Thank you, goodbye. 

    I don’t have to say that now. I don’t have to wonder if I’m going to have to say that with any finality anytime soon. At least not because of cancer. 

    I beat cancer. I made it through the treatments and the surgeries and the fear. I’m a little more than a year removed from my last radiation treatment (seven weeks, five times a week) and chemo infusion (three cisplatin therapies with numerous hydration infusions). A few more weeks and I will be a year removed from the surgery to biopsy what remained of the structures that those two treatments didn’t totally obliterate. That surgery left me temporarily looking like Frankenstein but it was also the surgery that allowed me to hear my docs say to me that I had won and the cancer had been beaten. And I could start to breathe again and begin to gather strength again and begin to think again of the next week, the next month, the next year.

   So, where did it go to, my health? What happened? Yes, my cells mutated and then formed an unholy alliance against me, their host. But the cancer was beaten, and now I am continuing my life in a seemingly normal way although the experience is still fresh in my head and still carries latent scariness. Why should anyone care? No reason really except we all have a degree of empathy for those visited by tragedy, whether it be natural or man made. We all live with a little fear of the unknown and we all watch as others are visited with some type of travesty or evil or bad roll of the dice, depending on the circumstances we sympathize with their plight. But it’s different when it happens on a personal level. It somehow begs for an explanation. It needs a reason, if not just to explain to yourself, why.

   In order that I may be able to refer to this at some point and ask that it offer some personal insight, and perhaps remind me how I am still here, I am providing a meandering chronicle of my cancer as I lived it. And let me start this by saying, hello, welcome. If someone else is reading this I am grateful and extremely humbled to have you share this portion of my life. 

2018 Travel Chronicals

So, the start of 2018 was marked by a feeling of the unknown. So Im going to jump to Thursday, March 22 which found me trying to fathom my ENT specialist telling me I am cancer free. That's what happened that day. Thats all I have to say about that so I will back up to the start of our 2018 travels.

In late February we set out for a trip to Greenville, SC, to visit Evan, Lily and grandson Archer. Because of their schedules it was impossible for them to come to Maryland during my treatment and this was the first chance to see them since the previous Thanksgiving. It was also mid-February before I felt strong enough to visit George and Alexandra and our granddaughters, Madeline and Maren, in McLean, VA. George would often visit during treatment but it wasn’t possible for the girls to come over during that time. I can’t express the pleasure of being able to see them after months of being isolated at home. 

Then in early March, with a push from my Doc to go, enjoy myself and drink a lot, we flew to Puerto Rico and drove across the island to Rincon, where we gathered with a group of close friends at David and Maureen’s beach house. The island was still recovering from the hurricane and we were glad to visit and see people we knew on the island as well as enjoy a week with friends (10 in all) who traveled to the island for the gathering. 

We were home for several weeks and able to visit George and family before Deb and we returned to Rincon, PR, for two weeks of rest in April and stayed at the House on the Top of the Hill, one of David and Maureen’s other properties. We enjoy the small town of Rincon and know many people from our visits over the last 10+ years. The House on Top of the Hill is a great place to stay and has the added bonus of being on their farm where they spend most of their time in the Valley House.

We watched a little bit of spring unfold at home and were able to see George and family before setting out toward the end of April for Greenville, SC, for a couple days and then continuing on to Charleston, SC, with Evan, Lily and Archer for a weekend get-away. Evan and Lily and Archer had to head home for work but we stayed into the first week of May on the Isle of Palms, SC, with Deb’s Mom and sister, Patty, who drove in.

We were home for two weeks and visited our granddaughters before going back to Greenville, SC, in mid-May to stay with Evan and family. We ventured into the south-western part of the state for a day trip and then another day trip to Asheville for lunch at the Sierra Nevada brewery. 

Then we were home for ten days before spending a week in June at my brother and sister-in-laws condo in Ocean City, MD, with two friends of ours.

Back at home we were able to see George and family a few times before the middle of June when Deb flew to Cincinnati and then, with her Mom and sisters, to Biloxi, MS, where they laughed and gambled during their mother/daughter get-away.

July found us back in Greenville, SC. Greenviile is a nice town and we enjoy the added bonus of the city and its restaurants and riverfront when we visit Evan.

In August we drove to Charleston, SC, for a weekend and then across the state to Greenville, SC, for a family gathering. Lily had a few days off and George, Alexandra and their girls flew into Greenville and we were together as a family for several days.

Then in September, Lily had to work nights for the entire month and Deb and I drove to Greenville, SC, to help out before flying to Orlando in the middle of the month and having a Disney experience with George, Alexandra and the girls. Then we flew back to Greenville, SC, to offer a little more support until the end of the month.

We managed to stay home for October before driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway in early November and staying in Roanoke, VA, for a night before continuing on to Greenville, SC, for a short stay. While we were in Greenville we went to a concert to see Judy Collins and Stephen Stills at the Peace Center. We then drove to Isle of Palms, SC, for a fall week at the beach with two of our friends. Then back across the state to Greenville, SC, for Thanksgiving week with Evan and Lily and Archer.

Christmas found us a home with Evan, Lily, Archer and their dog, Vandy for 4 days. We spent time together as a family as George, Alexandra, Madeline, Maren and their dog, Oscar came over for a big dinner that included my brother Ric, sister-in-law Kathy, and their youngest son, Ryan. George and family came back on Christmas day and we celebrated the holiday and the family.

January 7, First snow...

It's a cold 16 degrees this morning. Yesterday brought the first snow of the winter. What was supposed to be a dusting turned into 4-5 inches and the roads were a mess. I had to put the chains on the tractor and clear the driveway. Luckily I put the blade on when Evan was home after Christmas. I don't think my knees would have allowed me to get the blade into the garage without Evan's help. We're heading to PR tomorrow for two weeks. We hadn't planned to go until late February but decided to get out of the cold. We plan to spend 5 days in the big house with David and Maureen then move to Jack's house for the remainder of the time. Looking forward to being warm.

January 1, 2015

January 1- We ended 2014 sharing a bad cold, at least that was the best diagnosis the RightTime clinic could give Deb. She definitely got the worst of it but resting has helped.