December 15th, 2008: It amazes me that a week ago I had just been released from the hospital after my second chemo session. Although I watch myself carefully to not overextend, my energy in the past days has felt steady and reliable. Nausea has backed off, although I have an eye to its possible return.

Today, Dr. Jahan returned from his holiday and it was decided that I would have a third round of chemo in the first full week of January. After that, we’ll scan me from every possible direction to see how much the cancer has diminished. To me, this is great news because it means that I have some four weeks between chemo round two and round three. I am so glad to have the extra week for my body to stabilize and re-energize. Also, I’m very hopeful about the results of the scans; it feels like the main, pelvic tumor has shrunk dramatically. I base this feeling being much less encumbered by having to “walk around” the tumor.

My trip to my healing center last night involved a long rest on the marble slab where I await and receive my healing visitors. I am happy to announce that this rock, which is soft and yielding to lie on, also has on-request heating, a real virtue when the weather turns cold. And it’s been cold. My healers this time were two Polynesians of monumental stature. I’d say the woman was easily 350 lbs and the man maybe 425 to 450 lbs. Their weight isn't about obesity; it’s fully functional flesh. These healers are from a community that specializes in clearing out fear and confusion from people around the world. They do this work on the dream level, so if someone is undergoing a lot of stress and physical challenge, they can dream travel to the Polynesians’ home base where a group of these healers work on the person, then send them back home and into their bodies with a sense of relief and renewal. It was a special gift that they traveled to my healing center and stood over me. There was no touching. After rubbing their hands together and standing on either side of my marble bench, they faced their palms toward each other and created a force field just like a magnetic field. The sensations of being inside that force field were very cleansing. I was awed by their commitment to helping others and the level of their skills. Eventually, the slowly lowered their hands, smiled and left the garden.