Intermission

I am not someone who attends plays often but when I do I look forward to intermission. A time to stretch my legs, get a snack - maybe a cocktail, go to the bathroom and chat with my fellow play-goers. I have found that intermission can sometimes not be long enough though. The bathroom lines are long, I don't have time to enjoy my cocktail or eat my snack. Before you know it, the lights are blinking and it's time to start the show again.

There are some similarities I can draw between an intermission, as described above, and the time between January 2014, my last blog entry, and February 2018, the time our show has once again started. In this blog post I'll try to draw those similarities but also call out the differences, some of which will be quite obvious!

From January 2014 to February 2018 Nan has taken full advantage of her intermission! Travel galore including trips to Las Vegas, Hawaii, California, Florida, France, Singapore, Tokyo, England, Amsterdam with so many more plans for travel in the works (Alaska and Germany just to name a few). Visits with friends and family. Adopting new furry friends and even having to say goodbye to furry friends along the way. Watching grandchildren be born (youngest grandchild, Max, is now 3.5 years old!), head off to new schools, excel in new sports and even start driving (scary!). Meeting new milestones in life (turning 70!) and taking full advantage of life to it's absolute fullest!

Nan has definitely stretched her legs, had a bathroom break, caught up with fellow event-goers and gotten a cocktail (or a few!) during her intermission. This may be where the similarities end though. Intermission has a distinct beginning and end and let me tell you, nobody warned us, blinking lights or otherwise, that it was time for Nan to get back to her "show". Usually, while intermission is a fun way to break up the show, you also look forward to things getting started again and that certainly cannot be said for this particular "show". Lastly, intermission is typically a one-time thing, signaling the half-way point in the show. For us, we are hoping our intermission was just one of many and that Nan's "show" will continue on with many more intermissions to come.

Analogy's aside, we found ourselves in February 2018 back at the Oncologist's office discussing how to combat the increasing worry that Nan's cancer was back. She was feeling "off" and her blood value which is tested for pancreatic cancer (CA-19) was continuing to climb despite being on an oral chemo for the last year. Scan after scan and nothing definitive but the potential for a slight 'spot' in the area of her Whipple surgery. Laparoscopy determined to be too dangerous for a fishing expedition given all of Nan's previous issues, the decision was made to call it what we all feared, Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer, and start up the tried and true 5-FU infusion chemo.

Our intermission was definitely not long enough. While I know none of us are ready to get back to this "show" we all recognize that Nan is strong, a fighter. We are all in this together and ready to fight for our next period of intermission!