Yet, here we are packing our bags again for Houston. With a newborn we hardly have time to get in a good shower but somehow we have to make the time to be out of town and back in the hospital.

We don’t have time to deal with you cancer.

We are giving a baby a bath, paying bills and going to the grocery.  We are teaching a little girl where her nose is and training a dog to walk along a stroller. I’m trying to get back into my work pants in time to go back to work. Joe has meetings and is getting back into the  groove. We need to plant flowers and mulch the patio. We have to go to the doctor and get baby’s shots. We have laundry to do and floors to sweep. We need every minute.

We simply don’t have time for cancer.

We should be taking Mira to Disney…

And to see the beach…

My calendar is too full to deal with you cancer.

It’s time we don’t want to be away from our sweet baby girl.  Two whole weeks to go to Houston but it’s what we have to do. This is the surgery to hopefully make Joe stronger and feel better. We are leaving for Houston this Saturday to start the process. The surgeon will re-connect Joe’s body and we are looking at this as a good thing. We are nervous too. There are CT scans that will tell us if the cancer has returned and if his body is healing. There are blood tests and chemicals pumped in Joe’s body to prepare. Then doctors tell us to plan for 5 days in the hospital. (We’ve heard this before and are always planning for more).

We had to make the time to book a hotel, flights and fly my in mom to take care of baby. She has to find the time to get off work and I had to beg my boss for a few more weeks to get my family settled. It’s time we’d rather spend doing other things.

You see, before our identify became all about cancer, we were living life. I was a news reporter with a promising career. Joe was a entrepreneur who moved across the country to start his business. We were young and in love, with dreams and goals. Now our time is filled with preparing for, dealing with and fighting cancer.

Our friends are buying houses and planning cruises and we are spending our money on cancer. It’s time and money we’d love to spend elsewhere.

But here we go, one foot in front of the other. We’ll make the time for you cancer, if you’ll simply return what you’ve borrowed. Give us that time right back.

We have so much to look forward to.