I woke up in a hotel bed in Vegas this morning. Work, not play as I am here on behalf of Pfizer to speak on a panel. However, any morning I can sleep in feels a lot like vacation.
The highs and the lows. I rode to the airport yesterday via Uber and I actually wasn’t quite sure I’d make it. My driver was a recent immigrant and possibly yet unfamiliar with the rules of the road. At least, that’s what I said to myself as he cut across four lanes to take an exit after veering off course for the second time. Fortunately the flight was uneventful and I was picked up by a shiny black SUV at the airport.
Poser. I didn’t actually drink/eat all of that 😉
This is the third time I’ve travelled in the past month as a friend donated miles to get me to Louisville for the first annual ALKpositive summit. It was meaningful to meet many of my fellow mutants and their families and I had a blast. I flew from there to St. Louis—via Chicago, even though it would have been a two hour drive. Not my dime or my itinerary, but in the end, certainly my pleasure as I got to spend several days with members of my Fresh Chapter tribe in meetings at Eli Lilly (an important sponsor of A Fresh Chapter).
Hugging my man Scott after our interview.
We crammed a whole lot of connecting into a little less than three days but it felt as if we were just getting started. And as glad as we were to be together, each of us felt the absence of the other members of our tribe. By the time we reprised our group hug at the end, I was feeling mighty emotional. In the best of all possible ways. You just can’t go through an intense experience like volunteering in Peru without developing some extraordinary bonds.
All of this diversion has been a good thing as I’m having a moment.
Three months ago I took myself off of Prozac, the antidepressant I started taking not long after my diagnosis with lung cancer. Prozac is highly effective for me and I tolerate it well, although it is not without side effects, including reduced libido. On three occasions I have taken myself off of it and each time shit has hit the emotional fan. My experience this time was no different, as I was slammed with the double whammy of losing my insurance and a bad breakup.
My insurance was restored but my confidence, not so much. Although there is no question I am better off without the relationship, I am feeling wary–sort of a persistent, creeping anxiety. I am certain that shall soon pass and in the meantime I am healing my heart in the best way I know how; loving on my friends, my children, and my little white dog.
Oh yeah, and Prozac. As much as I like the idea of being off an antidepressant, I am better on. And better is definitely the look I’m going for 😉
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life and breath: outliving lung cancer 