Catia Bitching Cancer

I’m back from the camping trip the three of us took to celebrate the end of chemo. We arrived in the Santa Ynez river valley when it was almost dark, but we still got 1/2 hour of light – enough to at least set up the humongous tent we bought…The tent sleeps eight, but boy was it nice to have that much space so that I could actually find my clothes (our previous tent was for 2 people only)! Then we headed off to find food. By that time it was already past nine and, we looked and looked, went up to Solvang, supposedly a touristy area, to find absolutely *no* restaurant open! By 10 we were desperate and starving, our 8-year old Sandro patiently trying real hard not to fall asleep. Finally we found a Domino’s open and we sat in their waiting area gulping down bad pizza with gusto. That night my “boys” slept peacefully, while I struggled to get unhooked from Ativan (the anti-anxiety med my onco put me on while on chemo – ok, bad timing on my part!) and didn’t get much sleep. Plus I started having this tingling/pain sensation in my right arm (chemo arm – gotta check with my onco). But the following day we headed off to Solvang and took a fabulous bike trip from there to Los Olivos, through Central California’s Santa Barbara County’s vineyard-filled hills. Stunningly beautiful. We stopped at a cafe in Los Olivos to eat delicious panini, walked around a little, me and Bruce dreaming about tasting some of the wine, but no kids allowed – sorry! Then biked back, all downhill, realizing only then that the previous 5 1/2 miles had been uphill and that Sandro had done it without gears! He’s a brave little boy indeed!!! Back at camp we had a nice dinner together, then played games by the fire. At night, I still didn’t sleep. On Sunday we woke up at 5:30 to drive Bruce to Santa Ynez where he participated in the first Santa Barbara County 1/2 marathon – parts of the proceeds went to the Breast Cancer Fund, which is devoted to identify and advocate for the elimination of the environmental causes of breast cancer. My boys surprised me with a Mother’s Day card and gift early in the morning. While Bruce was running, Sandro and I had a nice breakfast of waffles and crepes with fresh strawberries – yummie, then proudly watched papa’ cross the finish line in 88th place (15th in his division). On our way back to LA we even had time to stop and play some minigolf in Ventura, and shop for Sandro’s shoes at outlet stores. I was glad Sunday night to be in my bed again, though, where I finally enjoyed a good night of sleep. It’s good to be home!

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