Beginning the Journey

How do you begin a journey that you didn't sign up for or ever dreamed of taking?????????

Well..... We were given our travel passports on Sunday, April 22, 2012. We not only traveled locally but out of town. My darling husband and I packed our bags on Sunday in the dark of night and headed out for an unknown adventure. Although we didn't see this in the travel brochure, our 4 day trip included roller coasters, fine dining, out of the ordinary accommodations, travel guests and a crash course in a foreign language. Yes, our journey was unplanned, spontaneous and ready for us even though we were not ready for it. There was no turning back because our road wouldn't allow it. We were not given an opportunity for a U-turn to go back to the life that we were so comfortable with. Our journey began with a ticket for 2...nonstop....to an unknown land. Our ticket was upgraded very quickly to include our 2 boys and their girls. We were given unlimited admittance tickets for ALL those family and friends that wanted to be in on this journey with us. It was a package deal unlike one we've ever seen before. So, the journey begins.

On Monday, April 23rd, a 1.8 centimeter mass was found in my pancreas. This mass is Pancreatic Cancer.
Although I'm the one with the unwanted "thing" growing in my body, it has immediately changed all of our lives. The most important element of this journey is that I am NOT alone. My husband, together as we have been for 38 years, our two grown sons and their girls, my siblings, and unbelievable friends are in this for the long haul. Yes, it will be a long haul, but one that we will take TOGETHER.  I am undoubtedly THE luckiest person in the world to have the support system that I have and so many caring family and friends willing to take this trip with us.

This blog will begin the journey to keep my family and friends updated on what is going on but more importantly, it will be where I can try to understand what this "thing" is doing to me. Those of you who know me well, I hate using the word "thing" because as a speech pathologist, it is a word that is a nonspecific reference to a label. I can assure you that I will be using the word "thing" a lot because that is what it is to me.

For those of you reading my blog, thank you for grabbing the free admittance ticket that will be my support system. Our journey begins.