7/13, Monday 

A bit stressful getting to Cancun. I had a lot to coordinate between forms, tests, test results, money and getting my stuff ready. It was a new adventure flying to Mexico, especially during Covid. The airports were empty, but the plane was full. Lines snaked around, seemingly very long with social distancing in Cancún’s International Airport.  I walked a rather lonely walk through many checkpoints. And then comes the timeshare walk. An entire section of the route dedicated to people selling vacation packages and timeshares; an assault to the senses after the quiet of customs; colors, noise, crowding, OH MY! To reduce the target on my back, I followed closely behind a family whose little girl was lagging behind. I tried to look like her mama bear. And then all of a sudden we were outside and I took a deep breath of highly damp air, a humidity much heavier than Houston’s. 

I found the man holding a Hope 4 Cancer placard. He led me to my ride. After a pleasant conversation and a cold bottle of water, I made it to the hotel. I wanted to go explore outside, but some piece of me kept me in the room. It was like I had enough adventure for one day and I need to unwind. 

We all met in Dr. V’s suite before dinner to get acquainted. Once we had all gathered, we told our stories: Carol, Francis, Susan1, Tina, me (Susan2), Dr. V, Ginger and Tara. The hotel staff prepared a special menu for us. We all thoroughly enjoyed the great food and getting to know one another! There ARE people like me!

7/14, Tuesday 

Francis keeps up with her exercise. Yay, an exercise buddy. I have to say, I might not exercise without a partner. 

I met Francis for a walk on the beach. Walking in the sand really works your legs and massages the feet. I showered and got ready to go to the clinic where we would have breakfast. After being shown to a conference room, Tara gave us our schedule for our therapies. IV Vitamin C showed up first on my list, then a coffee enema in the afternoon. Our breakfast was any or all of an 8 oz smoothie, an 8 oz glass of juice, a cup of steel cut oatmeal made with coconut milk and garnished with some fruit, and a hard-boiled egg with broccoli sprouts. 

After the Vitamin C IV, I got a tension headache.  We had a lovely lunch sitting in the therapy room looking out at the ocean. I did my coffee enema after lunch. The enema room had a medical table, chair, sink, toilet and all of the coffee enema supplies waiting for me. The dim lighting helped with relaxation. I had no problem holding for 15 minutes.  I released 3 or 4 times after. And then I felt nauseous.  My hands started to shake. My body felt as if it was vibrating. I laid down again. It took me some time to come out of the room.  Apparently the color had drained from my face causing me to look pale. I sat in the therapy room with everyone else for a few minutes before running back to the common bathroom to release again. I felt sick. A nurse was waiting at the door when I came out. She walked me back to the treatment room, sat me down and took my blood pressure. It wasn’t too bad: 120/85. Dr. V did some CST and acupressure.  One of the doctors showed up to stand over me. Dr. V gave me some essential oil to rub on my belly. My system calmed a bit more. Blood pressure dropped to 110/70. After about 30 minutes my color finally returned. I felt wiped out the rest of the day. Obviously Vitamin C and coffee is too much stimulation in one day for me. Tara changed my schedule to ensure this didn’t happen again.

We returned for the evening and I stayed quiet. We had salmon for dinner. I felt so full, went for an early night walk with Tina, Carol, and Susan1.

I had a hard time sleeping because I had a lot of muscle twitching.

7/15, Wednesday

I awoke Wednesday morning with the sunlight filtering into my room. I maybe got 6 hours of sleep; I did not feel refreshed. I hoped a walk on the beach would perk me up. I met Francis at 6 a.m., we walked, talked, did a little Orange theory workout (hey, I really liked it) and took a dip in the cool, refreshing water. I had to eat by 7 a.m. due to the timing of my ultrasound, so I went to the hotel’s open air restaurant for breakfast. I ate alone with the brown crow (probably grackle) that kept coming to visit. With no one else in the restaurant and the view of the water, the energy was peaceful, while the food was just okay. 

