It's been a rough year, and nobody could deny that.
We started with a bang, making our European debut! 2016 did get in its first kicks though, with the loss of David Bowie the day we were waiting to board the plane. Little did I know what an omen it was for the year to come.
Everybody knows what happened to Jesse in March. I have no desire to relive that, though I know courtesy of the Facebook Memories app I'm going to get a lovely reminder of every single step. I didn't know that day what life I'd be living today. There were so many questions, so much fear, so much doubt. Nobody ever expects to hear that their spouse has cancer, but who ever would have thought a migraine would land us here? We're thankful we didn't walk out of that ER that night. We're thankful for everybody who stood by us through every step... either with your company, jumping aboard the meal train, my bestie who was there at 6 on surgery morning with a coffee, and took me outside so nobody had to see me fall apart. My out of town in laws who dropped everything to be here, without a second thought. And, there aren't enough times or ways to say thank you to everybody who helped in some way with the Zumba fundraiser. We will never forget the kindness and generosity we saw that day! We wouldn't be sitting here today without the medical dream team who worked on him, or of course my sister in law who brought us to them in the first place. And of course, our prayer warriors who never let us down.
Jesse had his 6 month follow up right before Christmas. All I wanted this year was to know we have a healthy baby on the way, and his health is continuing to return to normal. We know he's a long way removed from the tumor being completely gone, but oncology said he's well on his way to that most wonderful "r" word. Oncology and Dr. Maurer both agree that while he may need to participate in chemotherapy for many years to come, this is a condition they can manage like diabetes or high blood pressure. We just have to stay diligent.
We also never expected in our attempts to start a family what a turn that would make. Thankfully, a great majority of the people who knew what we were facing were supportive. Not like we had much choice... if we want to be biological parents in vitro was all we had. A lot of people wondered how I was going through IVF at the same time all this was happening. To be honest, at times neither did I. But for me, it served as a positive distraction from everything else. When everything else was so scary, it was a ray of hope and something positive. It was no picnic... I know I wasn't always the most pleasant person. But it was worth every needle, every dollar, every mood swing and every date with old "Wanda" (my IVF girls know who I mean...) to hear that sweet heartbeat for the first time.
Most of the other half of my Christmas wish came early in the month when baby's blood tests came back showing normal. The rest came on Christmas Eve when it was revealed we are expecting a baby girl! We realize of course we are blessed just to be pregnant, but being brutally honest, we were very happy to see that pink confetti!
We've made some lovely new friends this year, and prepare to say goodbye to others as our ballroom studio closes tonight. I've grown closer to some and had to distance myself from others who I've found just aren't good for me. We drove 4 hours to meet Doctor Who and Amelia Pond for about 10 seconds, and worth every bit of it. We saw the Colosseum, the statue of David, rode a real Venetian gondola. We spent 4 days with Jesse's family in the mountains. I ran four half marathons, though each was progressively more difficult than the one before. In the face of what happened in the first half of the year, it can be easy to forget all the wonderful things we did. While the bad was really, really bad and I'm thankful it'll soon be nothing more than a memory, there are some beautiful things we can remember. Goodbye, 2016. Please, dear 2017, be gentle!
We started with a bang, making our European debut! 2016 did get in its first kicks though, with the loss of David Bowie the day we were waiting to board the plane. Little did I know what an omen it was for the year to come.
Everybody knows what happened to Jesse in March. I have no desire to relive that, though I know courtesy of the Facebook Memories app I'm going to get a lovely reminder of every single step. I didn't know that day what life I'd be living today. There were so many questions, so much fear, so much doubt. Nobody ever expects to hear that their spouse has cancer, but who ever would have thought a migraine would land us here? We're thankful we didn't walk out of that ER that night. We're thankful for everybody who stood by us through every step... either with your company, jumping aboard the meal train, my bestie who was there at 6 on surgery morning with a coffee, and took me outside so nobody had to see me fall apart. My out of town in laws who dropped everything to be here, without a second thought. And, there aren't enough times or ways to say thank you to everybody who helped in some way with the Zumba fundraiser. We will never forget the kindness and generosity we saw that day! We wouldn't be sitting here today without the medical dream team who worked on him, or of course my sister in law who brought us to them in the first place. And of course, our prayer warriors who never let us down.
Jesse had his 6 month follow up right before Christmas. All I wanted this year was to know we have a healthy baby on the way, and his health is continuing to return to normal. We know he's a long way removed from the tumor being completely gone, but oncology said he's well on his way to that most wonderful "r" word. Oncology and Dr. Maurer both agree that while he may need to participate in chemotherapy for many years to come, this is a condition they can manage like diabetes or high blood pressure. We just have to stay diligent.
We also never expected in our attempts to start a family what a turn that would make. Thankfully, a great majority of the people who knew what we were facing were supportive. Not like we had much choice... if we want to be biological parents in vitro was all we had. A lot of people wondered how I was going through IVF at the same time all this was happening. To be honest, at times neither did I. But for me, it served as a positive distraction from everything else. When everything else was so scary, it was a ray of hope and something positive. It was no picnic... I know I wasn't always the most pleasant person. But it was worth every needle, every dollar, every mood swing and every date with old "Wanda" (my IVF girls know who I mean...) to hear that sweet heartbeat for the first time.
Most of the other half of my Christmas wish came early in the month when baby's blood tests came back showing normal. The rest came on Christmas Eve when it was revealed we are expecting a baby girl! We realize of course we are blessed just to be pregnant, but being brutally honest, we were very happy to see that pink confetti!
We've made some lovely new friends this year, and prepare to say goodbye to others as our ballroom studio closes tonight. I've grown closer to some and had to distance myself from others who I've found just aren't good for me. We drove 4 hours to meet Doctor Who and Amelia Pond for about 10 seconds, and worth every bit of it. We saw the Colosseum, the statue of David, rode a real Venetian gondola. We spent 4 days with Jesse's family in the mountains. I ran four half marathons, though each was progressively more difficult than the one before. In the face of what happened in the first half of the year, it can be easy to forget all the wonderful things we did. While the bad was really, really bad and I'm thankful it'll soon be nothing more than a memory, there are some beautiful things we can remember. Goodbye, 2016. Please, dear 2017, be gentle!
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