A Life Saving Move
For more medical treatment, I needed to move to Boston. But first, I had to find a place to rent for at least a year due to the amount of necessary follow-ups.
I flew in for a two-week hunt for a rental. By the end of the first day, I had found a Cape Cod-style house twenty minutes from Tufts Medical Center that allowed dogs. So I had time to delve into New England.
I spent some time on the Cape, but it was off-season, so few places were open. The Three Sisters Lighthouses are in Eastham, part of the Outer Cape.
I had already planned a trip to South America. That will be my next post. It was a goal to visit three countries because it encouraged me during the long cancer treatment.
Then I returned to Santa Fe to finish packing. I discovered that Bambi had a growth on her snout, so I took her to the vet. It was likely an abscessed tooth. We were prescribed meds, and they referred me to a Boston vet for a follow-up. Then a mad dash across the country.
It was not an abscessed tooth, but snout cancer. Within two weeks, my little Bambino was gone.
Meanwhile, the furniture had arrived at the rental, and the house in Santa Fe was sold. Maui made herself at home, watching the new types of wildlife in the area.
The cancer team at Tufts assured me that I was a good candidate for a stem cell transplant. While waiting for insurance approval, I took two weekends to explore New England, as I knew that recovery would be lengthy and bedridden.
Going from a desert to a weather beaten seaside climate took some adjustment. Also, I began waterfall hunting. These are the Wadsworth Falls in Middlefield, Connecticut, a cascading waterfall with over a twenty-foot drop on the Coginchaug River.
The stem cell transplant was deemed a success, but my energy was completely drained, and I had NO immunity. I was in bed for a few months, binge watching Friends and researching my family tree.
I discovered that the Billings’ helped cofound Concord, Massachusetts, in the 1640s! Just miles away from where I was recovering.
When I was cleared by the medical team and able to visit, I found the grave of my 13x great-grandfather, Nathaniel Billings, along with a plaque. Little is known of his wife, Jane, except that she died in a house fire. I’m not certain she is buried next to him.
Note: Sometimes Billings is spelled without the “s”.
Then I took Maui to Dog Chapel in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, to remember Bambi. I hadn’t been able to grieve properly because of my own medical issues.
The visit didn’t heal my broken heart.
Chemo kills taste buds. Everything tasted like burnt charcoal. I lived on toast, and I couldn’t tolerate wine or coffee. It was two years in total of not experiencing much food.
And then, one morning, I started the coffeemaker in the hopes of tasting that black nectar of the goddesses.
“Black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, sweet as love.”
Ah… finally! Bliss!
Where am I now? You can find me on Blue Sky.