Next Stop November

I find myself writing mostly on trains and planes these days. It’s logical I suppose. I’m trapped in a tight space for 10 plus hours making it an ideal time to write. And I've been in a helluva lot of trains and planes lately.

This time I’m flying above the clouds just south and east of Minneapolis as we cruise toward Charlotte, North Carolina. From there I have a totally unnecessary five-hour layover, then a non-stop flight to Munich. Window seat currently, then one of those front row seats for the long haul that allows me to stretch my legs and relax. I’ve come to look forward to those long flights when I have a good seat. Spread out, watch a couple movies, write, listen to music, read, enjoy a couple of beers. It’s not too bad.

The most important news of the moment is that Tricia’s radiation is behind us. We spent three days at the Mayo Clinic last week – one to get fiducial markers placed in her eyes, one for some routine pre-op stuff, and then one for the actual radiation. The surgery on Monday to place the fiducials was a bit of an ordeal as Tricia was given some rather heavy sedation and was sent home with a large, Sleestak-like bandage on her eye. Tuesday was nothing much, then Wednesday was another tough day as Tricia had to be placed in a metal halo and was given a couple of painful shots to her eye prior to the radiation. After the procedure she was feeling well enough, however, for us to drive back to St. Louis Park. Since then she’s been doing daily drops to her eye and has been getting better day by day. There have been no complications from her procedures, so the next step will likely be scans of her body and exams to her eye in February to make sure the tumor was fully destroyed and that cancer hasn’t spread to other parts of her body. I have a week-long break in February, so I’ll again be able to be home with her for these tests.

Mayo Clinic is quite an extraordinary place. It’s like a city unto itself, with a buzz of people constantly moving through its corridors, between its endless buildings. And it’s truly amazing how many people cycle through there on any given day. The place is packed – the waiting rooms, the halls, the cafeteria, the common areas. Not sure if it’s a bad thing that so many people are sick, or a good thing that we have a place like Mayo to go to when we are. The care Tricia received was fabulous, as well, from the doctors to the nurses to everyone else who worked there. Tricia got choked up on several occasions due to the kindness and comfort she felt during her exams and procedures. She felt very well-taken care of. We’ll remember the excellent treatment we received, but frankly I’ll be happy to not see the inside of another clinic for a while. I’ve had my fill.

This past week was a really good one as Tricia and I had a lot of time to spend together to reconnect, relax and even have a little bit of fun. We had a few meals out, and several good ones at home provided to us by friends. We got Tricia signed up at the YMCA and did two days of workouts. We went on lots of walks, visited with family, watched dozens of innings of baseball, followed the sordid adventures of our Great Orange leader, spent time hanging out with Sammie and Casey, too. The week was just what we needed after the initial stress of the news back in September and the near-constant anxiety we’ve been dealing with since then. It felt normal – and boring in a sometimes boring is a good thing way – but it was great, and pardon the pun, just what the doctor ordered.

I’ll be returning to work Monday, with plans to come back to Minnesota for Christmas. I’ll try my best to get back into a routine, since the concept of a routine has been pretty fleeting of late. I brought my cross-country skis with me on the flight, so I’m hopeful I’ll have several chances before Christmas to get up into the mountains and hit the trails, probably in both Germany and Austria. I can’t wait for that! Other things to look forward to in Germany are the Christmas Markets that kick off sometime in November, I think, and a conference I’ll be attending in Vienna in the beginning of December. I’m also hoping to have time to do a little traveling on the weekends, both to ski but also just to see some other cities and areas I haven’t been to yet. I also look forward to spending more time with my new MIS family, getting to know people better and building strong relationships with these wonderful people I’ve gotten to know at my new school.

It was difficult, once again, to say “goodbye” to Tricia and the kids. But this time was much, much easier than the last. We’re assuming good news and smooth sailing from here on out and that we kicked the cancer’s butt. We’ll see each other again in less than two months, again in February, then the real fun begins in the spring when Tricia plans to visit me a couple of times and the kids will be staying with me for much of May. We hope we’ve cleared the largest hurdle and that we can move forward to life’s next excellent adventure. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again – a huge, huge thank you to all of you!!! For your words of support, your tasty meals, your visits, your emails, your gifts, your prayers. We’ve needed it all, and we can’t in any way tell you how much having you in our lives means to us. We’re blessed, and we know it. Cheers to you, good health to you, and all the best enjoying life, friends, family, love and all those little experiences and treasures each day we often take for granted. Take care.