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Posted by: Dan @ 10:49 pm
Sunday, 7:30 pm…
We’re home. Home, love that word… Great to be back and see the snow on the mountains around the valley… the last of the golden leaves clinging to trees and blowing around the yard… and the greeting by the very happy dogs and cat… and the banners and signs and balloons outside welcoming us home… and the massive pile of firewood rounds I had not chopped yet turned into huge rows of chopped and stacked wood (THANK YOU woodchopping crew! Unbelievable!)… and the yardwork and plants put to bed… and the food in the refridgerator and bakery goodies on the counter… and the flowers and notes and poems in the kitchen… what a wonderful homecoming. Our angels on the homefront have been busy indeed… thank you all. You bless our lives beyond measure. We can only hope to repay you all somehow, someday.
On Friday afternoon we met with Sandy’s oncologist at the Stanford Cancer Center. No real surprises with his recommendations, basically what he had told us before the surgery. Though the surgery got the active area of tumor out, the fact that it is now a grade 4 tumor means she cannot delay in chemo treatment. They like to start with the least toxic medicine first to see how Sandy responds to it. So we brought home the first round of her treatment (just ordinary looking pills in ordinary medicine bottles) which she will begin this Friday. Sandy continues to feel better every day, fatigued easily and in some pain, but feeling strong.
Friday evening we drove to San Jose from Stanford to return the rental car, got a cab ride to the train station and waited for the train. We were a bit early, and the train was a little late, so after a two hour wait we got on the train for the trip home at about 9:30pm…. looking forward to a slow relaxing trip home…. little did we know how wonderfully slow it would turn out to be.
After a few delays at different locations for track repairs during the night, we awoke in our little roomette (if you haven’t ridden Amtrak, these are very small rooms with two facing chairs that fold down into one narrow bed, with a pull-down narrow bunk bed just above that, so they sleep two people if you’re really compatible… but for us it was delightfully cozy). Not surprisingly because of the delays, we were still in California at daylight. We rolled into Klamath Falls and it started snowing. More delays for track repairs (no problem with us, glad they’re fixing those tracks) As the train climbed toward Chemult the snow was falling hard and there was already a lot on the ground. Quite a contrast to the palm trees and 75-degrees of Palo Alto.
We climbed over Willamette Pass and it was a full-on winter storm up there… it was beautiful to watch through the big windows of the train. As we dropped down the west side of the pass, traversing along the steep side of a mountain, there was a sudden sharp thump thump and the train came to a screeching halt. After a long eerie silence, the train conductor’s voice came over the speakers… "Ummm, folks, it appears we have crashed into a rock slide… but nothing to worry about, the train is not derailed… but there are some very large rocks on the tracks… but what is more of a problem is the rocks wedged underneath the train…"
Anyway, to make a long story short, they had to get a track crew from toward Eugene to come up, move the rocks and actually jack up the engine cars to get the rocks out. Luckily no major train or track damage. But we were sitting there about 3-1/2 hours, during which time it got dark. But we actually enjoyed it, because it coincided with a free wine tasting in the lounge car… so the entire time they’re working on the rockslide, we’re drinking wine and meeting some fun people. [And there’s the advantage to train travel over plane — the train has an accident and we’re able to sit there and drink wine and laugh about it. If a plane has a major accident, well folks your seat cushion is a flotation device, here’s the oxygen masks, there’s the exit doors…]. So the rockslide actually cemented our love of train travel. We had a great time, saw some beautiful country and met some really interesting people. And even though we got to Tacoma at 2:30am instead of 7pm, we would do it again… such a nice slow transition for us after 2+ weeks of intensity.
We took a shuttle van to the airport, picked up our car, luckily it started, drove out of the eerily deserted airport to a motel, checked in at 3:30am, tried to sleep until 11am this morning and left to get breakfast before hittng the road. As we’re sitting there eating, I look up and in the booth behind Sandy I see the back of a man’s head… a big area shaved, and the u-shaped incision and stitches indicating he had just had some kind of brain surgery. After Sandy sees it, we look at each other… and laugh a little at the irony that we can’t escape it all even at a pancake house.
So here we are at home, happy and exhausted… the woodstove glowing with firewood chopped by friends and angels…
Good Night,
Dan
November 7th, 2005 at 10:41 am Snow is falling! Dan and Sandy are home! Our day just turned much brighter. All thoughts are now focused on Friday’s little pill — GO, pill, go! Lee comes today to join me in Virginia for the next two weeks. Please wander over to our place, check out the river, sit on the deck, keep the hammock company. A nice short walk with a place to sit and soak up life. We’ll be thinking of you. -Anna
November 7th, 2005 at 10:21 pm Egads Dan– you are such a good writer. All I can do is laugh and cry my way through these entries. Hurray that you are now home, home, home. I’m glad the cottonwoods and red osier dogwoods hung onto a few leaves for your re-entry but the landscape is snow-kissed with a promise of a good winter to come too. Sandy and Dan– just keep on visualizing healing energy repairing the cells of Sandy’s brain. Bathe in the light of that consciousness. Thanks for sharing so openly and so beautifully from your hearts. With great admiration– Your friend Lisa T.
November 8th, 2005 at 7:09 pm Sandy and Dan, Lisa and Anna have said it all very well. But I can’t help repeating. Your writing and your adventures are a pleasure to read, your positive, sensitive reports help the rest of us, and Sandy’s ability to keep so actively involved even in the first days of healing is nothing short of astounding. As for “repaying” anyone, you have both already done that many times over through the incredibly generous efforts you put into helping all of our community avoid a nightmare of noise for many years..or as the mayor said it,something “horrendous”. So the thanks go right back to you, dear Dan and Sandy. We’re so glad you are home and healing. Anne N.
November 8th, 2005 at 11:50 pm It was great to talk to you Sandy. So glad you are home. Dan did such a good job of describing the train trip that I am tempted to try it myself. But warm summer like weather to winter storms, what a contrast. With all the weather problems, it is a relief to know you are tucked safely away in your own home. Welcome home! We are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers. Millie
November 9th, 2005 at 12:25 pm Welcome home Dan and Sandy, Thanks for sharing your stories - as has been said they are a wonderful gift to us. I’m sure being at home will help with the healing. By the way, Kieran had 11 staples in her head when she was 3 (a fall), and hasn’t a bit of consciousness about the scarring. Wear it like a badge of honor. Can you believe the early snow year? There are a lot of happy skiiers around. We’re looking forward to seeing you sometime. Barb
November 14th, 2005 at 2:57 pm With your great instruction, Dan, we have just discovered your blog site. What a great way to keep us all posted as it means so much to know how you are doing. It’s a way way of sending on-line a hug to you both. So good to hear you are home and warm with the fire and friendship. People have a way of coming out of the wood work to show you how much you are loved. Isn’t it great! We are hoping the Chemo pills won’t be too harsh on you, Sandy, and will do the trick of arresting your Cancer. I attend a bible study on Wednesdays and have lifted you up in our wonderful group and they are lifting you up in prayer through others on the prayer chain. The snowball is rolling your way, dear ones. We will check with the website often and keep in touch with you. In the meantime, know we are with you on this journey. We send our love, Jack and Sharon