A Whole New World - Walt Disney's Aladdin, Alan Irwin Menken; Timothy Miles Bindon Rice
Now that I'm 12 weeks into chemo treatment I have discovered that I've settled into a new routine in my mornings; a new routine and a new normal. It's funny how quickly we can develop new habits. My physiotherapist once said that it takes 2 weeks to change a habit. Well, it seems that every 2 weeks I adopt a new habit to add to my new routine so I guess I've been continually adopting for the past 12 weeks.
The old morning routine was to first check my hair in the mirror to determine whether a hair wash was a necessity. If so, take a long, hot shower, moisturize, brush teeth, search the closet for something decent to wear to work and also walk through whatever weather I will face on the walk to work, run a comb through my hair, make a quick breakfast and go to work, returning 9 - 10 hours later.
My new routine now runs like this: Wash my face, moisturize with extra sun block on face, neck ears, and scalp, brush teeth, pencil in eyebrows, dress in walking clothes, tie a fancy head scarf or throw on a toque depending on the temperature outside, make a fresh smoothie, catch up with the kids before they head off to work or school, head out for a walk with friends/dog or off to one of the doctors appointments/medical tests, then returning to nap in the afternoon.
More recently, I've recognized that whether I had a shower or not used to be driven by the state of my hair or whether I had just played soccer or run. Now that I am bald and lacking hair on the rest of my body, my shower triggers have changed as well as the length of showers. Think of it. Most of the shower routine, at least for women, is spent on cleaning or removing hair. Without it...showers time is drastically shortened. Every now and then I find that I have to remind myself to have one.
Another 'new' was buying 'running shoes'. I had outrun my old pair and by their age could identify their whereabouts in the house based on their odor. So time for a new pair. Normally I would get something for long distance running whether I ran the miles or not it made me feel like I did if I wore the shoes. This time, I came to the realization that I wasn't going to be running for the next few months at minimum so I was now looking for walking or hiking shoes. I am no longer a 'runner'. Well at least temporarily.
Having a weekly schedule is also quite difficult because just when I feel like I'm getting into a routine, I've finished my three week cycle and I'm due for a new treatment which then throws me back to the start of the last cycle only a bit more tired each time. It's like starting over again every three weeks. It reminds me of the movie Ground Hog Day. Waking up every three weeks to start the whole thing again. Then put your little hand in mine, there ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb. Babe, I got you Babe. I Got You Babe - Sony & Cher
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