Traveling with Cancer – Page 8 – The Metastatic Breast Cancer Journey

April 22, 2023February 19, 2024

Texas Library Association

the metastatic breast cancer journey banner

Have I told you I am a published author? I published a couple of professional books and articles while I was working in my career as a marriage and family therapist and full-time faculty, but now I have stepped into a totally different genre. It’s kind of a second career for me. I have had these ideas swirling around in my head for many years, so I finally decided to just go for it when my full-time career came to a halt.

I guess one could argue it’s more of a hobby, as my expenses are way more than I bring in 😂🤪😂🤪, but I am taking on the identity of a children’s author and loving this new lease on life. I have published three children’s books (a picture book and two chapter books), and I’m working on writing some more. I also illustrated my chapter books.

I have a new website, primarily devoted to my books. Please, check it out! www.lucindawest.com. Also, join my Facebook page Books by Lucinda, if for no other reason than to boost my fragile ego 😄. No, I’m not Lucinda Riley and I did not write the Seven Sisters LOL. Rather than search for books by Lucinda, click on the link provided above to find the right page.

I recently had the privilege of attending the convention of the Texas Library Association (TLA) in Austin. I met a bunch of librarians and other authors. It was quite an event! Apparently TLA is the largest in the United States.

Standing with other authors at the SCBWI booth.

I joined an organization as a children’s writer. It’s the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). They offer a lot of training and resources, as well as camaraderie. They purchased an exhibit booth at TLA, then extended to all the authors an opportunity to sign up for a time slot and sell our books. It was a little challenging, since so many authors were giving books away for free. But I did sell a few, and it was a great networking event. I had a great time!

It was too far to drive for an early morning time slot. Since I also saw the afternoon slot open up the previous day, Tim drove me out there and we stayed overnight in the Fairmont. It’s right by the Convention Center, with a unique canopy connecting to it. It’s a relatively new, high-end hotel, and I highly recommend it if you are looking. Tim enjoyed working from the room while I attended the convention. We lucked into a special rate on the room, or we might not have stayed there.

Fairmont Canopy (that’s the convention center on the other side).
The open sides were a bit daunting 😳😳. It crosses the street below.

We left town right after my early morning MRI (of the brain) on Thursday and made the three hour trek to Austin. I had chemo the next day (Friday) in the afternoon, so the time I had at TLA was limited. I did get to walk around after my Thursday afternoon book signing and talk to some of the exhibitors. We had to leave after my time was up Friday morning.

Needless to say, I was a bit tired after all that setting up and tearing down, and travel back and forth (plus the two visits to MD Anderson), but I’m just happy to be alive and have the opportunity to do things like this. I just schedule life and then rearrange my doctor’s visits accordingly. If it’s last minute (like this kind of was), I make it work in between.

Most people see me and have no idea. I kind of like it that way. That’s life with metastatic breast cancer.

One of the hardest parts about being an author is the marketing side of things. Most authors are introverts, and they are asked to make public appearances, reach out to venues, and talk about their books. A wise author once told me, writing and speaking go hand-in-hand like a ball and glove. You can’t have one without the other.

Publishers will often help with that, but I decided to go the self-publishing route instead of hiring a literary agent. I’m still learning how to get into various venues, and searching for the best ways to reach people with my books. Lots of people say they love the concept, and love the books, but sales are low.

I have reached out to schools (they are much harder to get into than they used to be). I also have some events scheduled in Krogers, and created banners to draw attention to my table. I’m going to set it up outside our Airstream at the International Rally in Wyoming (coming soon). I just sat with a friend who gave me heaps of ideas as well as contacts, so that’s my next list to address. Although I’m open to traveling and conducting book tours, I’m working on strengthening my brand in the local market.

I am also considering ways to market to grandparents. After all, parents and grandparents are the ones who will buy the books. So, that’s one of my next steps. Unfortunately no, AARP doesn’t permit personal ads 🙄🙄.

In addition to writing a new picture book (a sequel to Onomatopoeia), I’m working on a second edition to my camping (chapter) book. Hopefully this will generate more interest as the cover will be simpler and well designed. (I also get to correct that typo in my mail address 🙄). I’m contemplating hiring an illustrator for the next edition when I get to that point, but I haven’t decided for sure. There are pros and cons!

