Our lives are not normal

This past week for us has mainly been taken up by Anya's chemo treatments, Anya's nausea and vomiting, and Reese starting to crawl. Put all that together and what does it make you want to do? Go camping.

Seriously? Have we lost our minds? A little bit, perhaps, but it really did start out with the best of intentions. See, about two weeks ago we got a new tent, a big tent, a family tent. Months ago our summer plans featured going to the swimming pool and going camping. After some thought, Will and I decided that we could still do it and that getting out and being some place new would be good for everyone. We looked at the calendar and things were getting rather booked up, so last night seemed to be a good night. Except for that nausea and vomiting part.

This round has been the hardest so far in terms of side effects. Anya has had more listless periods punctuated by periods of normal energy, but it is hard to know when she is going to crash. She has also had an upset stomach and has vomited a few times. She seemed to be feeling much better and, in our defense, she was insistent that she wanted to go camping. Even after the drive when she turned pale and couldn't wait to get out. Especially after arriving and seeing the campsite, she was adamant that we must camp. Then, upon seeing that beautiful, new, huge tent, there was no changing her mind. So, we camped. For about 14 hours. Anya felt sick, but finally fell asleep. Reese loved rolling around in the tent, but didn't really view it as a place to sleep. Finally she fell asleep, but soon we were all awakened when Anya woke up and was sick again. She mostly made it out of the tent, and Will got to clean up while miraculously Anya fell back to sleep.

We have moved out of the crisis mode of two months ago and are learning to live our lives again. The problem is that there is this newcomer called cancer in our lives and try as we might to squeeze back into our old normal, we just don't fit into it anymore. I know there is a new normal in the future for us, but for now, Anya and I agree that we aren't going camping unless everyone is feeling healthy.