Week Four

I’m not sure if it’s the fact that I stayed in bed for nearly the entire day on Saturday, that this week the number of treatments left started getting smaller than the number of treatments behind me, or that my cold and allergies finally started going away, but this week has been the best yet…And it definitely wasn’t supposed to be.

Week 3 and 4 was when things were really supposed to get ugly. Week 3 definitely lived up to that, but week 4 has been a beautiful week of energy, food, rest, and actually a little fun.

Back in May, I found out that Foy Vance was touring in the US again and coming to Nashville the week before Mom’s birthday. Last year on her birthday, I surprised her with tickets to see him at Workplay the same week as her birthday since he’s one of her favs, so why not go for round two? I called her in May, asked her if she would want to do that, and bought the tickets (obviously having NO idea that I would be right in the middle of radiation treatments).

As soon as this mess started, Mom was for sure that I wouldn’t feel like going or that going would cause me to miss treatments and put me behind, but I kept telling her that I would get it worked out and it would be just fine. The last thing I wanted to do was disappoint Mom, and I was determined to make sure she had a nice birthday adventure with her favorite (only) daughter.

Tuesday rolled around and I was having a good day for the 3rd day in a row, which hadn’t happened in weeks so we loaded up the car, drove to UAB to get my treatment, and drove straight to Nashville. Dad had booked us a hotel so we crashed there for a few hours, grabbed some dinner, and headed on to the venue, The Anchor Fellowship. Two and a half hours later, we headed back to our hotel with full hearts and this cute little picture!

Turns out, a little road trip with Mom was just what I needed. She’s driven me crazy most of my life, but the last several years through cancer (both of us), lots of conversations, working through things, and apologies, we’ve grown closer and we had an awesome trip together with lots of laughs, sweet moments, and hugs. I even caught her watching her baby girl fall asleep at bedtime. I guess it’s a Mom thing, but it was sweet.

Wednesday we drove back to UAB for treatment, headed to get our nails done, and I had both Mom and Dad over for dinner. Thursday and Friday were great too! K.T. and I had one of our best nights leading our marriage small group together with our precious couples that come learn with us each week and woke up to a breezy fall morning.

Now, Friday is here once again. My skin is pink and itchy, a few more hairs have abandoned me, my throat actually feels pretty good, and I’m still eating 3 meals a day. My 20th treatment will be finished in a few hours, I will have my 4th undertreat visit with Dr. Spencer, and another weekend lies ahead of us. While we still plan to rest, we will also participate in the Race for the Cure walk to celebrate Mom being a 2 year survivor and Sunday night we will celebrate her 65th birthday, and I’m excited!

I feel like I say it every week and I hope the weight of these words doesn’t lessen, but I’m so thankful for the recent days. It’s truly been a breath of fresh air and has given me renewed strength and endurance to carry on through the next two weeks.

I hope and pray the coming weeks bring more of the same, but if they don’t, the Lord is still good and He still gave me this week for some hope and a little pick-me-up to keep on going. I was reminded again this week that this journey is one that I’m traveling through. It’s a season, and it will be over very soon to look back on with careful reflection, gratitude, and amazement at the testimony the Lord has built for me. Thank you, Jesus!

2/3 of the way done. 20 treatments down. 10 to go. Week 5 and 6 to go! Time for the final sprint…except I’m actually going to walk because I still get tired.

Onwards and upwards!