If you have any ideas on how to market children’s books, or would like to let me know if you think I should hire an illustrator, please comment below. I’m also open to comments about ways to improve my writing. Just be kind, please 😁. Thanks so much for your feedback, and of course your support!

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

April 10, 2023May 3, 2023

Grandkids!

As I was looking back over my blogs, I was surprised to see very little about my grandkids! I post about them on FaceBook frequently, but I have not updated my blog to reflect my love for them. ❤️❤️❤️ Yes, I do love them! 🤩🤩🤩

I remember a time in life when I didn’t think I would ever be a grandmother. It just didn’t seem possible. I was much younger then, but when I was diagnosed with cancer the first time I thought I might not live long enough. I’m so happy to report SIX grandchildren, with another one on the way. Jedi #7 is due on my birthday.

About a week after we got back from Florida, we had to take a trip to Oklahoma for another work-related event (Tim’s, of course). And then on to Wisconsin for a second work trip. During the week at home, we snuck in a visit with our four “Jedi” who live close to us. We celebrated our first Jedi’s eighth birthday. Hard to believe she’s that old!

Did I mention we have #7 on the way (March 5 was the reveal). When they told us, I was so excited. “Yay! You’ve having another baby??!!” Tim, however, had a different response, “Oh no!” LOL. He is excited. He just wasn’t expecting it this soon. Seven is the perfect number, but I wouldn’t put it past our daughter to have some more as well.

Dad, Mom, Alison, Hannah, Mikayla, Jaxson and Olivia. “Olivia? Who’s Olivia??!! You’re pregnant??! Yaaaay!”

Speaking of our daughter…In between Tim’s work gigs, we were able to see our other two grandkids (Elizabeth’s children). Their family moved out of state last year on Labor Day weekend for their dad’s job. We miss them terribly! Their parents are a bit selective about sharing their location, due to “safety” issues 🙄🙄, but we did some super sleuthing in February and located them during another work trip. On our second visit, Elizabeth let the kids spend the night with us at the hotel while mom and dad had a date night. We didn’t take the Airstream as it was another quick trip up and back.

We were SO glad to see them, have an early Easter egg hunt, see where they live, visit Elizabeth’s job, and spend quality time with her at lunch as well. The kids came running when they saw us. Anthony was doing errands so we didn’t see him this time. In case you are wondering, they live “somewhere” east of the Pacific Ocean. Hopefully that’s vague enough for their liking, if they ever read this blog 😂🤪🤪😂.

We also had our traditional Easter egg hunt with Bryan’s family on Easter Sunday. It was Jaxson’s first Easter, and Mikayla (not even two) was climbing the big playground to slide down the giant slide. My heart skipped a few beats, but she is a good climber! We discovered a different way of doing the egg hung so everyone was able to find some eggs and it took longer than usual. It was a great day.

Without further ado, here are some pictures of our wonderful grandchildren over the past few months. We call them Jedi, because Tim is “Yoda” and we hope to mentor them in a positive way of life. There’s nothing like being a Grandma. I am so blessed to be alive!

Elizabeth, with the wreath I made her for Easter.

Jaxson’s First Easter.
We got this walker to play with
(and contain him LOL).

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

March 15, 2023May 1, 2023

Florida Retreat

We left my Dad’s graveside and drove straight to Florida. Tim had a job there, and while we would arrive a day late, he was still needed at the church in Ft. Myers. The trip couldn’t have come at a better time. It offered me the opportunity to rest, take long walks on the beach, talk to God, capture some great photos, and reminisce. Unfortunately we weren’t there long enough to see any of our friends or family. We were only there for just a few days, then back home. I needed the rest! Amazing how much the ocean can heal the mind and soul.

Still evident was a lot of destruction from the hurricane.
Boats were stacked up like a junk pile, even sitting in the tops of trees,
and other rubble remained all through the city. Many businesses are still closed. Sad indeed. Never underestimate the power of God’s hand.

They are working hard to clean up the beaches.
Not all of them are open, but I was blessed to go here.

