ORIGINAL POST: 8/27/17
UPDATED: 8/30/17

My blog has been quiet these past few weeks. Why? Because I’ve been gallivanting around the southern United States having fun and enjoying summer.

Not only am I feeling great, but there are exciting developments in the recent cancer saga. I returned home from a fantastic two-week trip to New Orleans and Orange Beach, Alabama to discover my insurance covered the first round of PRRT. Hip Hip Hooray! And in even better news, last week’s blood work revealed a 75% tumor marker reduction. This wasn’t a surprise considering how I’m feeling and the significant reduction in my only symptom of facial flushing.

My husband and I decided to take advantage of our good luck and plan a weekend in Galveston Beach before my next scheduled therapy on August 31st.

“NOT SO FAST,” said the universe.

I received a call Thursday from a Coordinator at Excel Diagnostics giving me a heads up on potential therapy delays due to the approaching hurricane. I’m a little embarrassed to say this was the first I was hearing of the situation. See, I’ve been trying to shelter myself from the news because I don’t need any more stress.

But with this development, I tuned in and decided a trip to Galveston during a hurricane was pointless. Ever the planner, I quickly came up with a back-up vacation, which was to take our scheduled flight to Houston Saturday morning and drive to Dallas for the weekend. We held our breath as we headed to the airport with notifications alerting us that we were “On Time”, but 30 minutes before our departure, the flight was cancelled.

Not too worry. I had a Plan C. So, we rented a car in Nashville and are taking a little southern road trip. I’ve always wanted to visit Memphis, Little Rock and Dallas (said not many people).

Last night we stopped in Memphis, got a room at the Peabody and bounced around the lively city on a Saturday night. Today we drove to Little Rock  and visited the Clinton Presidential Library. Tomorrow the plan is to drive to Dallas for more visiting while watching the conditions from (not too) a far. Plan C included hopes that the situation would improve by Wednesday when I’m scheduled at the clinic.

NOT SO FAST…

I can rationalize with myself that worrying about things outside my control (ie, cancer and hurricanes) is a waste of time, but  I can not help but be selfishly stressed over the uncertain timing of my next therapy.

But the truth is that I/we am/are not powerless. We can pray. If you are not a prayer, just replace the word with send good vibes, thoughts, positive energy, etc. The people of Texas need our prayers, especially those in harm’s way and those who will experience medical emergencies. We need to pray for the people whose medical treatment and surgeries will be delayed because of this catastrophe, especially those who are critical. We need to pray for those who will not have the financial resources to recover from such an event. We need to pray for our government, rescue and medical workers who selflessly sacrifice themselves for others.

This has been (yet another) reminder how out of control we really are when it comes to nature and science. We all hold dual citizenship in sickness and health and in safety and harm no matter our color, religion, bank balance, location, gender, orientation and level of power.

So, after all of those prayers, if you have an extra I’d gratefully accept them as I watch and wait from Little Rock tonight and Dallas tomorrow.

***UPDATE: 8/30/17***
Seconds after we crossed the Arkansas-Texas state line, I received an email from Excel Diagnostics rescheduling my treatment to September 12. It was a relief and a disappointment. Still driving towards Dallas, we debated if we should continue and try to get a flight home or just turn the car around. After several failed attempts to call the overwhelmed airline for our options, we decided to drive. By taking turns every couple hours, podcasts, a book on tape and making calls to change our plans, the eight hour drive went surprisingly fast. Fortunately, we were given full refunds for all our reservations, so all we were really out is the time and effort.

My first therapy took a lot of coordinating and I felt good this one was going smooth until the hurricane hit. My heart breaks for those who are not strong enough, too sick and/or don’t know how to navigate this maze. I also feel guilty for complaining when there are people in Texas who’ve lost their homes, animals and loved ones. It will only take me a couple days to re-plan for my next therapy, but it will take some years to recover from this.

“We need each other, and we must care for one another.”
Bill Clinton, 1993 Inaugural Address