Home Is Where My Family Is
For me, it took my breast cancer diagnosis to realize how much my home meant to myself and my young family. Our home may be chaotic at times, most times actually, but it is where we all connect with one another each day.
Since moving to a small town just over five years ago, we’ve brought home two beautiful daughters, made many new friendships and began new careers. We’ve shared so many laughs and made the best memories.
When planning my treatments, I was lined up to have my chemotherapy in London, which is 2.5 hours from our home, but where my extended family are. We had decided on London, so that I could remain in town for a few days post treatment and have family there to help care and cook for me, and basically babysit me. But, just one week prior to my chemo start date, I changed my mind and decided to receive chemo in Wingham, which is only 45 minutes from our home.
Although I knew my family wanted to do everything they could do to make things easier on me, I knew I making the right decision in staying closer to home.
My world and the world of my husband and children had been flipped upside down, and all I longed for was normalcy.
I have never been one to sit still very long, but as chemo began, I officially claimed a spot on the couch. Even my 5-year-old daughter noticed and asked, “is that your spot, Mom?”.
That spot on the couch was where I did all my parenting/supervising, resting, eating meals, and man, oh man did that cold leather couch feel good during those awful hot flashes.
When so many things were out of my control, I just wanted to be home with my belongings, my bed, our routines, my husband who’d lay next to me while I wept, cried out from bone pain or just needed a hug, and most of all, my girls.
It’s these little things that I started to love more and more. Getting my oldest daughter off the bus each day was a highlight. She’d always have the biggest smile and a good story to tell. Even though it was exhausting some days to even get out of my “spot”, she made it worth it.
Call me crazy, but during treatments I didn’t even mind the gobs of toothpaste in the sink, courtesy of my husband. It wouldn’t be home without those gobs.
Since completing chemotherapy, surgery and radiation, we decided that we would close this chapter in our lives and begin a new one in a new home and town. As I mentioned before, we shared a lot of great times in our home, but it was time to start fresh.
We have been in our new home for a couple of months now, and although I am still struggling with fatigue, we are slowly settling in, and looking forward to all the new memories that will be made.
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