We have spent the past several days traveling west. Through the mountains of Maryland and West Virginia, over the hills of Ohio and into the plains of Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. It has been a lovely ride. We have passed hundreds of miles of chest high corn and lots of soybean fields. The silver silos sparkle in the bright sunlight. Barns are nestled in dells and hollers.
We stopped last evening in Starved Rock State Park in Ottawa, Illinois. It is reputed to be the crown jewel of the Illinois State Park system. Starved Rock is starved for attention. It needs some love. We took the Jeep for a ride along the river.
We wanted to walk along the river at the lock but we found that no one was wearing a mask. We took a picture and then headed back to the campground.
I did have a nice evening walk.
Tonight, we are staying at Dubay Lakeshore Campground. The temperatures here in Wisconsin are much cooler and the air dryer…what a welcome relief. It was perfectly pleasant to sit outside and read and watch the water.
Getting a cancer diagnosis is life changing. Having cancer during a pandemic is complicated. Undergoing cancer treatments without the support of friends and family is unthinkable. Because this is true, we all decided that I would stay with Mom while she underwent her treatment for Diffuse B Cell Lymphoma. I arrived on April 8th and on the ninth she had the surgical procedure to place her port. Two weeks later her chemo treatments began and then she endured 15 rounds of radiation. No one should ever have to do cancer alone. Because of the visitor restrictions, she never had anyone sit with her while she was being treated. When she had her port placed, when she had to go to the ER…I left her at the door and waited outside. At the very least, she had someone to go home with. No one can truly prepare you for the reality of the harshness of these treatments. It is a hard thing to watch someone go through…but my mother is a tough lady. She is the very best patient and followed all of the “rules”. She had an indomitable spirit and a strong unshakable faith. She NEVER complains…and if she makes a small suggestion that something isn’t right…it really isn’t! Early reports are all good. The tumor and the nodes in her neck are no longer palpable. Her last PET scan showed that the nodes no longer light up…this is all terrific news. Her next scan is in October, then we will know if the chemo and radiation truly eradicated all the nasty stuff.
One of the hardest things I ever had to do…but we used a pretty cape and we put on pretty music and dimmed the lights…and I cut…and hair is NOT my forte!
Last day of radiation…its a terrible picture but its all I’ve got…
There were lots of good days and we stayed entertained by exercising and walking.
Lots of projects were accomplished as well. Windows and curtains were washed, filing cabinets sorted and copious amounts of shredding, untangling the sewing box, washing patio furniture…but then some fun stuff like puzzles, painting, cooking, planting flowers, cleaning up the laptop, starting a new iPhone and a new Kindle, Spanish lessons, and embroidering….and so much more! Apparently, I have trouble sitting still!
An hour of Duolingo every day to keep up with my Spanish!
The very best blueberry buckle!
Dill Pickle pizza…we will try almost anything!!
1000 piece puzzle and at the end we are missing a piece…
And 2 months later…the missing piece!!
A failed attempt…I did not enjoy crocheting like I thought I would.
This is just a tiny portion of the shredding…now Mom has most things online and green!
Remembering always to be grateful and to look for beauty in the world around us.
Before her diagnosis, Mom had asked for a garden plot again this year and though I have had very little vegetable growing experience, I agreed to take care of it. It was therapeutic to be outside hacking and hoeing the soil and then to see things growing and producing…it was very rewarding.
We read a lot and watched bunches of movies. We celebrated Easter, Memorial Day, Mother’s Day, my birthday, my anniversary, and July 4th together. Even though it was a tough time and there were some hard days, we had lots of wonderful quality time together and lots of laughter and remembering and fun!
During this time my mom lost her wonderful friend, Malcolm. He had been a part of our family for many years and it was hard to see him go.
Mom and I had a terrific army of angels. My son, Kyle and Allison and my sister, Debbie kept us well supplied with groceries and other stuff. Tim and Kyle shaved their heads in a wonderful gift of moral solidarity. David and Andrea were immeasurably kind and supportive. We relied on them for information and advice and phone calls and FaceTime. My mother is fortunate to live in a caring community and hardly a day passed without someone among her legion of friends sending a card or making a phone call or gifting hand soap or bringing the newspaper or delivering toilet paper.
