Hey there, friends! Figured I'd drop in and provide an update on what's been going on - it's been almost a month since my last post! Like I said in my last post, we're back in New Jersey and now more settled in and comfortable since last I posted. We've really made a cozy spot out of our space with Jess's dad. We have a nice little living room area, our bedroom, an office, and a bathroom (which Jess and I just redid the floor of - new tile!).
I've been feeling pretty good, which is weird because I have no idea what is going inside my body, with the cancer. I'm eating well, with no issues. In fact, I haven't used my tube in months and when I meet with the oncologist tomorrow, I'm going to see about just having it removed. They said I was most definitely going to lose my hair, but nope. Nothing is thinning or falling out and my beard is growing in like a viking. For the most part, I haven't been feeling sick. I'm still not really putting weight on, but I'm not losing it either. I've had energy and creative motivation...all great signs, I suppose, but again, no idea what is happening inside. And I won't know until the next scan. Can it be that I'm driving back the cancerous forces? I mean, Stage IV. That's no joke. Stage IV makes it sound like I should be down and out. I'm not, and I'm not complaining! I just don't know how to feel about it when the shadow may still be rising, you know?
The whole transition from Virginia oncology care to NJ care is underway. I met with the General Practitioner at the VA hospital and got the referrals and records underway. Tomorrow I'll meet with the oncologist and they're getting me set up with a place closer to Frenchtown, so I don't have to travel the hour and a half to Philadelphia for treatment and care, but still be under the care of the VA. This week was supposed to be a treatment week, but with the transition, looks like that'll be pushed back a week or two. And I'm not on the pills still, after what they were doing to my heart. I guess I'll find out what they want to do there when I meet with the team tomorrow.
In the meantime, we went viral this morning. Jess was interviewed by Insider Magazine, after they read her original article about navigating cancer while living in a rural area. The Insider article spread across a whole bunch of news networks and sites and boom! Viral moment. You can read The Insider article here: https://www.insider.com/moved-from-new-jersey-west-virginia-regrets-poor-healthcare-2023-9 Her original article on The Cancer Hope site is less sensationalized and you can read that here: https://cancerhopenetwork.org/blog/in-the-woods-with-cancer-day-one/
We're doing okay right now though. Jess is teaching a couple of writing classes at Centenary
University and enjoying that. She's also working on a couple of new writing projects. I'm working on a new middle-grade novel and wrapping up the last couple of books in the Junior Monster Scouts series (books 9 and 10).
We're still living with uncertainty: where, ultimately, are we going to live? Can we find a small house? Will we just buy an RV? Build a tiny home somewhere? Live in a yurt? What full-time opportunity or job/career might Jess land (Centenary is just an adjuncting gig right now)? What is the state of my health? What is the prognosis? There are still so many questions. But that's life, right? And right now, we're living, doing the best that we can.
Until next time...
-j