Greatest gifts

This year for Christmas, I received two amazing gifts, both about making memories. The first gift was a family vacation from my parents.  We haven’t been on a family vacation of this magnitude since 2005 (pre-Corbin, pre-cancer).  This trip was family friendly since Corbin (6) and my nephew (18 months) would be along.  My parents also wanted it to be a new place…somewhere none of us had been.  So we headed to a Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos.  This tiny group of islands in the Caribbean is home to just 40,000 residents who mostly work in the resort industry.  We had a wonderful 5 days full of sun, sand, and plenty of food!  The only down side…my sister’s fiancé couldn’t go because of other obligations.  I’m using that as an excuse to plan another family vacation with everyone present.  :)  I called it “vacation unplugged” and didn’t check email, text, or voicemail while I was gone.  I was completely content letting the world go on without me being connected.  It was the perfect escape from reality, especially knowing I’d have a scan when we returned home.

The other amazing gift was a book given to me by a fellow young survivor.  It’s called “All About Mom and Me” and has tons ideas, writing prompts, and Q&As for Corbin and me to fill out.  Last night we did the quiz on “How well do you know each other?”  It had questions ranging from “Is Mommy right handed or left handed?” and “What kind of shampoo does Mommy use?” and “If a genie granted you 3 wishes, what would they be?”  and “What does Mommy collect?”  Corbin’s answer was “cancer.”  I laughed and asked him what he meant, he said, “Well, you keep getting it, so it’s like you collect it.”  I could only laugh at the pure honesty of his answer, but also wanted to cry at his revelation.  I text my friend who gave me the book and her reply was, “Well, at least he doesn’t see it as a scary thing.  In his eyes, you must enjoy it if you keep collecting it.  You make it comfortable for him.  Think of it that way. ”  That gave me peace of mind.

Today I had my scan.  I had to show up with an empty stomach, get injected with a radioactive tracer, wait for an hour for the tracer to find all the cancer, and then lay completely still on a table for 20 minutes as the machine scanned my body.

Thankfully my oncologist knows I’m an impatient patient, so he works to get me the results as quickly as possible.  But the waiting is filled with anxiety.  The results showed a new tumor in a rib on my right side, but overall NO MAJOR CHANGE!!!  This means Stable Mable is still my bff and I’ll stay on the same treatment for another few cycles before we re-scan.

I cannot begin to tell you what all the support, big and small, means.  I read each thoughtful note, appreciate the prayers, warm wishes and good thoughts sent my way.  ”I was drafted, but you enlisted.”  I’m so thankful to have you on my team!

xoxo

Jen