365 days

Early February of last year started it all.  A simple biopsy, and then the rest.  Today my mom went in for what we hope (fingers crossed, pray, whatever you believe may work) was her last chemo session.  And it's been one great day!  I slept in a little, but I didn't care.  Work is just work now.  I had tea instead of my morning diet Coke (a big achievement for me), and it was a pretty quiet day at work (another rarity).  I had time to check out photos from the weekend, and started looking at going to the Royal Tyrell Museum ... maybe tomorrow?  I went to see my mom at lunch time and, quite unusual for her these days, she was walking much better.  I think it's her boost from knowing this may have been it, the last one, the last time to be poked numerous times, get bag after bag of IV pumped into you, the last day she'd bring me a sandwich, the last day that chemo has been our routine.  Much to our surprise, her CA125 which had been sitting around 24-26 for the past two to three months had dropped to 20.5.  This is big news for us these days. We hope that this is the end of the weeks in hospital, infections, the unknown, and almost daily rollercoaster rides.  The nurse asked us if we are celebrating tonight and we must have had this deer-in-the-headlights look on our faces.  Superstitious probably, but no, there won't be a celebration.  We will, however, be spending Family Day long weekend together.  On March 16th is her completion visit before going to check-ups every three months.  This is exactly 365 days after the first official diagnosis on March 17th last year.

I started this blog about a year ago, intending to write about my adventures.  The adventures I thought of were my weekends in the mountains.  Never in my wildest dreams did I expect a ride like this, but here's to much better luck this year - and more stories of mountain adventures.

Grassi Lakes