After receiving my prognosis my very generous good friends slash brother and sister-in-law Laura and Evan offered to send my husband and me anywhere in the world.
Saskatoon
With my cousin Melle and her husband Dave having just had a baby in Saskatoon, we chose to first go visit with them and their new baby Anne. My cousin Faith and her boyfriend Zach came down at the same time and we had a fantastic time visiting with family and meeting the new baby. My heart is so full of love and joy and I'm very grateful that I had the opportunity to visit them!
Something I'm really struggling with after this trip is the thought that this was probably the last time I'll see Melle and her family in person. Realizations like these keep happening and are heart-breaking and I'm finding it difficult to cope with, but cathartic to write and share about. I keep holding onto hope that I'll outlive my prognosis and be wrong, but I also think it's kind of cruel to give myself any false hope.
Niagara Falls
On a lighter note, visiting Niagara Falls has always been on my bucket list so after a couple of days in Saskatoon we went to Niagara Falls! My mom-in-law Lisa paid to put us up in the Marriot Falls View hotel picked out by Laura, and it was the nicest hotel room I'd ever stayed in! This was the view from our room.
Some of the highlights of the trip included going on a tour underneath the falls, visiting the butterfly sanctuary, and eating so much good food I can't even begin to describe! Our friends Evan and Crystal paid for us to have the fanciest dinner I've ever had at Skylon Tower, a rotating observation deck that overlooked the falls! I ate two lobster tails and it was amazing.
At the butterfly sanctuary, a butterfly landed on Andy. It was funny, he put on my hat to protect himself from the ~~spooky bugs~~ but in retrospect, they were probably attracted to the pink hat and green mask!
I didn't go over the falls in a barrel, but I did find out there's a $10,000 fine for doing so which just tells me that going over the falls in a barrel costs $10,000. Here's one more picture of us right next to the falls!
Health Update
Overall I've been feeling okay all things considered. I'm dizzier than I was before, but I'm able to handle it and still go about my day-to-day. My right side numbness has now entered my midriff instead of just being my extremities, and with it has come more right-side weakness. My right leg constantly feels like I just finished walking 30km and I'm experiencing mild aches like when your leg falls asleep and is now waking up. Overall it's not too bad at all and I'm finding my symptoms to be very manageable. The worst part is the mental health struggle of an end-of-life diagnosis, but I've taken steps to improve my situation on that front! If everything goes according to plan, I'll be starting Ketamine therapy to help deal with the depression and anxiety that this diagnosis has caused me. I'm looking forward to it, and glad I'm still in control of doing some things to improve my situation. I've also been struggling with my self-image because I'm back on a higher dose of steroids that are causing me to gain weight and experience some issues with my skin.
A Big Thank You
Before I sign off I wanted to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart to those who made this trip possible. The kindness and generosity shown by my friends and family has absolutely blown me away. I also wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who has donated to our GoFundMe. Having the peace of mind that our financial situation is well taken care of to allow my husband to take time off work to take care of and spend time with me is absolutely amazing. I seriously can't find the words to express how grateful I am.
You are so brave! Luv ya! ❤️