and now the daily appointments should only be about 10 minutes. I also started taking tamoxifen (hormone treatment) today. So I have officially started the next phase of this journey.

Last week, I had an appointment with the social worker at Northeast Georgia Cancer Care. She was very helpful and informative. She told me other cancer survivors have said it takes six months to a year to get back to pre-chemo energy levels and strength. So I know I should not be so hard on myself; I need to give myself some time to get back my mojo.

Okay, Athens girls: If any of you can help me this weekend that would be great. My house and my yard are about to overtake me. I wish I had the energy to get it all together over here but I don’t, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

I love all of you. Thanks for your support and for reading.