Fight for Normalcy

Have you ever looked at a calendar and thought something must be wrong? That happened today to both Michele and me. We have become so adapted to checking our MYCHART calendar each week to plan out our days that we both were struck that there was nothing until Friday! I think we both double checked and then chuckled about it.

Normal?

I think the challenge of being a cancer patient is “Normal” is something that is elusive. Normal hair? Well, it is ever changing with the wigs. Normal sleep? Not really but more on that in a bit. Normal work times? Well maybe… With our insurance business we have always had a penchant for working when we can so when we can’t we fill the gaps. The gaps used to be trips. Nowadays it is more of the down days.

The new POMP cycle is something we must learn how her body will react. We were super blessed to be able to make it to our Daughter-In-Law’s Disco birthday party Saturday night! We drove to Austin in the afternoon and stayed at a hotel a few blocks from the venue. As we walked into the lobby with our outfits on, we spread a little bit of joy. As Weird as Austin is known for, we brought a smile to many with that “We still got it” feeling for the city!

We are cool baby!

We enjoyed Visiting and talking over the old disco songs. Way too many that I can remember from my childhood and my sister Mona blasting the music.

Sunday Boat Day

We drove back home early Sunday to head out on the boat and to Chill in the cove with others celebrating the normal close to the summer. The water is still amazingly warm here and the sky was overcast. You have seen one of those “Lily pads” attached to boats. Michele just loves to be out there floating in the water on them. It was so good to see her there. We had just the right number of people out with us, and everyone was thrilled to be out there. We followed it up with one of our favorite pizza places in League City, Center Court Pizza.

Cancer Treatment catches up to us.

At least we stayed ahead of it over the weekend. Sunday Michele started to have that “Bone Pain” that can come from Chemo. We all hope that maintenance will be as easy as taking a pill for High Blood Pressure. Unfortunately, we are back to managing this illness.

Today I called a Virtual Sunday. As the pain got worse overnight, we leveraged the heating pad and eventually some pain medication in the early hours. It took 30 minutes for it to kick in and then it knocked her out for a while.

Mondays are usually busy. I let her sleep through the first two conference calls of the day, but she was able to jump on the third. Followed by an online training seminar. By noon as she was feeling the drag from little sleep. After a warm bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup, we both curled up on the upstairs couch and fell asleep for a few hours.

Aging reminds us of many things, but Cancer reminds of how tiring it can be as the body fights.

Better in the evening.

We made an early getaway to Dairy Queen tonight for dinner. We don’t have to cross any major roads to get there, and the SUN felt wonderful on the skin. As soon as we got home, we walked up to our home offices and committed to getting a few things knocked out before an attempt at an early evening.

Our tiny town of Seabrook is going through a lot of change now. There are flyovers being built on the main road that have disrupted many businesses and traffic patterns. There is a new water treatment plant being built on the opposite side of town from the current location. That means that there is a ton of utility work and ditches that are being filled in with storm drains.

As old businesses fold, there are new businesses sprouting! We passed the Axe Throwing place that one of friends Daughters has opened with an ambition to make a mark. With Michele and I at 56, I try and remember what my parents were doing at this age and what they were going through. Much like our town, there is a lot of construction and replanning along with letting go of old for something new. And we love it!

Michele is continuing to inspire in serving her clients and learning new ways to do business that pre-pandemic would have been unheard of. I have found more of a voice to help others that for a long time I struggled to get out. Together, we are in a beautiful place of transition from Parents to empty nesters, to a cancer patient, to multiple grandchildren grandparents.

And our best mark in the world is still ahead on the horizon.

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