Life goes on in our house

Shannon’s lump was found 6 weeks ago today. Everyone knows what happened since then, but we had so many other plans that now pale in comparison. This summer, we contracted with a local landscaper to redo our backyard. We’ve had a 25 foot sandbox in our backyard ever since we moved in. A remnant play area for the previous owners’ grandchildren, we presume. I’ve intended to turn it into a garden, if only I could get rid of the 100 plus cubic yards of sand. We moved some ourselves and I had a fairly decent garden in part of it until the weeds took over. We gave away some more, and still it remained, frequented by every cat in the neighborhood and countless ant hills. It was time for us to pay someone to take care of things, and get some trees and shrubs to boot. We now have a backyard we can actually enjoy.

Then, in early August, we decided it was time refinance the house. I bought the house before Shannon and I got married. We were new to Bismarck, and she still had a house to sell in Rapid City. She’s on the title, but not the loan, and the interest rates we’re too good to pass up.

Then came August 12, 2010. The landscapers called and were ready to start that morning. The bank called and wanted us to come sign the papers to start our loan application. We were getting ready to go to Minneapolis for her cousins wedding, and thought it was good we were getting all of this busy work out of the way. It was also my dad’s 63rd birthday.

After the bank, Shannon headed to a routine doctor’s appointment and I went back to work. Until 10:30 am. Shannon called. “She found a lump. I’m going to ultrasound. I need you.” My heart stopped, and I got to the hospital as fast as I could without getting pulled over.

August 12, life was normal in the morning and something entirely different before lunch. We didn’t know at the time that it was cancer, but we suspected. And we had just committed to a major renovation to our home and a significant refinancing. All we could do was just roll with the punches, go on our trip, and have a good time. The tests to confirm our worst fears wouldn’t happen until we got back, so there was no use in sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves.

Shannon’s lump was found 6 weeks ago today, and this morning we refinanced our house. After nearly 5 years of marriage, Shannon and I own our home. Together. Tomorrow, 5 weeks from her biopsy and 3 weeks since her mastectomy, Shannon starts chemotherapy. And life will go on.

1 Comment on “Life goes on in our house

  1. And life in your house will indeed go on…our household will be thinking about you and Shannon as you start chemo tomorrow. I bet you already know what to bring, but what helped my husband during his chemo sessions: packed sandwiches, little muffins, bottled water, Worther’s candy drops. And his laptop.

    And anti-nausea pills. Which his doc told me to have on hand at all times and give one to him even if he felt just a tiny bit queasy. Nip it first. And when we got home, my husband usually disappeared under the covers. I left the light on low next to the bed so he would stay oriented with weird sleeping schedules.

    We made it through 4 complete rounds of chemo with two different cocktails and 54 radiation treatments at the same time. Completed all in March. In May, no sign of tumors. And he started out with lung cancer in both lungs. Two different cancers.

    Last week we started the Livestrong Program at the Y. Husband has new sneaks and sweatpants and is slowly working the muscle groups. Life is good. And life goes on.

    All our best to you & Shannon. Allie Dillon, Austin, TX

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

*