Opal Divine*

Admittedly, I am WAY behind on posting updates.  I'm very glad Shermance added a post so you can hear directly from her.  For this post, I want to show some of the "bling" that makes Shermance very happy for her chemo treament and beyond.

The necklace pictured here was made by her good church friend, who is a charasmatic worshiper.  She sings with joy in her heart and lets the spirit move her.  Not only did she make this beautiful necklace, she also introduced Shermance to some friends, one of whom is a 13 year BC survivor and a personal trainer, who now let's cancer patients work out in her studio for free to keep them active - a key ingredient to winning the fight.  Another friend is a Zumba instructor, which is a aerobic dance that ironically Shermance and I had been talking about earlier that same Sunday.  It felt GREAT to be in church that day - so many hugs, and words of support.  Even the pastor talked to Shermance and offered to pay her a visit.

The earrings are fresh water pearls Shermance received as a birthday gift from her parents together with her Aunt to match a necklace/bracelet set we bought in New Orleans.  She prefers the dangly earrings to accessorize her head and the sparkles complement the sparkles on her bandana. 

The other necklace, with blues and greens in the stone and a sapphire above it, is an Australian fire opal from some famous "ridge".  Some say it has healing properties.  Honestly, it has amazing depth and color shifts.  While that's a good enough reason for her to have one, she was even more intrigued because the receptionist at the oncologist's office has a beautiful opal necklace.  Shermance comments on it each time.  When Shermance recieved this one as a birthday gift, she was very happy to show it off.  She wore it for her 3rd chemo, and several days aftwerards.  Unfortunately the healing properties weren't able to completely prevent nausea, tiredness or the irritability which unfortunately gets worse after each chemo. 

Our next Chemo is July 20th - please keep Shermance in your prayers.  If you can reach out to her ahead of Friday, please do.  All phone calls, emails, IMs, cards, or any other means of communiation are uplifting.  She needs the strength to face the devil again - the red devil, the patients' term for the Adriomiacyn chemo.  It's the naty one that must be very carefully adminstered through a syringe and is the cause of the hair loss.  We only face the devil one more time before we switch to another medicine in August.

She will fight this each day with all her strength.  She will win!

* Note: Opal Divine is also the name of a locally owned restaurant/bar.  The wife of the owner is actually a breast cancer survivor.