Monday, May 19, 2014

Home

This photo sums up what I love most about our family...
(and it answers so many people's question of: "where does the dog sleep?")

But I digress... 

The point is that as of this Tuesday (May 20th) Jason will complete his 6-week regimen of chemotherapy and radiation treatments for brain cancer.

So basically, we are home!

While I recognize that our "road trip" is not over, I can't help but think that making it through both surgery and treatment is a kind of end of at least a major part of this journey. I feel that we can now re-calibrate our lives for just a moment to better prepare ourselves for wherever the next turn takes us!

And presumably, there will be a few more "left turns";
~ Most noticeably, Jason continues to rehabilitate his left side - Physical and Occupational Therapy (along side some good canine therapy and baseball therapy!) are parts of the complex puzzle of rebuilding neurological connections. There is belief that he should make a 100% muscular recovery, but not without a lot of hard work and patience.

~ Then there is the fact that radiation has left Jason exhausted. I mean, what little energy he has is totally used up just having a conversation or sitting through a meal! I understand that this is a temporary side effect, but am also anxious to see him build stamina and be more alert.

~ And finally, we are all naturally anxious to take another gander at that noggin of his and see what's left in there! Unfortunately, we will have to wait 2-3 more weeks until the inflammation from radiation treatment subsides so that an MRI can show a clear picture.

* sigh *

But that is all just information ~ what has really been going on the past couple of weeks has been beautiful.

EATING

Jason and I had been staying in Grand Junction during the week for treatments (thus the joy of being home!) and savored our time together and enjoyed being entertained by good friends! While being away from home provided plenty of time to rest, we did manage to get out and support Grand Junction's local restaurant economy. We loved our daily outings either to celebrate or visit with friends, discover a new, fun place to eat, or even just satisfy a craving!


Our dear friend Heidi's birthday celebration dinner at The Ale House:

Dinner on the back deck at the new Edgewater Brewery:

Satisfying a craving for a spicy tuna roll at No Coast:

Celebrating Lena's graduation from GJHS:


BASEBALL


And then there is Beaver Baseball!

We have caught the weekend games for sure ~ and the first weekend home was so cold: while it snowed in Meeker we were out of town and bundled up pretty tightly to see them almost pull off a win in the cold rain.
oh this picture! I laugh every time I look at it because Jason looks like a crazy homeless man!
(it was just cold and he was cheering... I swear)

Then the next weekend was absolutely gorgeous!
We watched them eke out a win in extra innings while the warm sun beat down on Meeker and sunburned anything we forgot to cover!


PARTY!

We made it home one Friday afternoon just in time to get the boys to the Elementary School PTO-sponsored annual Spring Fling! The kids were all excited to celebrate the school year...

the fearsome first-graders:

and the fearless fourth-graders:


... then last weekend it was the adults' turn to dress up and celebrate with the annual
Pioneers Healthcare Foundation Spring Gala.

We were lucky enough to have friends come party with us for the weekend:
the Furman University contingency
Jason and his bevy of beauties!


All in all, the past couple of weeks have been fun.
It has been like that late hour of the road trip when you know you're close to home and you start to recognize familiar landscapes... and you sit back, relax and enjoy the journey knowing that you will be in your own bed at the end of the day.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Mile 4: baseball, burritos and the Hair Club For Men


Before leaving the hospital for good, Jason and I got to escape again for a night and go watch Hamp play baseball! It was an awesome night - the Beavers played well, Hamp pitched the last 2 innings and did great (first time seeing him pitch... a little nerve-wracking, but SO exciting!) and they won the game. Of course, my favorite part was seeing Hamp love on his dad in between innings...

I managed to catch Hamp pitch the last out of the game:

Later that same evening I was able to redeem myself... see, the story goes:

The last time we were in Rifle to watch Hamp's ball game, I denied Jason a stop at one of our favorite joints (turns out I was a little nervous about getting back to the hospital... 
also turns out that a couple more weeks can mellow out an in-patent therapy hostess!)
So this time he got the Green Chile Smothered Burrito (and the Dirty Hippie) that he'd been craving for weeks!

Our homecoming back to Meeker could NOT have been any more memorable!
It just happened to be the day of an all-school assembly - so Jason was able to see everyone and tell them thank you for all their support. Jason was also able to high-five all the kids and got a fair share of germy, elementary school hugs!

The evening was even better - Jason finally got the Holliday's prime rib (and Dirty Hippie) he'd been craving for weeks! But best of all, Jason was able to high-five all his adult friends and got his fair share of germy, bald-headed hugs!
all in the name of solidarity!

So... the next mile includes staying in Grand Junction Mon-Fri for radiation treatments, and coming home again on the weekend.

Is it Friday yet?!!?!