On the road again...and then some more.

My parents drove back to Houston today for Mom to meet with a nutritionist and a doctor who would go over all her tests from last week and set out a plan to move forward. They left Austin around 10:30 a.m. and now, at 5:30 p.m. are headed back to Austin!

Her appointments were at 3:00 and 4:30. I haven't heard what the nutritionist said, but the doctor said her "scans were clear," her "lymph nodes are clear," and her cancer is "Stage I." That is all fantastic news!

The next step is for Mom to wait for a phone call that should come in the next 48 hours. That phone call is expected to be the one that will set up the next steps for Mom's treatment. That's all we really know for now. So far, this whole process has been a lot of "hurry up and wait". But, at least we are moving forward, even if its not as fast as we want to be moving. :o)

The plan for now, is for my parents to stay tonight with us in Austin and then head back to Midland tomorrow. During that time, we'll just be waiting for that phone call to tell us when she has to be back for whatever is next.

In general , everything with my mom is good news (besides the part that we just have to be patient through this whole process). The not-so-good news is with my Aunt Veta. After she was hospitalized a few days ago, it was discovered that the cancer had spread to her brain. They thought that she might have had a stroke, but it appears that the tumor in her brain gave her stroke-like symptoms. Recently, my aunt had said that she didn't want to go through anymore chemo treatments. Now, her doctor says that there isn't anything else they can do for her. Chemo isn't an option even if my aunt was willing to undergo the treatment.

My understanding is that they'll be moving her to hospice care. I'm hoping to make the drive to Abilene tomorrow to see her and spend some with her.

My aunt has lived with cancer for a very long time, and she may continue to do so for a while longer. But, I learned the hard way with my cousin Carla, that you can't take your loved ones' presence for granted. The last time I saw Carla was at my sister's wedding in July. While you could visibly see the effects cancer had had on her, she was doing well. She was happy and smiling and seemed as healthy as could be, given the circumstances. I never imagined that would be the last time I would see her.

My assumption was this: Should the day come that Carla's health deteriorated so tremendously that she wouldn't recover, I would still have time to see her, tell her I loved her, and say goodbye. My assumption was very wrong and its a mistake that I don't want to make again.

So, Abilene...here I come.

This leads me to the most important lesson that "cancer" has taught me:

God has a plan for each and everyone one of us. Some of us will spend less time on Earth than others. Some of us will take on diseases like cancer. Some of us will sit next to our loved ones as they fight the disease. Some of us will watch our loved ones survive, some of us will not.

Whatever our individual route, God is constantly there for us to trust in and lean upon (Proverbs 3:5). As we navigate these routes, God blesses us with our family and friends to love and enjoy. Our lives tend to get so busy with important and unimportant things, but to truly live, we have to set those unimportant things aside and take the time we are given and spend it with one another.