California…Buy The Insurance

Come and listen to a story
about a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely
kept his family fed,
Then one day he was shooting
at some food,
And up through the ground
came a bubbling crude.

Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.

Well the first thing you know
old Jed’s a millionaire,
Kinfolk said Jed move away
from there
Said Californy is the place you
ought to be
So they loaded up the truck
and moved to Beverly

Hills, that is.
Swimming pools, movie stars.

Sound familiar? It’s The Ballard of Jed Clampett from the tv show, The Beverly Hillbillies! I know you were singing it. 

I kept thinking about this song while I was visiting California last week. Mark and I took Max out to Cali to look at colleges. We started our adventure in Los Angeles, and worked our way up to San Francisco. It was an exciting trip, but one I almost didn’t make.

Two weeks before we were to depart for our journey, I received my new chemotherapy. I am always nervous about beginning a new chemotherapy, but this time, even more so. Mark usually accompanies me to my infusions, but was traveling for business, and could not bring me this time. My brother Mark took me. I am not sure if not having Mark with me, my husband, not my brother, was the reason for this nervousness. I believe it was most likely going over all the awful side effects that can happen during the infusion, with my oncology nurse. Ativan to the rescue…..I love that little white pill. I became more relaxed.

Even before I began the new chemo, I was feeling very tired, weak and had little to no appetite due to the cancer spreading. After chemo, these symptoms became worse. Thanks, chemo! A few days before our departure date, I told Mark I didn’t think I would be able to make the trip. He told me to wait another day to see how I would feel. Thankfully, I finally started to feel stronger and less tired. 

Our trip was a success. I wasn’t able to do the college campus tours with Mark and Max due to all the walking, but Mark drove me around the campuses so I could get a feel for what they were like. I was also able to do some some sightseeing, as long as it didn’t involve a lot of walking. More important, Max enjoyed his time in California, and made some decisions about the colleges he was interested in.

I love to travel, but having a terminal illness can be tricky planning a vacation. One never knows how they will feel at the time of travel. Last summer my family and I had to cancel a vacation to Paris and London due to my declining health. Thankfully, we purchased travel insurance, and were reimbursed for our airfare and hotels (after a lengthy process). In fact, we purchase travel insurance for every trip we plan. It gives us piece of mind. 

With this piece of mind, we will continue to travel. I recently enjoyed a wonderful trip with Michaela to Las Vegas, a wonderful trip with Max and Mark to California, and next up, the four of us on a Mediterranean cruise. I wonder what adventure will be next? Of course, travel insurance will be included.