Huge coconuts dotted the shore, seaweed pointed the way, incredible sunsets took my breath away, and I came back to the hotel with burnt feet.
These all made the experience worthwhile.

“I see the stars. I hear the rolling thunder. Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul. My Savior, God to Thee. How great Thou Art. How great Thou Art!”

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

March 10, 2023April 30, 2023

Sad News

I have to admit, I thought my father would outlive me. I thought most people who were still alive in my family would outlive me. When I was first diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in December 2016, they didn’t think I had long to live. Yet, I have long surpassed the “average” length of time I should have lived. Every time I go in to see my doctor I am greeted by nurses and techs who smile with surprise and excitement to see me doing so well. My brother (Shawn), and now my dad, have gone before me in that period of time. Mom passed away in 2014, so it’s just me and my sister left.

Dad had just purchased a new scooter, 500cc. It was his second ride. I didn’t even know he was thinking about getting one. He sent me a personalized Christmas ornament with Tim and me on a motorcycle. We had talked motorcycles off and on because of our rides, and we had even texted that morning about something else. I didn’t know he was riding, or even contemplating it.

He thought the scooter he bought might be a bit too big for him, so he decided to try it one more time before taking it back. That’s when he had the accident which took his life. He was 85. They think he had a heart attack which caused the wreck, but no autopsy was done to confirm. They deemed it an accident.

It was a total shock, of course. I thought he would live to be 100, or 95 at least. He died on a Monday and the funeral was that Friday. I had chemo on Tuesday and an echocardiogram on Wednesday, so we jumped in the car and drove to Kentucky for the funeral right after that. It’s a two-day drive from Conroe.

I saw my sister, of course, and her family. Some cousins were there that I haven’t seen in probably 30 years or more. It’s funny how funerals tend to bring people together. An old friend of ours from college also stopped by when he saw my FaceBook post. He lives in the same town where Dad lived, oddly enough, and his wife had even heard about the accident because one of her work colleagues was a first responder to it.

Disney is right. It is a small world after all.

The older I get, the more I realize how small the world really is, and how short life becomes. Every time we turn another month over on the calendar, the days, months, and even years get shorter and shorter. The world is spinning faster and faster with every tick of the clock. Sometimes it feels like I’m on that merry-go-round we rode as children, and it makes me dizzy.

Providentially, I had been going through some old slides that my dad had taken when we were kids growing up. It was a thing. Taking pictures and then get togethers with family gatherings usually included watching a slide show. I’ve had these for a few years, since my brother died, but I had just gotten around to turning them digital.

We had planned on going through Kentucky during our summer trip, and we were going to get together with Dad and Phoebe (his wife). I was going to show him some of the pictures and ask about them. I thought it would be fun to reminisce a bit. I had written “Visit Dad” on my calendar. Little did I know that he would be gone before then.

He was only in a few of the slides, because he was typically behind the camera. Here are a few of my favorites when I was 5-6 years old. It looks like he made use of the timer on his camera. The pictures remind me of the good times, the fun times, and the moments when our family was a family.

This was a family vacation to Florida I think.

I remember that aquarium, and fish netting.

Dad’s Family. My family, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Dad is working on someone’s farm, or maybe he’s just trying out the seat. I don’t think this was our farm.

It’s surreal. You’ve probably been there if you have lost a parent. This is different from when I lost my mom. Different circumstances for sure. her death was expected, and I was blessed to spend the last three weeks of life with her in Hospice care. I had a chance to say good-bye, and say things as well as ask her questions.

This was different. Sudden death is no easier or harder, just different in my experience. Dad and I were not what I would call “close,” and we were just starting to re-connect over the past few years after many years of distance. The disconnect was primarily due to my parents’ divorce and events leading up to their divorce. (It’s a very long story, which I will spare you.) He was always closer to my sister, and I was always closer to my mom. He came to visit when I was diagnosed with MBC, and we started having conversations via texts after that. I was hoping we would have a few more years to continue developing a deeper connection, but God had other plans.

