Monday, May 6 - On Friday morning, Dane & I, along with his brother Neal, boarded Southwest Airlines for a weekend trip to Houston. This was another trip that was planned before cancer struck. I had my last chemo before surgery scheduled a day earlier so I could make the trip.
Dane has been in contact via phone and emails with his distant cousin, George Strake for a couple of years now and has wanted to meet him in person for some time, but has not had an opportunity to work in Houston. Since the NRA convention was being held there, along with one of my best friends from high school also living there, we decided to take the trip. I stayed with Jill, while the boys holed up in a hotel and went to the convention.
Upon our arrival we were treated to dinner and a ballgame by George and Annette Strake. I won't go into the family history but it was a very interesting evening and a whole lot of fun. George and his wife Annette also took us to the Astro's ballgame so we got to see Minute Maid Park. It was a pretty cool stadium to visit. We caught the last few innings due to visiting over dinner for so long. Former cardinal, Rick Ankiel was playing for the Astros . We did not bring home a win for them though.
Dane then dropped me off at Jill's. What a great reunion that was. We stayed up and chatted way too long. She is one of those friends that you don't see for years, but when you do, it just picks right up where you left off. Thanks so much Jill, for your hospitality and the great visit.
I slept well that night. Jill & I mostly just stayed at her house and visited on Saturday. I did finally get to meet her daughter Emily who I hadn't seen since she was a toddler. We did take a ride around her stomping grounds and checked out a small Art Festival. The weather in Houston was good to us. No humidity and in the 70's while it was raining the whole weekend in St. Louis.
On Sunday, Dane & Neal picked us up for breakfast and we all went and had a great meal at a French breakfast establishment. I, of course, shared one with Jill as my appetite was starting to wane and nothing really tastes good at this point after chemo. After we dropped Jill and Emily off, we headed over to some other good friends of Dane's for a short visit. This is an older man that Dane had gotten very close to while he was just a kid taking on a new job in Houston back in the 70's with the phone company. Jack taught Dane a lot in those days. He always tries to visit him when he is down there and I have met them several times also.
I stayed up on my anti-nausea meds and kept it at bay pretty well. I was starting to feel puny on Sunday which is the 4th day after chemo, so not a surprise. We had a light lunch at an outdoor cafe (I'm telling you the weather was awesome) then headed to the airport.
I was hoping to sleep on the plane, but I was hot, it was crowded and I couldn't get comfortable. It was also one of the roughest flights I have ever flown. Welcome to St. Louis, it was still raining when we got in. Blah!
We picked up Willow from my parents and headed home. Got to bed shortly afterwards and I slept like a rock.
So, this is just to let you all know that I am doing well and had a nice break in routine before surgery scheduled for May 22. We are planning on meeting Adam, Ann and Brayden (whom I haven't seen for 3 months) this Saturday for a Mother's Day brunch.......so excited.
I can tell that the Hand & Foot Syndrome is trying to act up again - so have been using a lot of lotion and hoping it dies back down. I purposely stayed off my feet this past weekend for this reason. I am apprehensive, but eager for surgery and to get moving on to the next part of this journey so it can be over.
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference! Winston Churchill
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