Saturday, April 19, 2008

Breaking Camp

This past Monday marked the end of Teresa’s radiation treatments, so that’s another milestone achieved. From here on in the only cancer treatment left is the intravenous Herceptin every three weeks, which keeps up until January. Teresa’s oncologist also ordered an echocardiogram every three months or so, just to make sure that cardio heath remains solid.

Granddaughter Bethany – a big help!

With the radiation behind her, Teresa’s weekly agenda now looks something like this: packing, packing, and more packing. Teresa’s daughter Marian and granddaughter Bethany came down this weekend from Ottawa especially to help out. It’s amazing how many things a person accumulates over the years, isn’t it? Besides just moving stuff, there’s also a downsizing element. Some of Teresa’s possessions won’t make the cut, and will have to find a new home.

Memorabilia’s all packed

Maintenance staff at Holland Christian Homes finished cleaning and painting the apartment, so it’s ready for occupancy. Teresa’s verdict on their work – “it’s beautiful!” She took possession of the key this week, so the deal is sealed.

Now Teresa has six weeks to gradually shuttle boxes over to the new apartment, which will minimize the load on moving day at the end of May. This also provides time to replace carpet, hang drapes, paint selected walls, and install a new air conditioner. Nice to have the luxury of time, which minimizes the stress of moving. Along with death and divorce, moving is one of the top three stressful events in life.

You know it’s real when there are no grandchild pix on the fridge

Teresa is getting used to life without a car. The restricted mobility is tough, since she could always just hop into her little Echo anytime and scoot around to visit friends, attend church, buy groceries, or whatever. Still, Teresa knows that giving up the car is the right thing to do at this point.

For the past few Sundays she’s been blessed with a ride to her Brampton West Alliance Church with some fellow church members. This means so much to Teresa, since she wants to keep participating in the life of her church. Many thanks!

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