The Trip Of A Lifetime

When was the last time that you took a week, spent it in a gorgeous location and felt your way through it without planning a moment?  I just recently spent a week in Cancun, Mexico with my best friend Roxanne and we had a blast. I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in October 2009 and since then I have not had the energy to travel alone or without a wheelchair.

Fajitas..Senior Frogs

Yes, I am happy to say that I was able to manage all the walking in the airports, retrieve my luggage and then get all the way through immigration and customs and out to where Roxanne was waiting to help me to the car.  Was I worn out?  Absolutely, but I did all right and the reward at the end was amazing.  Honestly, I cannot say if I was more delighted by the beautiful scenery or by the fact that I felt like a normal woman enjoying my life.

In fact, I think that feeling normal is the biggest craving a person with cancer may have.  Cancer can really slow you down and limit or eliminate a lot of activities.  The fatigue can be so consuming that at times I have had to retire for the evening at 6 pm.  This can have a dramatic impact on your social life and your ability to maintain relationships. My relationship with Roxanne has stood the test of time and she is very understanding of my limitations.  

Susan and Roxanne

The really terrific thing about Roxanne is that we can have fun doing absolutely nothing.  We tell each other funny stories and when we run out of new material we revert back to stories we have laughed about in the past and laugh again.  Vacationing with her along with Cancun as a back drop was a very enjoyable experience.  We ate terrific food.  We lazed around on the beach.  We even swam with the dolphins and thereby completed a life long dream.

There were a couple of moments were I felt like a teenager again on a sleep over with no bigger problems than whether or not a particular boy liked me.  Therein lies the magic of having a close friend and keeping her for years and years.  Back in the day, Roxanne and I had lots of adventures, shared a bunch of pivotal life changing experiences and spent plenty of time crying on each other's shoulders.  Spending an entire week with her having fun and feeling like a teenage girl again is an experience I intend to repeat as often as I can.  It helped me reconnect with my core self (the before cancer Susan) and to re-charge my batteries.

I hope that the next trip we take will be one where I will have a glorious head of hair that I can fuss over and style and not have to cover for fear of a scalp burn.  Incidentally, I found the Lycra swim cap on Amazon.com for a very reasonable price.  It is soft and stretchy rather than rubbery so it was very easy to put on and wear comfortably though not designed for keeping you dry.

I also hope that you will seriously consider a little get away with your family or a close friend because we all need a break from our lives.  Be sure and bring your bucket list so you can cross off some real good items and make some great memories.

Susan