And The Fun Continues....

I am home.  The Roberts family successfully made it back to Memphis from our amazing Gulf Shores vacation.  Of course, we made it back to tornado sirens, rain, and flooding.  So glad we came back from the sun, sand, and water(not really).  It is actually weird the pattern that has formed with our family vacations.  We have young kids that do not yet attend school that you can not miss.  So, since Tim and I are blessed with A LOT of vacation time(compared to others)we have always enjoyed the ability to vacation while all the other kids in America are in school.  That means we have free roaming of pretty much anywhere we go...no line, no waiting, and some privacy so our young, active sons can express their excitement and not many people will witness those actions.  Anyway, we usually take our yearly beach trip to Gulf Shores every year in either April or May.  Last year, we left the week of the floods.  Needless to say, driving in that rain and wind scared me to death.  It was horrible.  And what was left over of what we escaped continued to flood Nashville while we sat on the sandy beaches and enjoyed the sun.  Then again this year we had the tornadoes to hit Alabama while we were gone and tons of rain and storms in Memphis as well.  Can't say that we missed that, BUT since my husband and his entire family lives in the Tuscaloosa or Birmingham area it was very upsetting to see the damage caused by Mother Nature.  Places my husband has known since he could remember are gone, for now anyway.  We consider our family very lucky that no one was hurt or had lost their home.  We were lucky.  I plan to continue that luck for my next chemo treatment tomorrow.

So, tomorrow I will officially be half way through my chemo treatment.  YEAH!!!!  It will be my last dose of the AC combo I have been getting that have been giving side effects that last longer and just get worse.  But, the beach helped me to forget(for a little while) that I have cancer.  Don't get me wrong, I spent the first part of my beach trip coughing, vomiting, and resting.  I still enjoyed the scenery, food, and my family.  Just not to the extent of any previous trip.  I love the ocean....the sounds and smells.  It calms me.  Sitting out on the balcony at night, listening to the waves I had a little bit of peace over everything.  I still do not enjoy having cancer...not even close.  I do, however, accept my life to this point.  I will continue to battle so that I can have many, many more vacations with my family.  I will not give in, no matter how I feel to cancer or the drugs that kill it, to not living my life.  I will not slow down.  I will not miss more than I absolutely have to.  Yes, I will take care of myself and listen to my body.  I will also find an acceptable balance of my new life with cancer.  As the last AC drips in my system, I will close my eyes and remember the views from our balconly and try to hear the waves to calm my nerves.

Three treatments down, number four to go tomorrow, then only four more total treatments left after that. I will begin a whole new drug and new side effects to go with that. I am glad to be at this point..seeing a light far away in a very dark and scary tunnel. Until next time....
And please forgive any incorrect spelling. By adding photos, I lost my ability to spell check and my chemo brain spelling could be anything.