H!GGY September 30, 2022 No Comments
First class to Los Angeles.
First class to Los Angeles.

The Interlude

Well my head’s in Georgia, but my feet is California bound
‘Cause that good-looking woman I got wants to leave these Georgia towns

—J.J. Cale

As Lara gets farther and farther away from her last chemo treatment, she’s feeling better and better. That’s why we have to seize this opportunity for me to make good on a promise I made to her soon after her diagnosis. I told her I’d do everything I could to get her back to California for her to spend her final days at her family’s ranch in Sonoma County. We’re taking a redeye west where we’ve got a busy schedule to meet up with family and friends prior to getting her to Healdsburg where she’ll enter hospice care.

Lara has chosen to discontinue chemotherapy. We spoke with her oncologist a few weeks ago and we asked how much more time chemo was giving Lara. Everyone is different, of course, but chemo could add 3 months to her life, statistically speaking. Her prognosis was 4-6 months from the time of diagnosis.

On her third round of chemo, Lara spent 11 days in the bedroom. Leaving long enough to say goodbye to Nicole before her flight back to Vancouver. Ideally, her doctor wanted her doing treatment biweekly. For her, the quality of life just wasn’t there. I stand by her decision. 90% of her time was literally spent sleeping or meditating. Her nausea was all but uncontrollable. The peripheral neuropathy was worsening. The chemo was making her more miserable than the cancer itself was.

These last few weeks have been wonderful. So great that you could almost forget that there’s a malignant tumor riding shotgun. I don’t say that to be pessimistic or overly maudlin. It’s just our reality and we’ve found our own way to give cancer the finger. We’re living life to the fullest. We don’t have as many tomorrows as we’d like, so we make sure our todays make up for that.

I also want to thank everyone again for the thoughts, support, prayers, magic, etc. This Vibe Tribe is sooo strong, you’re all fabulous and I love you all!

The west is the best.

—Jim Morrison

Originally shared on Facebook.

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