Stories of Hope

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A New Adventure!

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We did it! We purchased a new recreational vehicle/RV. It’s a 2021 Airstream International 30RB-Twin to be exact. We are moving toward a new ministry adventure and it will be exactly that. I can’t wait to share the details of the ministry in a later blog, but for now I’ll share some details of the Airstream. Isn’t she a beaut?!

We pulled it home from DFW Airstream in Ft. Worth today, after signing the papers and doing the walk through. It’s intense folks! Lots of learning to do. A diesel would have pulled a bit smoother, but our RAM 1500 did just fine.

We were full-timers in a fifth wheel with our daughter and little dog back in 2012, just before I was diagnosed with breast cancer the first time (that’s the reason we came off the road). We have a working knowledge of the RV set-up, but it’s amazing how much you forget after eight years. Plus the Airstream has just a few differences compared to what we had before.

We knew we didn’t want another fifth wheel, so we were debating between a diesel pusher and a travel trailer. Lots and lots of reasons why we decided to go with an Airstream related to health, overall value, and what is available in the market right now. The RV industry is craaazzzzyyy! We had a hard time finding a rig, and when we did it was sold before we could get to Dallas. They had another one en route and since we had seen the inside of the other one we snatched it up. If we hadn’t, it would have been February before we could get one.

It’s hard to get Tim to do a video, but we made this brief video of us taking it home. Tensions were high as we had just pulled away from the dealership and it was a challenge getting out of there!

And here’s a silly video of the inside tour. I’m so glad we are going to be able to take trips together and do ministry together. More on that to come!

Á la prochaine…until next time!

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Onomatopoeia Update

I just received the first draft sketch of the book cover for my children’s picture book, One Day I Tried to Rhyme a Word With Onomatopoeia! I am pressing on with publishing, but I decided to use a professional illustrator. I am so excited! Once the cover is complete we will be able to take pre-sales. The whole book should be published within the next two to three months. It is cutting close for Christmas, but I am hopeful!

Now that I am not working full-time, I am able to check off items that have been lingering on my bucket list, like writing children’s books. Do you have any to those? I’d love to hear in the comments below. If you could do one item on your bucket list in 2021, what would you do?

Á la prochaine…until next time.

In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.

Abraham lincoln

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New Truck!

You may chuckle if you’ve heard this one before. About two years ago we bought a dually one-ton truck with full intentions to pull a fifth wheel, then something happened that changed our minds. I think the brain mets might have scared us at the time, or for other reasons the fifth wheel ended up not being the right choice. Timing wasn’t right and we traded the truck for a VW Atlas SUV. Who does that? 😂

That was then. This is now. We are no longer afraid of my diagnosis, nor our future. We are living life to the fullest. We are living life in the present, fully engaged in ministry together. We are no longer worried about my cancer coming back because, guess what, it already did! My body is stable, and there are lots of treatment options if anything recurs. Worrying and fretting does not alter reality.

“Don’t live in the past or future…make history.”

~Wally Byam

Like the RV industry, trucks are hard to find! It’s nearly impossible to find a good used one, and the choice on new ones is slim due to decreased production in the pandemic. We settled on a 2020 Dodge Ram 1500, equipped with the tow package. The color is Patriot Blue with a black interior. It has new technology so we can charge our devices on the road. After multiple trips back and forth, they gave us a better deal than the Ford dealership could offer us. It has a little ding on the passenger door, so they also threw in service for two years because they didn’t want to fix it. (This was part of the reason for the back and forth, as we were looking for one without the obvious flaw.) Once the papers were signed we ended up in a better position than our VW Atlas. My husband is a negotiating savant. Amazing.

They gave us a “We Owe” to add the trailer break control. This is a requirement or the Airstream dealer will not let us drive off their lot. After we signed all the paperwork we went to parts department who said these were on back order until December!! Whaaaat?? Yet another result of the pandemic and decrease in production. We were about to tear up the contract, but they managed to do some computer voodoo and find us the part. Whew! We will have that installed on Monday. Wow! What a drama…

We got it home and it barely fits in the garage…barely! But it does fit with a few inches to spare. They were true on their word. I may need to lose a few pounds to squeeze over to my side. 😂

If you read my last blog you will recall that we are fully intending to keep this one. I made Tim promise we would not buy a truck until we had bought an RV. 😂 We put down a deposit on an Airstream and we are not going back on this deal! We will reveal more about our new ministry in time, but this is the first step of faith toward following God’s leading.

“Taking a leap of faith is better than taking a leap of doubt.”

~unknown

Á la prochaine…until next time.

