The next journey

 

TC has brought so much music into my life. Music is important to him, and it endears him to me.

One of our most memorable musical journeys was four years ago. We had been dating almost 16 months when we went to Toronto to hear a favorite musician of his that I had also come to love -- Loreena McKinnett. She has an enchantingly clear voice and her shows feature lots of strings, starting with her harp.  

I thought we were just going for a nice getaway weekend, but TC surprised me by proposing before we went to dinner and the show. And a new phase of our journey together began.

So this spring, when we saw that Loreena was going to be in Columbus on the 4th anniversary of our engagement, Nov. 1, we knew we had to go. It turned out to be perfect timing. 

I was feeling well enough to really enjoy the show Wednesday after a liter and a half of fluid was drained from between my right lung and diaphragm on Monday. I loved the show even more than the first time I saw her, knowing her music even better now.

And since Wednesday more progress has been made toward the clinical trial that will be my primary offensive to fight this cancer. After some requisite CT scans tonight (yes, on a Sunday!), I will have all the requirements checked off to begin the clinical trial, which is scheduled to start on Wednesday. I'm also getting a temporary drain put in on Monday so I shouldn't have to deal with the fluid build-up that has made it hard to talk and breathe deeply. 

A Loreena McKinnett concert helped kick off our journey to commit ourselves to each other. And we can't help but think another Loreena concert was the perfect start to the journey that will carry us forward from here -- past cancer and with a new appreciation of every day we have together. 

With the prayers of family and friends, and with God's healing powers, I look forward to starting chemo and hopefully getting the extra investigational drug to kick this cancer's butt. 

Loreena will be a nice soundtrack to listen to during my treatments.