The cemetery was in another city and country from the funeral, and I was impressed with how respectful people were as we processed to the graveside. They pulled over, put their hands on their hearts, took off their hats, and waited for our long line without incident. We held up traffic for an hour across two counties, yet that didn’t seem to phase them. They just waited. I was impressed with their level of dignity and respect.

RIP Dad. Until we meet again on the other side…

I was surprised they already had the date on his headstone.

I snapped a few selfies of me and some family members. I missed my cousin Glennis but he was there as well.

Dad re-married three times after my parents divorced, so he had other families besides ours. I have a second sister who was also at the funeral. She was really little when we first met. We didn’t grow up together, but we keep in touch on FaceBook. It was good catching up with her at the funeral as well.

Terri, me and Bonnie, my two sisters. Bonnie is on the right. She’s two years older than me. Terri was in my dad’s second family. She’s about 12 years younger than me.

Me and Megan (Bonnie’s daughter) at the graveside. It was cold and windy, but it didn’t rain.

My and my cousin Lisa. I always looked up to her growing up.

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

March 9, 2023April 26, 2023

The Scent Keeper – Book Review

Our book for the month of March was The Scent Keeper, by Erica Bauermeister. This is an intriguing novel and a New York Times Bestseller. Once I got into it, I had a hard time putting it down. I may read it again. It’s an easy read, and the story was captivating. There is a bit of mystery, sadness, love, laughter, and of course family. Hmmm, I may have just described the majority of popular novels out there. 😂😂 🤩🤩

This book is unique in that it is based on the concept of capturing smells in a bottle, the same way we capture moments on a photograph. If you wanted to remember a particular moment in time, from a scent perspective, you could open the bottle and it would transport you back to that time. Not literally, but emotionally and in a very clear memory. The main character, a teenager by now, was raised on an island with only her father to keep her company. It reminded me of the movie “Nim’s Island,” except Emmeline had no contact with the outside world as Nim enjoyed in the movie. She questioned her father’s constant dedication to the scent bottles, and as her eyes were opened to some things on the island, this is when her life really changed.

Aside, it’s interesting how a riff with one’s parent can change an entire destiny. I’ve seen it so many times as children become teenagers and then suddenly turn into young adults. Young adults need to grow up and become independent. Oh how I wish we could keep them small! And oh how I wish I could spend one more day with each of my parents.

I went to my book club, and we left immediately after that for our trip to Kentucky. My dad passed away this week, so it is a quick trip. I’ll write about that later. After that we are heading to Florida for one of Tim’s work gigs.

I’ll keep this review a bit shorter due to traveling. After the meeting Carol sent out her summary of our discussion. As usual, she captured the heart of the conversation. I especially enjoyed the question, “what is the smell of childhood for you?” Maybe you’d like to consider that question as well. Is there a particular scent that takes you back to a certain moment in time? Smell is such a strong sense, and we often overlook its power. Anyway, here is our leader’s summary. I should forewarn you that our summaries may spoil the ending for you.

Nine of us gathered this afternoon to discuss The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister.  We started off the discussion with the question of what is smell of childhood for you…….  The answers were the Library, Root Beer, Railroad engine, Seaspray, a picnic in an apple orchard, fresh cut grass and the earth, the outdoors and a basement, Pine Sol, Mom’s biscuits and pineapple upside down cake, white shoulders perfume, Prell shampoo to name a few.  The majority of us thought it was an easy read and well written.  Most of us had no idea of how smell is used in marketing and the different layers to entice buyers.  We thought the topic of the book intriguing and interesting.  We talked about Emmeline/Violet and her isolation on the island with her father, the second part being on the cove and then the city with her Mother.  Lisa pointed out that the author named a lot of the characters based on what happens to them.  Fisher for instance because he doesn’t fish with his abusive Father  and Emmeline’s Father calling her Little Lark, which she does fly away.  Several of us thought the ending was confusing and many of us read the ending a couple of times. Twelve of us rated the book and gave it a 7.5 rating.  Sending condolences to Cindy who lost her Father and driving to his service in Kentucky.  Safe Travels to you!!!!

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

February 10, 2023May 9, 2023

She Has a Name!

We picked up our new 2023 Airstream Globetrotter today. After our “Maiden Voyage” a couple of weeks ago, we took her in for some warranty work. Here we are on the way home from Austin, where she is all put back together. AND…she has a name!