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Echocardiogram, Electrocardiogram, and Cardiologist

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My medical vocabulary has increased dramatically since starting this journey, which is hopefully making up for my decreasing vocabulary due to old age and brain fog 😂. I had my echocardiogram on September 4th, and follow-up with my cardiologist who did an electrocardiogram today.

Both of these events take place at the medical center in downtown Houston, which is not my favorite drive. Today’s traffic came to a screeching halt when an accident blocked all but one lane of traffic (the on-merge ramp). 😱 😱 Tim was driving me down there, as he often does, but this was the worse we have seen it. Fortunately we left a bit early, so I arrived exactly one minute before my appointment.

In case you are wondering, an echocardiogram (also known as an “echo”) is not the same as an electrocardiogram, better known as an EKG or ECG. For an EKG, they stick electrodes on your chest and print a read-out. It takes longer for them to bring the system into the room than it does to actually conduct the test. I had that done today, and I was a bit annoyed because this meant my appointment would be longer than expected. MUCH longer than expected because I had to wait for each person to come in the room. Since I just had the echocardiogram I thought that would suffice, but NOOOooooo. 🙄🙄

An echocardiogram is much more intense than an EKG, including access of the veins (they always do contrast for mine), sticking on the electrodes, and doing the test. It’s like an ultrasound of the heart and valves with lots of pictures, sounds, and color. It’s pretty interesting if you have never done one. The first time I saw my heart I was in awe…wow! That’s my heart! It’s losing it’s novelty since I go in so often, but it’s still pretty interesting to watch the little flaps go up and down on the screen while the heart is pumping the blood.

Until now I have been directed to do the echos every three months. Now, I can do it every six months. Yay! And, I can do it the same day I go to see the cardiologist. This means I just decreased my trips downtown from 8 to 2. More time to ride the Harley!

Incidentally, my oncologist said there isn’t a requirement to do the echo when you are on Herceptin. In fact, some oncologists don’t do them at all. Why? Because they don’t want to know! That’s right…if they don’t know it is hurting your heart, they don’t have to stop treatment. My oncologist requires it because he said he wants to know! It is easier to correct a problem with a pause in treatment than it is to reverse advanced heart failure when it’s too late. I love my doctor. He cares about treating the cancer, but he is also concerned about the whole body. My heart is grateful.

The only number from the echo he really watches is the Ejection Fraction. Mine typically hovers in the high 50s, which is the normal range. One time it was 40-something when I was seeing my local cardiologist who estimates the EF, so that is why he wants me to go downtown from hereon. The echo they do downtown with the contrast provides an exact number rather than an estimate. I found the brief video linked above to be interesting, as I am watching my EF as well.

Á la prochaine…until next time.

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Another New Adventure

Today was #chemoday. Truthfully I am on biotherapy, but most people don’t understand what that means. So, we call it chemo. It’s maintenance drips of Herceptin and Perjeta, which I get infused in the chemo room at MD Anderson, given by the chemo nurses every three weeks. No major side effects to date, and I’ve had more than 50 of these.

They got me in for treatment and even finished early, so we jumped in the car and took a drive to Dallas to look at an RV — a 2021 Airstream International 30RB Twin to be exact. If you haven’t been following the RV industry lately, it is hopping! It’s nearly impossible to find anything locally, or anywhere for that matter, as people are working from home and staying in the USA due to COVID, meaning they are buying up recreational vehicles.

We are in the process of launching a new ministry, where both of our skill sets will be vital to its success. We love doing ministry together, and we love challenging people to a spirit of adventure. We will be sharing more about this ministry as it unfolds, but the ride up and back included dreaming and planning how an Airstream can help fulfill our ministry goals.

We were “full-timers” about 8 years ago, in the latter half of 2012. We lived in a fifth-wheel with our then 9th grade daughter and our little dog Midge, traveling from location to location where we served the churches in Texas. We learned a lot about the RV lifestyle. This was brought to a screeching halt when I was diagnosed with breast cancer the first time. We sold the fifth wheel in exchange for chemo, surgery, radiation, and more treatment.

We have always dreamed of going back on the road, and God seems to be saying “now.”

No, we aren’t selling our house. No, we aren’t going full-time on the road. But, yes, we will be doing life and ministry together and it has the potential to happen in a silver RV.

A fifth wheel requires a lot more set-up than a travel trailer, is heavier to pull, and in general has more potential for things to go wrong with it. We crossed fifth wheel off the options. Our final debate was between a Class A motorhome or bumper pull. We really wanted the motor coach, but could not justify spending the money. We looked at cheaper travel trailers, but most bumper pulls as well as fifth wheels are made with formaldehyde (we can smell it and it burns my sensitive eyes!).