Two things can be true at the same time. While it was true that I loved being with my mom and taking care of her, it was also true that I missed Tim like crazy! On Monday July 20th, it was time to go home. We were hopeful that we could go to Atlanta to see David and Andrea and the boys but Atlanta is a COVID hotspot right now and David has been working in a COVID ICU. We decided to take the RV and go north. We are able to isolate very effectively in the RV and will work to minimize our risk as we travel. Hopefully it will be cooler and we can do some of the outdoor things we love. As usual we have no plan. We don’t know what we will find but we are going looking!
Two favorite pictures of my little men from the past several months…
I am not certain what the days and weeks ahead have in store for us. We have no definitive plans for our next adventure…but we have lots of ideas. We have to wait and see what happens. We will let you all know when we get ready to take off again!
Another long day of driving took us across Tennessee and into Virginia. The trees are budding and blooming and the sun was out all afternoon though it was still chilly. This is a beautiful ride. There are tons of tractor trailers on the road. There are very few cars and only a few RVs.
Today I got confirmation that I can live with my mom at Carroll Lutheran Village as a 24 hour caregiver. There are things to organize and prepare and then next week, I plan to move in. No one knows what our future holds…we all just need to do the best we can to take care of one another.
Tomorrow we will be in Reisterstown…not our traditional happy homecoming but even so, we will be glad to be home.
It rained all night and much of the morning. It was nice to finally see some blue sky peeking through before lunchtime. The Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers were swollen and nearby farmland was soupy. They certainly need some sunshine here. One bright spot on this long trip home has been the fuel prices. Today we got diesel for 2.24 a gallon! Another bright spot came this afternoon. Walmarts along 40 East in Tennessee so not allow overnight camping. The campgrounds in this area do not open until May. We found a Cracker Barrel just outside Nashville that warmly welcomed us to stay in their lot! They wanted us to have a safe place to stay. The restaurant is not open but they were offering carryout…it was nice to have a comfort foods meal tonight. Every mile we drive brings us closer to home. We are almost there!
It was hard to pass right by Aledo, Texas, where my brother, John and my sister-in-law Dana live without stopping. We just can’t take the risk of exposing/exposure…love and hugs as we go by!!
The rest of the day was spent crossing the remainder of Texas. We crossed into Arkansas and stopped about 100 miles in at a small campground in Benton. It was raining and chilly. We had leftovers for dinner. We made phone calls this evening and did a load of laundry. Tim has been driving for days and we are still more than 1.000 miles from home…
Texas is really big…we drove across Texas as far as Eastland and decided to park at a Walmart overnight. We were hoping to get a Walmart pickup order tomorrow morning but that didn’t work out like we had hoped. We did not want to go into the store. Fortunately there is nothing we really need. We did walk laps around the parking lot. Most of the day was spent making phone calls and working out logistics for our arrival at home. Thanks to all of you for your travel blessings and prayers for mom…it means the world to us.
My mom met with an oncologist this morning about her pathology results. She has been diagnosed with Diffuse B Cell Lymphoma. She is facing lots of tests, chemo, and radiation. Suddenly, it was time to head home. We drove across Arizona and stayed at a KOA just inside the New Mexico border. The drive was lovely but I took no pictures…but for this…
We took a nice walk first thing this morning. Then we packed a cooler and headed to Kofa. Last winter when we spent time in Yuma, we really enjoyed spending time at the wildlife refuge. We drove to Palm Canyon and hiked up to see the palms.
There were lots of wildflowers blooming and the desert actually looked fairly green.
Cool lizard.
We drove toward King Queen Canyon and found a picnic spot…the ultimate in social distancing…just us!
Prickly pear cacti are just starting to bloom.
I made a nice dinner of sautéed fresh spinach, baked potatoes, and the last of our Baja shrimp. I even used real dishes and a tablecloth. I think that it is important to try to stay hopeful and positive. Sunlight, exercise, and taking care of one another…so important.