We conducted a poll of our friends and after much ado we have decided on her name. Why we think she is a female, who knows, but it seems right to us. You can learn more about the names we polled and why we did or didn’t choose a specific name by watching this silly and hilarious video.

In case you are wondering, no, I didn’t forget to wipe my mouth after I ate. 😂🤪😂 I was getting over some cold sores, so I apologize for the ugly face. They were nearly healed by this time, so you can probably imagine how they hurt. 😳🙄 Having MBC means it’s easier to catch things, and much harder to get rid of them. C’est la vie.

Anyway, I hope you like the video. Enjoy the West Airstream Adventures and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more fun and adventures!

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

January 28, 2023April 30, 2023

Globetrotter Maiden Voyage

From January 20 – 27 we camped near the Colorado River, in Columbus (Texas, of course), to try out all the bells and whistles on our new rig. We stayed in a Thousand Trails campground, so we didn’t have to pay (we are members). It’s a pretty good deal, really. As long as you use the membership, which we do!

Our GPS took us out of the way so it ended up being a longer drive to get there. But, it was good to finally get to try her out. We’ve been to the storage unit almost daily, and on Amazon nearly as often 🤪😂, getting her prepped, organized, and ready for action. Everything (almost) is reversed here, so I kept going to the wrong side to reach for stuff. But, it’s working out great so far.

The spot we got in was fairly level, but we did raise one side up just a notch. We ate at Joe’s Italian in Columbus the first night. Delicious bread and pizza! They showed a movie at the campground, but we were too tired the first day, so we watched the movie Dog Gone in bed. The TV is on my side in this trailer. It has 3 HDMI inputs, so we can use the iPad to stream (which we did).

Tim gave a quick ten-minute tour of our trailer the day we got set up. He talked about how it’s different from our other one. You can watch it here. We have almost decided on a name, so you’ll probably see another post about that coming soon!

The temperatures were mostly cold, then rainy, then sunny, then cold again. That’s Texas! It was a good test for all the different A/C and heating units in our trailer! We went for several walks by the River, sat in front of our camper and watched the sunset, and watched the deer frolic and play.

Resident deer. They were all over the park.

It was cold and rainy after the first couple of days, with a tornado watch 😳😳 to boot! But our girl did great. She did have a leak on the front door, so we’ll drop it off at the dealer to get that fixed. But, no damage from the storm was noted (Praise God!).

Rain Rain Go Away!

Uh Oh… It’s not supposed to rain on the inside.

No photo description available. — This town was a bit of a surprise. A gem, really. Lots of history and interesting sites here!

The skies cleared so we took an auto tour of historic buildings in downtown Columbus. We read a bunch of historic markers, re-telling historic stories. The first Texas Ranger started here.

I loved the courthouse, with a beautiful green stained glass ceiling in the courtroom.

They also have a LOT of big beautiful live oak trees. One of the largest in the world lives here. This one is in the middle of town. It’s a very cool town.

We ended that day with schnitzel at Schobels Restaurant. Delicious!!

Heading home, via the dealership. We left just after sunrise.
Our truck was covered in frost! 😳
The deer stopped by to say good-bye on our way out of the park.
All in all, a great week, and a successful Maiden Voyage!!

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

January 19, 2023April 29, 2023

Chemo Day

For some reason, they didn’t do bloodwork today. I’m not complaining, mind you. I prefer not to get poked whenever possible. I’ve been told by the nurses they don’t have any requirements for my treatment so bloodwork isn’t really necessary. I like watching my glucose mostly, with all the diabetes in my family. Herceptin and Perjeta continue every three weeks. Other than that, not really much to report.

Tomorrow we’re leaving for a trip in the Airstream to try out all the bells and whistles on the new rig. Going somewhere close to the dealership, just in case something goes wrong. More on that later.

Short post today…enjoy.

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

December 31, 2022January 4, 2023

We Got a New Rig! Accompanied By a Bit of Drama.

This past week was a bit crazy.

Grab a cuppa…this is going to be a doozy!! Oh, and Happy New Year by the way!

