Scotland and FOLFOX
As many of you know, we decided to plan a trip to Scotland a few months ago for many reasons, but here was the driving reason.
Zach first went to St. Andrews for work before Silas was born and fell in love with the town. He had always dreamed about taking us there to see and experience the Home of Golf, as they call it. Zach and I love to travel and experience other cultures, foods, and the beauty of God’s creation, and it was so exciting to see Silas experience that for the first time internationally.
We stayed at a VRBO near The Old Course, which happens to be near the beach. Walking out of the VRBO and seeing the water and the salt air did us good.
Before we left for Scotland, Zach and I talked about how the trip might feel. Will it be mixed with happy and sad feelings? Will it be hard to enjoy the vacation because of the circumstances under which we booked it?
It wasn’t filled with sadness or despair about the sad what-ifs. It was filled with laughter, happiness, gratefulness, and genuine enjoyment of our time together as a family, making memories.
My favorite memory of the trip was walking back from playing the Baldove Course (a 9-hole links course at St. Andrews). St. Andrews Links has seven golf courses, and Zach and Silas played two. The most famous course is The Old Course, which is closed to the public on Sundays and used as a park. The most direct walk back to our VRBO was walking through The Old Course, and when we hit the 18th fairway, it will be a memory burned in my memory forever.
Thank you for praying for us and following along our journey. We were blessed by so many people who helped make this trip happen.
ZACH HEALTH UPDATE
Zach had his baseline scan on the Friday after we returned from Scotland, and it was stable compared to the previous scan from four weeks ago.
Fun fact: even though he has done FOLFOX, they reset everything to “standard of care,” which meant that the anti-nausea regime he had the last time he had FOLFOX was not considered. So we had to sort that out before, which took a little extra time. Thankfully, he feels decent and hasn’t had any nausea this time.
We iced his hands and feet in mitts and socks during the infusion to help keep the neuropathy away. There is only anecdotal evidence that it works, but he has nothing to lose by trying it. We sat together and talked about how proud we are of Silas and how much fun we have watching his kid-pitch games. Yes, those games can be slow, but it doesn’t matter.
We continue to feel God’s presence and the peace he brings us. We continue to find joy amid these uncertain times.
xoxo,
Amber