Summer Camp For Grown Ups!

Today, I am missing about 50 ladies and one man. I recently returned from Camp Mak-A-Dream's Women's Cancer Retreat in Gold Creek, Montana. I don't have room for all the adjectives needed to describe the experience, the setting, and the women!



Montana sunrise!

Oh, about that man, I miss him at least three times day. He's the chief cook and bottle washer at the camp, and he is good at his job! It was an indulgent experience to simply show up at the main lodge and have a steaming breakfast, lunch, and dinner awaiting with the bonus of no dishes to wash!

Camp Mak-A-Dream Main Lodge

 



I met a young lady whose friend discouraged her from attending by asking why she would want spend time sitting around with a bunch of depressed women talking about cancer. The camp experience was in actuality bursting from the other end of the spectrum! A diverse group of women - from twenty-somethings to that age range where it is impolite to ask for a number - came together and didn't do much sitting around!

 

Unless we were sitting around in this hot tub!







Some women had conquered cancer years ago, others were fresh from the fight, and a few were still in the throes of the battle. However, this group was so overflowing with life and laughter that one would never guess. They were open to everyone emotionally and willing to take on just about anything physically. Wheelchairs and canes were cast aside as women old enough to be my grandmother joined everyone else in the big tree house to sail down the zip line! There were hikes, a climbing wall, and an art studio to keep us busy. There were educational sessions on everything from healing after cancer to gentle yoga. Above all, there was a spirit of connection with a lovely group of ladies and breathtaking scenery punctuated by the distant bugling of elk.

Montana sunset!

You. Are. Cured.

After my year of pitching a tent at the cancer center, I went in for a follow-up and the doctor declared "you are cured!" Then I woke up from my dream and realized that never happened. I know, it should! I wish it would! But, it hasn't.

Instead, I'm floating in this weird limbo where the major things feel done, but appointments still dot my calendar. I have follow-ups and follow-ups to the follow-ups. Medications still have to be refilled. I have pains here and there. Hair growth is slow. Too much to declare myself bald and not enough to feel comfortable going out without a hat.

My medical oncologist sent me to X-ray for some ongoing pain in my ankle. The result was to move me on to an MRI. The nurse called the other day and said "well, it is not cancer but you do have some orthopaedic issues." Now, I'm being referred to an orthopaedic specialist for these unknown "issues." Wait, back the truck up! What did she mean by saying "it's not cancer!" I never thought it was! Was that a possibility? I am not going to go through life worrying that every little pain is cancer. But, sometimes there is a little evil minion in the far recesses of my brain that wants to place that thought in my head. I usually squash him. But, sometimes I wonder. If my body could "make" cancer cells once, what keeps it from doing it again? BOOM! Sorry, I had to take a rubber mallet to that evil minion. It made a bit of a mess, but I think it will all work out.

"What Cancer Cannot Take"

When I got home from the hospital, I had a gift waiting for me from a friend. It was a beautiful mug with the following poem (author unknown):

What Cancer Cannot Take From You

It cannot take away

your faith, shatter

your hope

or lessen your love.

It cannot destroy true

friendship,

invade the soul or take

away eternal life.

It cannot conquer

your spirit.

How true! If anything, it brings out the best in some people and guides you to your true friends. It puts you at the center of of many prayers and that is a humbling experience!