We came home from our Christmas trip and noticed the slow leak in our Airstream tire had turned into a flat.

All along we have been working with Airstream Of Austin on a deal to trade in our 30’ International for a 27’ Globetrotter. There are many reasons we decided to do this, but that story is for another time.

This is a story of many more lessons learned about the Airstream. Like how to change the tire, how not to change the tire (because if you do it wrong, you’ll actually break the rig), how to deal with insurance companies, and the one bright spot in all of this mess: the wonderful people at Airstream of Austin.

Because of the trade, time was of the essence. We were driving to Austin on Friday to do the deal, and we discovered the flat after my infusion appointment on Thursday, the day before.

Our garage looks like we are having a garage sale but in reality we were emptying out our Airstream to trade it in. This happened on Wednesday.

I don’t think our Chrome Home was too happy about our decision to turn her in. She gave us several reasons to reconsider the deal. The flat tire should have been an easy fix. But it turned into a major ordeal.

We called Coachnet, our roadside assistance program through the DFW Airstream dealership, and they sent out a technician to change the tire. It took him nearly three hours to arrive, and by that time it was dark and rainy. Fortunately our trailer was parked in the storage lot, with plenty of space to work around it.

The culprit!

The first thing he did was try to jack up the camper, as expected when changing a tire. He managed to take off the flat. After seeing the screw in our tire, we were grateful we had made the decision to change the tire rather than just air it up. Or we might have suffered further damage. We were surprised it made the trip home from Oklahoma!

Next part gets juicy. This is when the “fun” really started.

The tech was about to put on the spare, but he could not jack up the trailer high enough to put it on. Back down, add blocks to raise the jack. After several attempts, he pressed the floor jack one more time, and that’s when I heard Tim say “oh no oh no OH NO,” in a very loud voice. When the technician added blocks underneath of the jack, he did not properly place it in the correct spot on the rig, where it has to go to raise it up. There’s a very specific square metal piece that has to be used or, well, this happens. When he lifted the jack, the square piece broke off and the jack tore through the bottom of the rig. We now have a nice breezeway on the bottom of the belly.

Fortunately, it did not go all the way through the floor, but the gaping hole said it would require a major fix. In case you’re wondering, since the floor jack didn’t work we used our level under one tire to put the flat tire up in the air. Tim found this on YouTube and it worked! We had to release some air from the spare to fit it on, but he did finally get it on.

At this point we didn’t even know if we could trade it in.

Coach-Net took our claim information. We sent pictures. They were very accommodating.

They called the service provider who blamed Airstream. Bottom line, they probably won’t pay. It would likely become an insurance claim.

The next morning we drove to Austin as planned to start the trade, with the Airstream riding on the spare. After much discussion they were not panicking. In fact, they were super helpful. They agreed to cover the cost of our deductible if our insurance had to pay. That was a blessing! In hindsight, the dealership is probably going to make money off of our insurance claim, so it might have made the deal even sweeter for them.

So, we started a claim with our insurance company. Or at least we tried to! More drama . Their system was down and it took them all day just to give us a claim number. Airstream had to have the claim number before we could sign the paperwork for the trade.

At one point, the insurance agent said she couldn’t find a “cause” for the claim, meaning she didn’t know if they would pay. 🙇‍♀️

Cra—-zy!!

Rachel was our salesperson. She’s a go-getter! I think we gave her a migraine. Actually, she had one before we arrived, but she stuck it out.

While we were waiting for the insurance company, Josh did our walkthrough. The smart plug that came with our new rig had a fault. (Seriously! You can’t make this stuff up.) They didn’t have one in parts, so he “borrowed” one from another new rig. Well, that’s now our electric chord. He showed us all the features in our new model, and he was very thorough. It was a little easier this time around, as we understood what types of questions we needed to ask. We got a new hitch as well, that seems a bit easier to install.

At the end of the day, and it was a very long day, the insurance company agreed to pay, and the staff at Airstream of Austin made it all work. At this writing, we are driving home pulling our new 27 foot Globetrotter. And it tows beautifully. Tim almost forgets it’s back there.