In the past two years we have done a LOT of research, and the Airstream checks the most boxes in our “must have” list. It has quality parts as well as an iconic history. Without the challenge of navigating slides, we feel this will give us the most flexibility as well as comfort on those longer road trips. Our research shows it has the highest resale of all products on the market as well.

This is definitely a leap of faith, and we are looking forward to seeing what God has in store!

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)

Á la prochaine…until next time!

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Double Vision and Prism

I just got a call from my radiation oncologist. My brain MRI came back clean. No new lesions or growth. I’m on an every 4 month schedule now. Praise the Lord!

On another note, I saw my optometrist who said I have double vision. Maybe I’ve had this a while. In the past I said, “yes” when asked if I was seeing two charts next to each other, but I never told him one was higher than the other. Note to self…point out the obvious, even if they don’t ask. He asked if the charts are side by side. Well, they were, but they weren’t aligned vertically. I pointed this out and then he said, “let’s talk about that.” So, now I have a new prescription for glasses with prism. 🤓

I’ve been out of glasses for a few years now, due to cataract surgery (except I do need readers). I was a bit disappointed with the prospect of wearing glasses 24-7 again, but at least now I won’t have to look for my readers!

That likely explains the occasional dizziness. 😔 I’ve never heard of a prism issue. He said I probably lean my head to the side to compensate, so I maybe never really noticed. This could account for the neck and shoulder pain. I recall a chiropractor telling me I lean my head to one side way back in early 2000s. He said it was a back alignment issue, and adjusted me. Who knows? Like I said, maybe I’ve had this a while. Or maybe it’s new.

The two are likely not related, although brain issues can impact vision. My radiational oncologist is going to send the MRI result to my optometrist and see if he needs anything else. MD Anderson does a whole brain MRI with and without contrast whenever they do it. Next time they do the MRI they would look at the areas closest to my eyes more closely if they think this is a problem. It is not likely a brain issue. It is probably the muscles around my eyes…due to getting old or perhaps due to chemo. It may be totally unrelated to cancer.

Who knows…it’s always a mystery as to how chemo affects the rest of the body.

Á la prochaine…until next time.

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Day 11 (and final day) of our 35th Anniversary Ride

208.8 miles today…. in the rain. 🌧 Cleburne, TX to HOME (Conroe, TX)!!

Today was our last day. Sad the trip is over but we are so glad to be home. We purposefully rode further yesterday to make today a shorter day. We kept watching the weather and there were thunderstorms all around us. But we decided to press on and prayed the whole way. It rained, but the visibility and temperature were manageable.

It rained for the first two hours—we were soaked to the bone—so we stopped in the new Sonic in Hubbard for a reprieve. It’s an indoor Sonic, not a drive-in like you typically see. I did not want to get back on the bike, but the show must go on!

After that we debated our route and decided to get home the fastest way possible. On to the interstate! From Buffalo the ride home was rain-free!

Total trip miles…3,008.8 (some 2-up, and some on two bikes). On my bike I rode 2759.9 miles!

Time for the 10,000 mile service!

As I reflect on this trip, I am grateful to the Lord for so many things. We made it, and we made it safely. (I did lay the bike down once, but that’s par for me.) I am thankful for a husband who supports me in my cancer journey, and even helps me get the bike into a good position for pulling out of parking spots. I am so blessed to have a stable body, with the ability to ride my own ride and go the distance. While I may get tired a little easier, I still have the ability to ride. We may sell my bike at some point and go back to riding 2-up on all the trips, but at least I can ride! God has blessed me with so many things. I can’t complain.

Thankful for a safe ride, for all the wonderful sites we saw, and for the joy of being together to celebrate our 35 years of marriage. Like I told Tim, this trip mirrored our life in many ways. Ups and downs, rain and sunshine, beautiful sites and some boring as well, life on the wild side, frustrations and love, laughter and tears, education and recreation, yummy foods and boring breakfast bags, exhausting but exhilarating, and so much more. We hope there are at least 35 more!

Á la prochaine…until next time!

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Day 10 of our 35th Anniversary Ride

370.5 miles today. Zig Zag route from Woodward, Oklahoma to Cleburne, Texas.

KSU 6:30 AM. We were trying to get ahead of the storm. It was still dark when we left. Unfortunately we never saw the sunrise because it was sooo cloudy all day. 😪 Very few patches of blue sky. I wore my clear goggles all but the last thirty minutes of the day.

It’s always an adventure!

We had planned on going one route, through Elk City, but my GPS had other plans 😂. At one point we were zig zagging through the countryside on Oklahoma county roads that didn’t even show up on Tim’s nav. Similar to when we rode through Kansas, these roads turned into dirt roads right after we turned off, so we were sweating bullets at times! It may have been an angel 👼 preventing us from the big storms which we could always see in front or beside us, but we did not ride under.

