This week, we went on a road trip. Earlier this year we had been planning a trip to an indoor water park / resort in Minneapolis, called Great Wolf Lodge. When I got my diagnosis it seemed like we wouldn’t be able to go anymore, but suddenly we had a couple of weeks with no tests or consultations on the calendar. With the support and encouragement of doctors, nurses, and our kiddo’s teacher, we embarked on a compressed version of the trip we’d planned.
It was exhausting and sometimes overwhelming, but totally worth it. Lori and I wanted some happy experiences for our family before things change due to my treatment schedule and its potential side effects.
I’ll set my griping about theme resorts and capitalism to one side so I can talk about my picture. That’s me on a ropes course at the Lodge, in the middle of (slowly) making my way across a wobbly rope bridge. My daughter challenged me to try it after she’d gotten across herself. My balance is not great so my heart was racing. I had to focus on controlling my breathing. But I wanted to know that I could do the scary thing, and in the end, I did!
(Epilogue: The upper level of the ropes course had trickier elements that neither of us were ready to try, so we called it quits after that. Do the scary thing, but know your limits, too 😅)
In less than a week I start daily radiation and chemotherapy treatments. It is also a scary thing and I cannot know how it will go for me, as everyone responds differently. But hey, I got across the rope bridge; a fancy flashlight and a couple of pills should be no problem!
Well, I can hope so, anyway!