Life in Illinois

After finally orchestrating and completing our move, we now had time to focus on treatment and therapy. As I mentioned, I work remotely so I was able to drive my husband to the hospital as needed. I had lived in New York my entire life and had always felt the need to live near a large body of water so I was unsure if I was going to enjoy living in the Midwest. As it turns out, we lived a little over a mile from Lake Michigan. If you haven’t seen it, it looks like an ocean, a fresh water ocean.

Most of 2008 was dedicated to recovery. We were able to explore the area and discovered a wealth of opportunity. We were very close to the Wisconsin border where there was an Outlet Mall, an amazing employee owned supermarket, the headquarters of Jelly Belly candies and a place called the Mars Cheese Castle where cheese reigned. It’s Wisconsin! When were were there, the Cheese Castle was a modest one story masonry building. I visited a few years ago. It has been rebuilt and is now a genuine castle.

Close to our house there were numerous parks, of course the lake, a number of good restaurants and Chicago was a 40 minute commute away. I had been to Chicago before but now I could visit at will. Chicago has a wonderful theater district and my favorite museum, the Field Museum. We were able to see Jersey Boys and Rent which due to circumstance, we had missed in New York. There were always activities and events at the cancer hospital and as my husband got stronger, we both became members of an organization dedicated to helping new and existing patients live the best life possible. The message we strove to impart, especially to patients who appeared defeated, was that you came here for treatment primarily to get your life back. It may not be exactly as it was, but it can be so much better than you realize. It will take work and determination but in the long run, worth the effort.

My sister in law, my nephew, my aunt and my cousin came to visit. We did the tourist thing in Chicago and caught a Brewers game in Milwaukee.

Entrance to the Field Museum
My nephew and sister in law in front of Sue’s head.

And Sue herself
Lake Michigan with Chicago Skyline
Brewers Stadium

On a sad note, my father in law passed away in November, in Florida and since my husband had just started a new round of radiation treatments that could not be interrupted, I had to make the arrangements. Dad wanted to be buried in New York next to his wife so I spent the next week flying from Illinois to Florida to New York and back to Illinois. It was worth it. The service was intimate and beautiful. My husband did have the opportunity to speak to his dad in the hospital less than an hour before he passed. The conversation ended with them both at peace.

We spent the holidays with my husband’s cousin and her family and friends we had made at the hospital.

2009 arrived on schedule. We braved the winter weather (really no worse than New York). Things were looking up. My husband’s cancer was in remission and he was back to about 90% of his former self. We saw baseball games in Baltimore and St Louis. Both are definitely worth a visit.

Baltimore Inner Harbor

Orioles Game
The Gateway Arch St Louis
View from the Arch with Busch Stadium

We took a trip back to New York and thanks to a friend, we were able to see the nearly completed Yankee Stadium and the new home of the Mets, Citifield.

Yankee Stadium
Citifield

We were able to take Lenny with us to all these destinations. The highlight of that year was the cruise to Alaska, with Lenny of course.

The cruise wasn’t on our radar until my husband’s cousin (and one of my closest friends) mentioned she was taking this trip and asked if we wanted to join her and her friends. After the intensity of the past two years it sounded like a great idea. If you are physically able, I highly recommend a vacation. Being somewhere far from the stresses of illness and treatment is good medicine. It also gives you an idea of what you are capable of. Strength and stamina can vary during treatment but the chance to experience a different environment with loved ones can be its own form of therapy. The cruise began in Vancouver which was breathtaking but getting there was a challenge. The airline couldn’t locate Lenny’s paperwork or a wheelchair. This was O’Hare after all. The papers and wheelchair finally surfaced and we were taken to the gate. We had arrived 4 hours early and this had taken up at nearly an hour. At least another hour later, an announcement about a gate change was barely audible and we went to the wrong gate. After waiting another hour+ at a gate with no activity, I went to information and was directed to the correct gate. By now, it was time to board and the gate we needed was at the opposite end of the airport. I was able to commandeer an airport employee with a golf cart who put us, our bags and Lenny on the cart and raced to the gate. We arrived with minutes to spare. But we made it. In a case like this, not enough can be said for persistence. After the mad airport dash, we were finally able to take a breath and eagerly anticipated boarding the ship.

Vancouver Pier