Second Chemo Trip

We made our second trip to SoCal last week to accompany Jana to her chemo treatment. Scott flew down from Seattle to join us and spend the weekend. It’s been Jana’s choice that we spend Wednesday through Friday with her and then leave before the going gets tough. She’s at her peak (that term is relative, as even on her best days she is far from feeling normal) those three days and then the waves of sickness return sometime on Saturday. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to help her through that following week and she prefers to be alone.

Our time together with the three kids (Lauren also flew down from Portland to be with Jana) was incredible…so good to see Scott and I loved seeing  “the Mexico Fishing Team” together. Here’s a picture from their most recent trip last fall and shows the marlin they teamed up to catch. Normally, it would have been released, but, sadly, the three-hour fight did it in. The meat was shared with the boat captain and Scott had the rest smoked.

Jana was tired Thursday afternoon, but managed to muster strength to plant several new herbs and succulents she got on the way home from her treatment. She has a green thumb and loves to “work in her garden.” She reminds me of me when I lived in SoCal and spent hours propagating and tending my plants and was active in the local garden club. Living in the foothills with deer, turkey, and other plant-predators, I have given up all hopes of growing anything beyond rosemary and lavender or the occasional hanging basket of flowering plants. 

Thursday evening, we went to our favorite restaurant, Musha, and were seated in their private room where we removed our shoes upon entering and sat on the floor. What fun! As usual, the food was amazing and we ordered no less than a dozen courses finishing with their green tea ice cream. Scott entertained us with his travel stories, a favorite (of ours) being his story of a day and night spent in Japan wearing only a bathrobe, actually a kimono, beginning with a sauna and an elaborate dinner and ending being escorted by his Japanese client from one karaoke bar to another until the wee hours of the morning. Scott’s a seasoned world traveler and his stories of these foreign adventures kept us laughing, but it was his understanding and acceptance of other peoples’ customs, traditions, and general ways of life that made me proud. Verne and I have never left the states and while we are open-minded to ways and beliefs that differ from our own, Scott is experiencing it first hand. While he’s a great storyteller and has a wonderful sense of humor, he is always respectful and appreciative of these people and their cultures that are so different from our own.  

The following morning we all gathered at Bar 9 across from Jana’s cottage and enjoyed one of their delicious breakfasts…actually, there are only two to choose from: bacon and avocado drizzled with a vinaigrette on multigrain toast (Yum!) or a breakfast sandwich of bacon, chard, and a over-easy egg (double Yum!). Friday afternoon Scott attended a coin show in Long Beach and Lauren met up with her girlfriends and former roommates from Berkeley. It just happened that one of her friends was spending a two-day layover on her trip from Australia (where she lives) to New York to visit her father. The other two girls live in L.A. It had been ten years since the four of them first met at the dorms in Berkeley, became fast friends and later lived in a multi-room house on MLK until they all graduated.

This was an especially short trip as we had a commitment on Saturday mid-day and had to drive back to Volcano on Friday afternoon. But, three short weeks and we’ll be making the trip again and Jana will be at the mid-point of her chemotherapy! Lauren has set up a blog on a non-profit website called www.caringbridge.org, which includes all of her email “Jana updates” she’s sent over the past few months. If you are interested, let Lauren know at laurrae@gmail.com and she’ll either add you to the email list or send you an invite or go directly to www.caringbridge.org for Jana Moser. Love to all and thank you for your continued support of Jana and the family.