Then back to the room to shower and get ready for Clinic. Dr. V gave a presentation in the morning. It was based on her book, the Heal Breast Cancer Naturally: 7 Essential Steps to Beating Breast Cancer. After the presentation, the tech called me in for a full-body ultrasound, which took almost no time. In the afternoon it was my turn in the hyperbaric oxygen chamber. I have never experienced this. It is a long tube that is filled with pressurized oxygen. It took a bit of time for me to settle into it as I had several feelings flying around in my brain. I finally relaxed and slept. I did feel refreshed when the tech woke me. I could have stayed another hour and been happy, except I would have missed the massage. And I never want to miss a massage.

The talented hotel staff served portobello mushrooms with zucchini pasta for dinner. Yum. I slept hard until 1:30 a.m., getting back to sleep by doing meditation.

7/16, Thursday

This morning I chose to stay in bed and enjoy relaxing because I can, a guilty pleasure. At the clinic, eating the fantastic breakfast, we listened to the second half of Dr. V’s presentation based on her book. 

Dr. Tony, the head doctor at Hope 4 Cancer, gave a presentation also. One of the things he mentioned really caught my attention: Lymph node involvement is protection. Wow. Chills. My dad protected and attacked; my ex-husband attacked; my ex-boyfriend attacked and protected. I have always had a feeling of not being protected with the men in my life. I felt that I have had to be tough to protect myself. And during my divorce, when the cancer presumably developed, I was under attack. So my body, via the lymph nodes, is protecting me. Wow. Tears.

Once we got to the clinic I talked to Dr. V about my low Vitamin D. She and Tara arranged for me to have a Vitamin D shot. Today I got to experience the hyperbaric oxygen chamber and a massage. By the end of the day, after my massage, I felt like I was starting to relax and unwind. Susan1 even noticed I was laughing and happier.

7/17, Friday

I woke at 2:30 a.m., but thankfully I easily went back to sleep. When I was awake for good, I went for a walk on the beach. My feet feel so good; the sand has exfoliated them and the barefoot walk has massaged them. At the clinic today I had an enema. Then I sat with Dr. V while she gave some good input.  Together we  created a plan of therapies and supplements to do at home. 

We had some extra time this afternoon, so Francis and I decided we wanted to go to the market. We exchanged some dollars for pesos and away we went to Market 28, getting back to the hotel in time to get ready for dinner. 

We ate dinner at Rosa Negro. The food was fantastic. Dr. V ordered champagne and we toasted to our journeys. The sunset was breathtaking. We each hugged Dr. V goodbye. She said she was proud of me, that I had done very well on my own, I would be fine and would help a lot of people. 

7/18, Saturday

Today I said goodbye to my new friends. I took a short walk on the beach at 7 a.m. And then met with Frances and Susan1 for breakfast at 8. I sat quietly on the beach until I met with Tina, Carol and Frances for an early lunch before Carol and Tina took the shuttle to the airport. Then more beach time, a nap, beach and dinner with Jo at 6. Tomorrow the car arrives at 6:30 a.m. This adventure is almost at a close. It has been a good one.

7/19, Sunday

Woke at 5:25 a.m., five minutes before my alarm. When I went potty I realized that I had started my period. Oy! Since I showered last night, I was ready to go in 30 minutes.

The best part of the trip was meeting the women in similar situations to my own.

The worst part was seeing the women who were “stuck” by some pattern of behavior, thinking or feeling. Like one woman who imagined scenarios in her head to change her environment, but always ended with a negative outcome. And she said she suffered from depression.  I would feel hopeless also if every scenario I imagined had a negative outcome! Another lady didn’t say it, but you could tell she felt stuck in her marriage and subsequently in her life. These women don’t feel empowered to make the decisions to support themselves. Someone else is always in charge and won’t let them get what they want. So, they imagine divorce, and financial troubles, as the only option. The other interesting thing is that they EXPECT men to intuitively know what they need. I tried to explain that men don’t know, as they are wired differently.  They must be told. These women have a failure to communicate and the men, a failure to listen. Tragic really, because in most cases I think the men want to help. They just don’t know how.

There is space to help others improve here. A book or seminar for men on supporting women through breast cancer?