Thursday, January 5, 2012

Time, Time, Time (Breast Cancer Recovery)


I've been a morning person for a long time, for my entire adult life, with the exception of the first many months after Josh died.

One of my frequent quandaries has been how to spend the best few hours of the day, those beginning at about 6:00 a.m.  If I have something major to accomplish, that's been the time for me to do it.  A lot of my writing and planning have taken place in those early hours, when my concentration and efficiency have been at their peak.  I can probably accomplish three or four times as much during the morning hours as I can during their evening counterpart, and so  I've often completed a sermon or a paper by 9:00, and only then gotten up for a shower and breakfast.

The dilemma has been that the early morning hours are also my favorite time to walk.  Gym or outdoors; it doesn't matter.  It would make more sense for me to walk late in the afternoon, to take a break and clear my head, but I've loved the sense of clarity and energy that those first hours bring.

Notice that I've been using the perfect present tense.  I have completed . . . I have loved . . .

There's been a change.

I know it's been only seven weeks, but that surgery has depleted me of my morning energy.  I am exhausted until 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 ~ a shadow of my previous self finally appears sometime late in the morning.  Those days on which I've been required to get up and get going much earlier have been a major challenge, as have my efforts to conceal my weariness from others. And, as a consequence of my late mornings, I am often up very late at night and into the next morning, which furthers the cycle.

I don't think it's entirely a matter of physical energy.  When I wake up these days, I am often discouraged before I am anything else.   Uncomfortable, knowing that the simple tasks of showering and dressing are going to demand a noticeable amount of energy, having to exert some imagination to dress ~ day after day after day.  It's hardly anything at all ~ nothing like having to endure chemo, or the loss of a child ~ but it takes its toll.

I dream of waking before sunrise, tossing on a t-shirt, and going for a long walk.  Still at least three months away.

In the meantime, as I write this, I realize that I need to begin to build a late afternoon walk into my schedule and start working up to my old three miles.  If physical pain or a snowstorm causes me to miss a day or two, so be it.  I know perfectly well that I need to expend some energy in order to develop some more of it.

I think that herein lies some advice I could have stood to hear before my surgery: To know that even as my physical healing continues, my life has been altered in ways that discourage and depress me, and that I need to plan ways of circumventing my inclination to lie down and wallow in self-pity.

12 comments:

  1. It does take time. I am just now beginning at two months out to feel like myself again. I have energy enough to go for a walk even though sometimes I poop out. LOL I have had some days that I felt like the energizer bunny...and then others when I went to bed at 10p. It really does take time and some mental flexibility to get through these days. Hang in there. You will get there. : )

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  2. I hear you, especially the last paragraph. I sent it to my husband who has been feeling much the same. "why did no one tell me it would be like this?"

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  3. Kay, I'm glad you're getting there. I read your post today and you sound optimistic and hopeful.

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  4. MB, I bet we all feel like this in reality. But the media places such emphasis on humor and energy, and people do, understandably, drift away, so how would anyone know? I just called to cancel my participation in a book club tonight; I'm guessing people are wondering, After seven weeks, how come still so much pain that she can't go out?

    Hope Ken is comfortable tonight. I think that at least one of us should be!

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  5. Robin, I sometimes wonder why I was led to your blog as we don't have similar experiences and when I read the comments, I realize that most of the people who visit your blog can relate very closely to the events in your life. Nevertheless, God has led me here and every day I realize that it isn't the exact experiences in life that are important, but how we respond. The attitude with which we meet life is important no matter what circumstances are brought to us. I thank God for your courage to keep on, knowing that life brings us seemingly insurmountable difficulties but God is there with us. Please treat yourself with the lovingkindness of our Lord. God bless.

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  6. But we do share one of the most important experience: God in all things!

    That's an interesting comment, though. I read a lot of people with whom I would seem at first glance to have little in common (which gets me into trouble sometimes!). Some of them have become some of my best online (and eventually RL) friends. I think one of the great things about OL friendship is that we meet people whom we would be unlikely to encounter in our daily lives and discover how much we really do share.

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  7. Robin, you are right, of course, that we share a strong relationship with the God of all creation. Also, at present, I am making the 19th Annotation and that is one of the best experiences of my entire life.

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  8. You might be interested in reading about The Spoon Theory (www.butyoudontlooksick.com). It helped me sort out how to spend my energy when it was limited. And it's a great theory to give to friends that helps them understand why we may not be up to doing everything.

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  9. That's a terrific article/explanation; thank you, Hope!

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  10. as one who digs early morning hours, and in this house that is quiet time by myself, I am hopeful that your early morning moments reemerge in your life. How is the examen going in these current moments of your life? Word on the street is that it can be transforming ;') Peace and Hope.

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  11. Stratoz, if I did my own post about the Examen, it would mostly be about failure.

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  12. admitting that failure was what rejuvenated me. Which is why one needs to be careful to admit to things, it can lead to change. Peace and Hope

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