No Other Way

So just a quick update to let you all know the current plan for Mike and I. Obviously, I’m sure many of you are aware that a few weeks ago we found out that dad’s cancer came back and has spread to his lungs and his liver. His oncologist started him on Sutent, an oral chemotherapy drug that targets renal cell carcinoma, and today is day 15 out of 28. He’s already made it past his half way mark for this round, but it’s been rough. OK, that is a huge understatement, but I’m not going to get into all of that right now.

Mike and I came home for a visit last weekend but left behind all of our stuff in CT assuming we were going right back on Sunday. After being here for a few days and seeing dad, and after a lot of discussion and planning, we made the decision to cancel my contract in CT and stay in Lancaster temporarily to help mom and dad and to be here for them during this time. This was not an easy decision at all, but I know that I need to be here right now, and I want to be here right now to love my dad the only way I know how.

So here we are taking one day at a time with this new plan. I may start to look for some temporary per diem nursing jobs around here, but at this point we just have to keep reassessing and revising our plan as we need to day by day. I miss my job, I miss traveling, I miss making money, and strangely enough I miss wearing my pretty new royal blue Gray’s Anatomy scrubs. But what makes this decision so much easier is when I remember how much I miss my dad when we pack up, say goodbye, and head back to our apartment and our life. Although we’ve only been home for a little over a week, so much has already happened and changed and I’m so grateful that I didn’t miss a moment of it, good and bad, and that I have been here for everything. Though this might not have been the original canvas painting we had envisioned, it is a brush stroke that adds character and emotion and a new depth to the masterpiece. My dad needs me right now, and I need him. I’d have it no other way.