April 4th – A new hope

Resilience is the deliberate act of moving forward through difficulties while choosing what endures, turning these experiences into lasting meaning for the people who matter most. Today we start the journey to Spain where we can hopefully better combat the cancer. It was important to Mel that we bring the kids this time as she saw this as possibly the last family vacation while I am doing ok. We know that cumulative cancer treatments will have an impact so she wants to create some positive memories. She is right in a sense in that people remember experiences and not physical gifts. At our wedding I do not remember what everyone gave us as a gift, some of them I do, but not all of it. What I remembered was who shared the experience with us and the fun we had. From my best man repeatedly pointing out how I robbed the cradle to all of our friends and families answering questions about us to make us kiss. What we want from this experience is for the kids to see, yes, your father is going for treatment, but we can turn it into a positive experience. My sister will be joining us so they will not be spending time in the hospital watching me work because rest is for suckers. I would like to clarify that work life balance is super important, but sitting in a private hospital room when I feel that I could be discharged will drive me crazy. Instead of hanging out in a hospital with me being bored, they will experience delicious food across Europe. They will come by to visit briefly and then go out gallivanting with their aunt. When they think of me going for my first cancer treatment abroad they will have positive memories. Subsequent trips will not be filled with worry, but of us going for the treatment and everything is ok. What they will remember is the fun we had and regret for not being able to join us for the fun. Worry about the cancer treatment will not be on their mind because they will have experienced how I dealt with it.

We arrived at the airport and got through boarding and screening extremely fast. The longest part of boarding was getting approval for the wheelchair. We found the screening with accessibility and zoomed through that quickly and we are now chilling in the signature lounge waiting for food. The food here is quite delicious and we have enjoyed everything so far. Mel refuses to get drunk even though we still have 3 hours till boarding. So far everyone has been quite wonderful and I suspect that our flight will not be full. My sister said she is not going to eat on the plane and just sleep on the flight instead. We get to relax in the lounge and chill in a nice environment. The kids are starting to get full but they are planning what they want to eat on the plane. Olivier has had a running dialogue trying to figure out what he wants to eat. The kids are big foodies so they enjoy the meals.

We have received a lot of messages today from everyone sending us well wishes. The amount of support that everyone has sent us today has been welcomed. It reminds us that we are not doing this alone. We will send photos and updates as we progress through this week. When we went to the Georgian Mall I tried to navigate it without the wheelchair. I managed to do it, but it was a challenge. By the end of it I was quite tired and it made me realize that taking the wheelchair was the right choice. The airport is huge and I do not think that I would have been able to traverse it. For dinner I am eating the smallest amount of food but when you add it all up, it has been a decent amount. Today I need to post earlier as once we are on the flight I will not be paying for Wi-Fi as I suspect I will sleep. If I would be up the whole night I think I would. I will share photos as we go.

Q