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Dear Friends~
The natural disasters down in Houston, Louisiana and Florida sure do put perspective on the present personal hard-to- share medical saga we are presently living through.
Buzz and I had to get "On the Road Again", this time being rushed home from (and cutting short our 3-month volunteering commitment) the Organ Mountains National Monument (Dripping Springs Natural Area) in New Mexico by doctor's orders in Las Cruces in mid-August. I had vague symptoms, hard to describe clearly, that developed into more serious ones, including severe back pain. In the end, a family doctor in Las Cruces called for an MRI and CT Scan. The doctor diagnosed lung cancer and sent us home to oncologists in Asheville. We can't believe how quickly specialists have worked us into the medical process around this kind of crisis.
Curiously, on the bleak trip driving home across the Texas Panhandle of vast expanses of low growing brush and no signs of pronghorns or road runners, nor blooming dessert cactus or pink dessert willows, suddenly there was this huge billboard (sometimes which are turn-offs) in big letters: "FEAR NOT! I AM WITH YOU." That stayed with us the whole way home and amidst the tearing up and the disappointment of giving up the wonder of Dripping Springs and our bright happy moments there, there were pleasant memories of highlights in our life together and some knowing laughs between us. Mysteriously, we have been feeling inner peace, knowing that that could come and go.
We hope your own lives aren't so dramatic and that you are grateful for even just plain ordinary boring dull living.
Unfortunately, the cancer has spread to some vertebrae and even the brain, and I've already gone through ten radiation treatments in those areas. We are meeting again with our lead oncologist on September 11 and will know more about what course of treatment will be proposed to target the cancer.
We often feel we are once again off on a new, scary adventure in a new culture with a new language, trying to learn how to cope and live meaningfully. Still experiencing the gift of Inner Peace and noticing bright spots in the midst of this medical saga.
We'll try to post on occasion about how we see things, (both the bright spots and the less-than-bright spots.)
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