Dear Lori,

I think you should do what feels right to you and Ron. I think its important to have certain experiences even if it means delaying a chemo treatment, I would do it. A close friend of mine had pancreatic cancer (surgery was not an option) and he had palliative chemo. He and his wife took some amazing trips as well as some that were just relaxing for them and for their family. His last trip (6 weeks before his death) was to spend a week at our beach house just with his wife, and his adult children and his brother's family. It was a magical and stress free week just to be with each other and it meant so much to everyone. From reading your posts, you and Ron have been vigilant about his treatment and have pursued every reasonable path so you should have no qualms about creating some positive times for yourselves away from the medical world.

Take care- Sophie

Patty should have taught us all one thing - live for the moment and never put of till tomorrow what you can do today

love liz

Lori,

Im so sorry you are going thru this. I want to share something that may help you.

I work for Verizon doing customer service. Yesterday, I spoke to a man who just came back from having cancer treatments in Mexico and out west someplace like Arizona or New Mexico. My call started by speaking to his wife about their bill as they had just returned. I told her how sorry I was to hear about her husbands illness. She probably thought I was full of crap like alot of customer service reps can be. I asked her if she would mind telling me what kind of cancer and to my surprise it was OC. She said her husband wouldnt talk to me cuz he was concerned about his speech, that I wouldnt be able to understand him.

After I told her I was also an oral cancer survivor and went thru it twice she put him on the phone. He was so happy and surprised to speak to someone else who has gone thru OC. We talked all about treatments and he told me how he does his chemo at home. I asked him a few questions since I remembered your post. He told me that his doctors have him do 2 bags of chemo, cisplatin at home. I would have loved to spend more time talking to him but probably would have gotten in trouble for not being work focused enough. I did manage to slip into the conversation the OCF website and hope they sign up. This was the first time I have ever spoken to an OC patient while I was at work.

Long story short....if this man can do it at home then it should be an option. Check with your doc. I hope its available for you. Enjoy your travels

Thank you all for your responses. I think we will be sticking fairly close to home for now, making sure we are here for chemo. Depending on Ron's progress though, we may just decide that missing one treatment is worth it. jrch26, sure wouldn't want to start all over somewhere at this point!
Lori

Lori, that is for sure! Good luck with everything, keep smiling and cherish every moment!!

Lori,
Why don't you just ask the chemo doctor if it is possible to get one treatment elsewhere if you wanted a longer trip. I vaguely remember Amy trying to arrange something like this so her husband could visit his parents in Michigan. I unfortunately do not remember whether she was successful in getting the treatment there or not. They did take the trip. You might try PMing her and asking. She rarely signs onto the board anymore. She did have a blog.

Take care,
Eileen