Birthday in Mexico

It was just two years ago. We celebrated Alive at 55 here at El Dorado Royale. The seismic shift that would come in October of 2021 was impossible to guess. This last week was the first time Michele has been able to leave the country since her diagnosis.

A gathering of friends

Familiar sites and seeing the excitement of a first visit for friends. There are ten of us on the trip. Which for me is the right size. It is already a challenge for dinners with this many :-).

We have had so many concerns with “if” we would be ok. Would Michele have the energy from day to day. There are things we had to plan and measure out. No bicycle tour (no risk of falling). No open back Sandals. Need to make sure we have solid footing.

As it turned out. All was perfect! Leukemia can be an invasive disease… but not on this trip.

We celebrated the days enjoying the pool. The nights with dinners that were extraordinary. For Michele’s Birthday, we gathered with all our friends for a private concert by Juan Pablo. Such a phenomenal musician that plays almost nightly at the Fuentes Diner Theater at the resort.

For me it was an emotional trip. I think for the hour we had the concert I was in tears. Grateful of heart for the chance to travel again… Celebrate her birthday again… more moments. I realized that we have spent much of our life in pursuit of “first”. I spent many moments wondering on this trip if we were entering the era of the “last”. Was this the last time we would be in Mexico, on a trip to a foreign country, or enjoying seeing friends enjoy what we have come to enjoy?

To cope with the possibilities, we have told ourselves…”If we don’t <fill in the blank> again, it would be ok.” Would it? I know at some point we will get there. But not this trip. Not anytime soon.

Back to MD Anderson

Today we went back to MD Anderson for our latest Dr. Visit. The numbers were looking good. Our spirits were optimistic. We had a great visit with the Doctor and learned that this maintenance round is a little different than what we have been doing. There is 5 straight days of outpatient Chemo to be done. Dr. Issa loves to chuckle when we say “Wait, we have something”. And we do.

Michele has a group of her High School Friends coming tomorrow. So, we can push the first dose out until Monday. Keeping on schedule as close as possible. I expect much more laughter this weekend.

I know you all want to know what is happening more often

It is ok to reach out to us and ask. We have just been busy with work and our granddaughter Bella. We were visiting with “New” Leukemia patients at the clinic today and talked about how being able to work through this disease has been a blessing. A lot has changed for us in our business approach since diagnosis and yet it has been an exceptional reset.

We are seeing new ways to approach our business and most days we are at the desk at 7am and pulling ourselves downstairs to sleep at 9pm. We have been adding in things to break up the day. We have a beautiful flower garden happening in the backyard that needs tending. We take regular walks to break up the day. It is our best time to talk and catch up!

Baby Bella visits with her incredible style at least once a week and we are “forced” to entertain her with her infectious smile. She can sit up now and is learning to grab things and before we know it, she will be crawling. There is something enjoyable about making nonsense happy sounds in high pitched voices to a child that only hears the equivalent of Charlie Brown’s teacher.

This is our life. This is the chapter we are in. We love it.

Til next time!