Vacation is Over

These past six months have been nothing short of amazing. Having the Spring and Summer to hike in the woods and explore both new and old lakes in my kayak really grounds me. In May I spent time in the Pacific Northwest with my sisters, exploring beaches, mountains and evergreen forests.  In August I had the privilege of joining River Discovery with a six-day white-water rafting adventure in the Salmon River with other cancer survivors.  You know water, my happy place!

And just now Steve and I returned from an amazing trip to Italy for an early 40^th anniversary celebration.  We saw all the sights in Rome, Pompei and the Amafli Coast. We enjoyed the Colosseum, the Forum and Palatine Hill, the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basillica as well as other beautiful churches in the area – Michelangelo’s Moses was in a church near our AirBNB!  We put on so many miles walking, tackled the Spanish steps, climbed Mount Vesuvius, and saw the wonders of Pompeii.  Amalfi Coast was so beautiful! I had to wade in the crystal clear turquoise water in the small village of Atrani.  And yes, the food was amazing.  

Then it was off to Sicily, the birthplace of Steve’s Grandfather and relatives back to the 1750’s!  If you ever go to Sicily, you need to visit the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento – simply breathtaking.  And I found a monastery in town founded in 1290 where the nuns have been selling heavenly sweets for centuries.  Of course we bought some from a beautiful nun. Heavenly! After this adventure we set off for Carini exploring the seaside, the town square, Norman castles, and the church where his Grandfather was baptized and Great-grandparents were married.  Walking the streets and drinking from the same fountain his ancestors did gave me chills.

So much for my travel blog…vacation is officially over.  As many of you know, I have been on a chemo vacation since the end of March as my blood counts (ANC) would not recover for me to finish my chemo regime. After three-months my cancer markers were stable so both the doctor and I decided to give it another three months so my body can fully recover.  I tell you, feeling normal again after six years of constant treatment was such a treat!  I savor these times of adventure and health.  And wouldn’t trade it for the world!

But, at my last check in I had a major jump in my cancer markers and scans show growth with my abdominal tumor (I liked it better when it was stable!) and it got lonely so it invited friends . I met with my oncologist last week and we are going to try a new targeted treatment that shows promising data to reduce/slow tumor growth. But, I just received a call that the drug was denied by my insurance company, so my doctor is donning her fighting gloves to go another round with them. Fingers crossed she wins this battle, if not we will look at alternative treatments. To say this is frustrating is putting in mildly, but luckily I have my specialty pharmacists and doctors doing all they can - I can’t imagine having to fight without them!

This cancer is a bugger, but I can tell you that my wonderful support system is amazing – my husband, kids, sisters and so many friends and nurses.  The delivery of homemade soups, encouraging cards and well wishes help me remember I am not alone.  If you want to hear a great conversation on dealing with recurrent ovarian cancer, Christiane Amanpour recently spoke on the “World Ovarian Cancer Coalition” podcast – it is so touching how she teared up when talking about the support she received. And, I feel the same way.  I know you all have my back, with positive thoughts, prayers and laughter.  Thank you for being rays of sunshine in my life!