July 26 (Sunday)... after yesterday’s post about how terrible I felt, I am so glad to report that the pain never came back. And I enjoyed my Sunday with quite the adventure.
I woke up and I actually stopped...thought about how I was feeling. Thought about it again to be sure. No pain in my left shoulder area shooting out of my chest. No pain in my back. Only the “normal” (how funny that I now call this normal) back pressure that causes discomfort. I walked around and no change. I let out a sigh of relief.
You see I had big plans for the day and I did not want anything to get in the way if at all possible.
We went to Mass (the crew in person and myself via the video provided) to start out our day. Fr Jim gave such an amazing homily about the pearl of great price being salvation. He also spoke about living in this world takes discernment to navigate with love and joy in spite of the weeds that surround us. He also spoke to Michael before Mass about having someone bring my mom and I communion. That would be so wonderful!
We then gathered the crew and left mom behind (hopefully to enjoy a quiet day) to take a short trip. Unfortunately, we also had to drop Sean off at work but he was OK with this because he knew he would make this trip for himself in the near future (fingers crossed).
Where did we go? I drove the crew to the south side of Austin!! It really was a short trip for us (our long trips could lead us on adventures even outside of the state at the drop of a hat in the ”good old days”) but it was also a trial run to see if my bag of bones (quite literally) could handle that amount of time in a vehicle. I figure discomfort is going to be there whether I am sitting in a chair at home or in a car. I have decided I need to learn to live with cancer instead sit at home all the time. I have no intention of zooming out the door all the time but it gets a person down even when i have a great view from my sun room.
So, why did we pick south Austin on this lovely rainy day? The goal might not make sense to most but it was a happy occasion for this momma. I will probably even go so far as to say I was more excited than my crew. We were meeting a geocacher from Austin to sign a logbook in an ammo can. Thankfully the rain stopped during the time we were at the practically deserted park.
For those of you who have not heard my love for geocaching, just know it is a hobby where you look for an object placed by others who give coordinates on the map. Google it or ask me about it any time.
So with geocaching, there are also challenges. And one big challenge is to find a geocache in every county in Texas (254 counties). It is such an accomplishment that it leads to a big occasion when signing the logbook. And this comes only after verifying that the geocacher has indeed met the challenge. As a family team, we signed the logbook 18 months ago in front of the state Capitol. However, individually there were a few counties the children had missed. So we helped them complete the counties (several extra miles on the vehicle and quite the adventure) just as the Covid-19 situation was coming into our lives as a nation. In fact, our last trip was taken to complete their counties with worries about our safety. We were even trying to decide if it would be safer to camp out in our car instead of getting a hotel for the night. This was also just before my painful experience that led to my cancer diagnosis. Again I say, God is so good...he knew my desire regardless of the somewhat earthly ambition to complete this endeavor and we were allowed this opportunity at just the right time.
We enjoyed talking about our adventures we had along the way. We talked so much that the honored crew got bored. They can not stand to sit for too long. Haha. But mission accomplished and a big hooray, especially for our little miss who is now the youngest person to complete the challenge, she was excited to pose for pictures before making the trip home.
Sorry this is such a long post just to give you an update on how I am dealing with cancer. However, it was an important part of the journey for me. Once again, finding out how I will live with cancer. Making special days special without thinking about cancer. Being able to drive the miles needed to make it possible. Maybe even realizing that I did not even think about the pressure in my back all day because I left my “comfort” zone and lived outside of the pain.
It was a good day. It was a long day. We came home and enjoyed dinner together. Mom had spent the day of quiet talking on the phone. She might have been just as exhausted as we were. Haha.
After dinner, we had our family prayers. Then I enjoyed a nice phone call with a friend. Had a text chat with another friend to thank her for my cup of tea.
Then something amazing happened. I have not talked about this in my posts but I have mentioned it to some who have visited with me. I have had such discomfort since March that I could not sleep in my bed. I have spent the last four and half months sleeping while sitting in a chair. Laying on my side was completely impossible. So a couple of nights ago, I tried sleeping in bed again but I could inly handle a short amount of time. But last night I fell asleep in bed and did not wake up until 4am. I was able to enjoy a full night’s sleep in my bed!! I am telling you... I am learning to praise God for these little treasures more and more each day!
So...a long post to really state that God is good! I am so thankful for these moments. Taking a chance and living life to the fullest with God’s grace to see me through the difficult moments. I am so happy to be living through this roller coaster ride. I am so thankful for those of you who share it with me.
God bless you!!
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