Fifth Chemo Trip

Our trip to SoCal this past week included a detour by way of the 101. It had been months since we’d seen our Santa Barbara friend and I had a quilt and jam to deliver to her. We spent five delightful hours with Sally catching up and eating, of course. We were greeted with a table set for best friends (very hungry best friends as Sally had told us not to eat) and an antipasto plate that was beyond any first course I’ve ever had. Later we went to the Boathouse, which is located on Hendry’s Beach, and enjoyed a bowl of clam chowder. Our power visit was worth every extra mile added to our drive.

We left Santa Barbara around 7 p.m. and drove to Culver City and spent an hour with the girls before checking into our hotel Wednesday night. Lauren had arrived on Tuesday so as to accompany Jana to her pre-surgery meeting with the cancer and plastic surgeons at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Originally Verne and I were going to attend the meeting with Jana and Lauren was to fly in Wednesday evening. However, when Lauren told me she had two pages of questions (single spaced) for the doctors and I was to take copious notes, I knew Lauren was the best person for the job and I was more than happy to rebook her flight a day early. Her update will be posted this week on Caring Bridge.

The crux of the meeting is this: Jana will be having a double mastectomy and reconstruction on May 14^th. She will be in the hospital for two to three days. Her initial recovery will be from two to four weeks if all goes well. We’re hopeful that Jana won’t require radiation, but that will be determined at the time of her surgery and would result in a longer recovery period. Lauren has scheduled time off the last two weeks of May and will be taking care of her sister during her recovery, as Jana will need round-the-clock care and assistance.

We spent much of Thursday at Jana’s chemotherapy session. It always sounds strange to say we had a good time. However, we had a good time! It was much the same as Chemo Trip #4 as we lucked out and had the same sweet nurse, we followed the treatment with an ice cream cone, and went back home to do a little work around Jana’s cottage. Dinner won’t sound like much to anyone reading this, but it was Jana’s choice and special in so many ways…Del Taco! When the girls were very, very young we lived in Anaheim Hills and would take them (and often one or two of the older siblings) to Del Taco for Taco Tuesday. This family tradition went on for years and there were a number of stories that came from our Taco Tuesday evenings, none of which would interest an outsider to the family, but all of which bring a smile as we reminisce.

We left for home on Friday with Lauren in tow. According to her, she needed a little “parent time.” Again, her reservation was changed to fly out of Sacramento on Sunday, rather than LA on Saturday. You may question this change all for a day together…I’d do it again in a heartbeat. We made the seven hour drive on Friday, enjoyed dinner together at the Union Hotel in Volcano (a favorite) that evening, spent an intense day quilting and dehydrating on Saturday, had another wonderful dinner on Saturday night, this time at Lauren’s favorite Italian restaurant in Pine Grove, Giannini’s. Easter Sunday we were up early and off to the airport.

I’m reminded of something Verne said to me early in our relationship. He said, “I would drive an hour to spend five minutes with you.” And he often did. While I didn’t completely understand his outlook on life, which was in sharp contrast to my own practical approach, I loved his spontaneity then and over the years I’ve come to better understand it. Having a daughter with cancer has given me a new appreciation of Verne’s outlook. Life is all about love and little else matters.