We ate breakfast at Love’s because we are so tired of the COVID- bag breakfast in the hotels which only offer a muffin at best. The Love’s cashier was an interesting lady. She rides this trike to work every day. She converted it to power with a 1-gallon gas tank all by herself. I love meeting people on our trips as they lead such fascinating lives!

We finally saw the sun! Somehow we managed to ride between the storm clouds for most of the day.

We did get rained on, only briefly, but we managed to avoid riding through the bad thunderstorms. We pulled into a roadside (covered) picnic area for a snack in Olney, Texas off 281 and the rain stopped. This is a new road for us but we have noticed Texas has lovely picnic stops. Incidentally a Sheriff pulled in the spot next to us, eating his BBQ lunch. We made sure to STOP as we were leaving 😂 (our last trip we both got a ticket for not stopping completely at a stop sign).

When coming through Wichita Falls, the temperature changed from a very cool 78 to a hot 90 in about one minute or less. Sudden changes like that are not usually a good weather sign 😳. A supercell formed to the east of us bringing heavy winds… so we kept plodding along.

We arrived at our hotel in Cleburne Texas just before the sky opened up. It did finally catch up to us after we checked into the hotel, so we ordered food from DoorDash. Wicked storm for sure!! We scored with an upgraded room and upgraded snacks. 😃 They talked us into trying the local root beer, and it was delicious! I would definitely have it again.

Flash Flood warnings – we are so glad to be inside! This storm looks like it will be hanging around a while. We have a short ride home tomorrow. About four hours. They are expecting more thunderstorms all day 😢😢. Praying the weather changes or we may have to hang out here in Cleburne until it passes. We are debating whether to just leave my bike here or grin and bear it. I admit I am a little scared! 😱😱

Á la prochaine…until next time!

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Day 9 of our 35th Anniversary Ride

(Life 360 App)

391 miles today. North Platte, Nebraska to Woodward, Oklahoma.

KSU was 8:00 AM, a little later than normal since it was 54 degrees. Brrr! Bundled up, layered up, buckled up and… eventually it warmed up to around 80 and the layers came off. With the exception of those two massive construction delays 😤, it was, as many folks along the way commented, “a beautiful day for a ride!”

This flagger was quite chatty. But she would not let us put our kickstands down for our FIFTEEN MINUTE delay. She said the blacktop was too soft, so we had to hold the bikes up in the wind. The trucker behind us got out to ask how long, and then made a snide remark about being a female on a construction crew. 🙄 She ended up switching to our pilot car driver after the wait, of which we were thankful because the other driver was really slow.

It was a super duper wicked windy day…and has been for the past several days. 💨

Tomorrow does not look as promising. For the first time in ten days, it looks like we are heading into a storm. Yikes!

Á la prochaine…until next time.

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Day 8 of our 35th Anniversary Trip

Rapid City, SD to North Platte, Nebraska. On our way home!

We rode on the Gold Rush and Western Trails Scenic Byways and stopped for a brief, cool-off, museum visit in Bayard Nebraska to see the Chimney Rock National Historic Site. The pioneer emigrants used this landmark to navigate the trails. More emigrants wrote about Chimney Rock in their diaries than any other trail landmark. The museum is interactive and pretty cool for being in the middle of nowhere Nebraska. We agreed the entrance fee was our contribution to education. We didn’t walk all the way out to the Rock, as it was very hot and we had on our riding gear, but maybe when we were in our twenties we would have enjoyed the climb!

Me and my riding buddy at Chimney Rock Historical Site
Chimney Rock

After the museum, we rode through some horrible wind. Actually, we rode through strong winds all day. The byways are spattered with idyllic views. In the distance we saw Courthouse Rock (where we are told they used to put criminals on trial) and Jailhouse Rock (where they would hang them). We were on the bikes so I didn’t get a picture of those, but it entertained us nonetheless. I would like to visit them up close, as well as the remains of the pony express and other sites on the byways. This trip is the first we have spent riding through Nebraska and we left much for future trips. It’s a beautiful and historic state!

The bikes got thirsty so we stopped at Sinclair to fill up. It’s a popular gas station in this area, famous for their dinosaur icon. Even the DINO (Apatosaurus or Brontosaurus?) has a unique history. It was fun to see how each Sinclair presents the DINO. We like this local chain as it is clean and all, but they don’t usually have premium gasoline as it is harder to get. We settled for unleaded without ethanol. 🙄

I got 53 mpg on that last tank!

Á la prochaine…until next time.

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