Another Day, and another lesson learned…Be sure to double check your old Airstream for all your outside tools and gadgets before leaving it at the dealer. Everything was so chaotic while we were there, and moving so fast during the trade, we left some things behind. On the last day of the year, we took yet another trip back to Austin (3 hours one way) to clean out all the outside storage compartments. We didn’t even know what we had left behind until we got there, but it would have cost a few pennies to replace. Our tools, tire chock, leveling blocks, spare keys, and more. Things that would not only cost money to replace, but would also take time and become a hassle while doing so.

Fortunately, everything was still there. I double-triple checked every single locker. Inside and out. I no longer had that “I feel like we’re forgetting something” feeling on the drive home. You know the one.

They told Tim they already had a deal working on our old rig when we got there. 😳

After we got all of our goodies and made the trek back home, we hosted our family for New Year’s Eve. Good-bye (and good riddance) 2022! Here’s to another year in the books! I am thankful for every day of life, as we never know how many breaths we have left.

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

December 29, 2022January 2, 2023

Back to Reality

Christmas is over and we are back to reality. I’m sitting here at MD Anderson getting treatment, after seeing my oncologist for the last time this year. I’m looking forward to what 2023 has in store!

I’m so thrilled to be here, SIX years after my diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer. I am so blessed, and I thank my God daily for giving me the strength and life to live. My nurses are always a bit amazed at how many times I have been here for treatment.

Tim and I just returned from our “Hallmark Christmas.” We enjoyed Christmas with four of our grandkids at the beginning of the month since they would not be available on Christmas Day. Our other two have moved out of state, so it was just the two of us this year. To do something different, rather than sitting at home, we decided to go on a trip. It would be our first winter camping trip for this long of a time. It was a blast!

If you are my friend on FaceBook, you’ve seen all the updates. We shared some of our woes and joys in various videos along the way. We demonstrated our “MacGyver” trick to insulating the bottom of the trailer, fixing a flat tire, and other things. The last video has a special message of inspiration from my hubby, also known as “Padre” or “Pastor Tim.” Click here if you want to watch it. You can catch up on all the other videos on my YouTube channel, including a gift to you on my ukulele (I’m still learning).

We knew it was going to be cold, which is what we wanted for Christmas this year, but we couldn’t see the forecast that far into the future. Little did we know a Siberian freeze would be coming to town. 🤪🥶 Temperatures fell to single digits, with wind chills at – 22 (that’s MINUS 22!). Our tanks froze and we crossed our fingers and prayed that nothing was permanently damaged. They thawed out on Christmas Day, and we were able to leave two days later.

Before the miserable freezing weather, we enjoyed small town Christmas as well as Oklahoma City Lights on Broadway. We saw millions of Christmas lights, ate some great food, spent time with friends, watched movies, played games, and even put together a Christmas puzzle. And yes, we got our White Christmas! In spite of the cold, our heater worked well and we slept soundly.

Our Airstream was so pretty all decorated, with snow in the foreground.

We maintained traditions like attending a Christmas Eve candlelight service followed by a Chinese dinner, and opening presents on Christmas morning. We also read a devotional book together daily for the entire Advent season. It was one of the best I’ve read, with lots of historical references and food for thought. The emphasis was on Emmanuel, God with us. The Incarnation. I felt closer to Jesus with each turn of the page.

We left on December 9th and didn’t go home until the 27th; it was quite an adventure! It was a wonderful time camping in our Airstream travel trailer. Along with the normal gear were our Christmas decorations, lights, and of course the presents. It felt so much like Christmas the whole time we were there. The staff at the KOA (just outside of Oklahoma City) were so friendly, encouraging, and knew us by name by the time we were heading out. I gave them one of my children’s books as we were leaving.

We learned a lot of lessons on this trip. We learned a lot about winter camping that we didn’t already know. We learned that we are more resilient than we could have believed. No matter how much life throws our way, we will persevere. Our perspective on our limits has changed. For one, 30 degrees doesn’t sound as cold as it used to! Sometimes we may go through a test to determine how much our bodies (and minds) can handle. I am grateful to have the Lord and my husband beside me, and a body that keeps going in spite of my cancer diagnosis.

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!