Road trip…

Not sure if everyone is aware, but my mother will be relocating to Ohio for the indefinite future to take care of my grandmother. My grandma was diagnosed recently with Non-Hodgkins-Lymphoma (stage 4) and because of that has gotten pretty weak and unable to fully care for herself daily. At 91 years of age, she isn’t exactly keen on the chemo form of treatment (not that her body could handle it anyway) so her doctors are opting for some radiation, medication, and if she gets well enough LIGHT chemo, all in the name of pain management. Grandma already had her bout with cancer about 30 years ago and went through all those heavy treatment methods, so she knows exactly what she would be up against. She’s tired, and would prefer quality of life rather than lots more time, but unable to enjoy any of it. And every one of us supports her decision fully.

My mother determined that the best thing for her mother right now, is for her to return home and take care of her. What exactly that will entail is still unclear at this point, but my mother’s want to be close to her mother as her life winds down is not in even the slightest bit of debate. Everything in my mother’s life for the past two years has kind of set her up to be in the position to be able to make this sacrifice for her mom, from her losing her job, having to walk away from her house, relocating up here and “semi-retiring”, she is now in the perfect position to be where her mom needs her.

So, with that said, this coming Monday, August 15th, my mother and I will head out in a 22′ moving truck, with her car in tow behind us, for the trek from Prescott Valley, AZ to Brook Park, OH. All of mom’s possessions will be in the truck, and we’ll get her relocated into grandma’s house so she can be close. Whether grandma is strong enough to return home with my mother’s help (grandma is going back and forth between the hospital for blood transfusions and a rehab center at the moment) or she ends up needing more care than my mother is able to provide at home and needs to be in a center where she can get around the clock care, my mom will be close by so grandma knows she is loved (she does, but you can never have too much family or friends around).

I’ll be staying in Ohio until I fly home on September 7th, and while there plan to try to get some things taken care of around grandma’s house (after living in the same house for almost 50 years you can imagine it needs a little TLC). At some point we will have to put grandma’s house up for sale and I want to do whatever I can to make sure she gets the most possible so she can enjoy whatever time she has left (or so she can reside in it without worrying about it during that time).

I recently got a new video camera, and I’m hoping to blog/vlog (video blog) both our adventure across the US (most of it anyway) as well as my time in Ohio. With any luck I’ll continue it when I get home and share more of my life with anyone who cares to watch.

That’s the plan… we’ll see how it pans out.

Thoughts and prayers to my grandma are ALWAYS welcome, and be sure to comment on my posts!

Gerg