We are back, lots to say!

We are back. Alas we no longer have our motor coach but we are now well and I have lots to tell you about. I am going to briefly recap the last few years, yeah OK, it's been 5 years and there would be so much to tell that I would bore you but I believe to make this correct I will update everything.

So, we were on Long Island in May, 2011 with the Coach parked and we moved into an apartment while Laurie underwent treatment for breast cancer. Two small surgeries and radiation got it all and she is now 5 years out and fully recovered. The prognosis is excellent.

Of course I was not to be left out of a medical problem and shortly after she finished radiation (2 days) I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. We packed up the motor coach, cleaned out the apartment got on a plane and headed for Tampa, FL and the Moffitt Cancer Center on 8/16/11 our 42nd wedding anniversary!

As a side note, we knew back in May that our full time travel had come to an end. There would be too many medical follow-ups that would be problematic with wandering the country. We purchased a house in a gated, golf course community in Bradenton, FL and modified our "Dream" to part time travel.

So we arrived at Moffitt that Tuesday and I was admitted the next day and spent the next 33 days as an in-patient getting chemo and getting better. We had dear friends fly up from Florida and drive the coach back to our lot in Zephyrhills, FL where Laurie lived while I dealt with the effects of chemo.

It was a struggle but the docs said they caught it early and I was a perfect candidate for a bone marrow stem cell transplant. Wow ! Between mid September and the following May we lived in our new home and I underwent a series of maintenance chemo treatments, some hospitalizations for infections and a lot of soul searching and conversations with God and the docs.

I was told that I had a 70% chance that the leukemia would return if I did not get the transplant but that there was a 35-40% chance that the transplant could kill me. Interesting odds. We gave them the go ahead and they searched for a suitable donor. we took a 19 day cruise across the Atlantic to the Azores, mainland Portugal and Barcelona, Spain.

When we got back I underwent a battery of tests, they had found a donor and I was back in Moffitt for the next 30 days. Some really bad days and nights but it worked. We spent the next 90 days living in the coach full time (Deja vu) to be nearer to Moffitt as I slowly regained my strength.

More to come in the next post, stay tuned as we "Hold on tight to our dreams".