Intermezzo

So, we are definitely writing this journey as we live it (and this is Deborah writing)…..Right now we’re in between treatment routines. Lynn finished up with chemo and radiation October 8th, and has some time off before he begins his round of surgeries November 5^th.  What to do with this interlude?  It’s not just a chance to get back into gear with biking, hiking, and life as we knew it pre-cancer. Partly that’s because the effects of radiation and chemo actually play out during this time away from drips and zaps. Lynn alternates tired and energized,  ready to roll and ready to nap….

We’re scheduling a few excursions that allow for both variations – off to Oceanside to stay at a friend’s beach house, stocking up on good books, and continuing to enjoy visits and walks.

Great weather for walks in Portland right now – the colors are turning, and the flowers are still peeking out amongst piles of leaves.  Mount Hood is getting snow - time for me to make ski plans  maybe with Jono and Aden...and other NW family downhillers.

We’re taking advantage of all the fun stuff around our neighborhood – and we can attest that Halloween season on Hawthorne is a definite song-and-dance routine!

Lynn’s purchased his Halloween costume – at least part of it. He’s going as a surgical patient – the pre-zombie version! (No, I do not plan to don the nurse costume - just not my style :))

Lynn’s sister was in town this weekend, while Jono was off in China and I was attending a class based on the work of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Jon Kabat-Zinn created some very helpful exercises and “attitudes” to manage stress, pain and illness, so I thought I’d learn some of this.  His introductory book about his approach quotes from the movie of Zorba the Greek. 

Young companion: Zorba have you ever been married?

Zorba: Of course I have been married. Wife, house, kids, everything….the full catastrophe!

Says Kabat-Zinn, “Zorba’s response embodies a supreme appreciation for the richness of life and the inevitability of all its dilemmas, sorrows, tragedies and ironies. His way is to 'dance' in the gale of the full catastrophe, to celebrate life, to laugh with it and at himself, even in the face of personal failure and defeat. In doing is he is never weighed down for long, never ultimately defeated either by the world or by his own considerable folly.” 

The Kabat-Zinn materials reminded me of the value of staying focused on the present, despite the pull of the past and the future. It also made me go back to the origins of the word “catastrophe” – which turns out to have been used as early as the 1530’s to mean a” reversal of what is expected.” In the 1750’s the term started being associated with “sudden disaster”. 

Definitely lung cancer creates a reversal of what was expected – unfolding a rich life of good health, good friends, great explorations  - but  “the full catastrophe” is the reality of our existence, so why not dance?