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Now for the news we have all been waiting for….

We are going HOME!

We got the approval.

The cardiologist said, “Fly, Fly, fly away!” (In case you haven’t heard about Chris’ diagnosis you can read about it here. And you can read about his amazing progress and RECOVERY here.) What a wild ride!

The urology surgeon said, “I’m so proud. You were so brave. You have come so far. You are cancer-free. Go home.”

Now for some details:

We will pack up and leave here soon. We are not running out the door because of ME. I decided for my own mental health I needed some time here to chill and try to enjoy the best Nashville has to offer. Otherwise, I was going to go home complaining about the Nashville traffic and all the stress. I want to build some happy memories on top of the other garbage so I can walk away with energy instead of exhaustion. We both deserve this. So, we will be going to restaurants we have put on a “must-do” list. Two days ago, we toured the Cheekwood Gardens before the tulips got wiped out (see pics). We are looking at the weather report and planning to go to a Nashville Sounds baseball game. You can probably guess that one leans a little more toward Chris’s (VP Anger Management) wish list, but it was a joint idea. We will take more long walks in lovely parks and maybe tour a museum or two.  We plan to gather one more time with Chris’s cousins for a rousing game of Quiddler.

And more…

Our hotel-apartment has become a bit of a second home. I will miss it. The people who run this place and work here have become dear friends. They have taken care of us through all the tough stuff. They were especially supportive of me. My rocks and cheerleaders. The support could not have been stronger. If you ever journey to Nashville, you HAVE to stay at Bento Living. This place is amazing. We will be back every six months because Chris wants to meet with his urologist face-to-face for his checkups. He loves that guy. We will be able to meet with the cardiologist in Chattanooga. He’s built a new clinic there and comes twice a month.

Chris does have some restrictions.

He can’t lift more than 10# for six weeks. He could get a hernia or split his internal stitches if he does.

We had talked about taking a more exotic trip in later May. Time off to re-energize. The cardiologist put the nix on the barge river cruise in Europe. He wants Chris to stay in the US for at least six months; just in case. We will find something to do…count on it.

Other than that… he can walk for workouts (me too) until he can lift more weight or do core work.

Chris does have to take a few meds – probably for a year or so until all settles in. He has always prided himself on “no meds – just supplements” but he’s had to get over that. We are waiting on one more blood test result for his kidney function, but no one is worried.

We will look forward to getting back to the green and peace of Chattanooga. Can’t wait to see some friends there too. And our employees. They have been heroic in keeping all glued together and serving over 7000 clients like it was easy.

We are hoping to take our kitty Titan home. Titan is taking a new med starting today that’s considered a last-ditch effort. Fingers crossed.

Chris managed to get himself written up in the paper recently. The PR folks from the hospital originally called him because the staff at the hospital called him an exemplary patient. Chris was just being himself…being nice and a patient patient while he was confined to his room for weeks on end.

Instead of talking about his attitude, they decided to write up his whole journey of having the Afib heart issues and then finding out he had cancer and how he got through it all. You can read the article here.

Thanks for listening through all of this. I took great comfort in knowing we had all of you on our side.

Cheers!