By the end of the camp session, we were all excited to have our big kids back, and we think they were excited to come home, but they took advantage of everything the camp has to offer. Offhand, I cannot think of anything that Camp OTX doesn't offer.
The Gill Family
To Buenos Aires as a couple and back to the US as a foursome - we completed our family in 2016 with the birth of our third child. Just when we thought life was really busy, I was diagnosed with brain cancer in March 2018. This is a space to document our family's experiences in health, humor and living with the unexpected.
Thursday, June 22, 2023
Camp OTX!
Monday, June 19, 2023
5 Years Out
This week I had the MRI that marks 5 years since the start of my brain cancer treatment. Thankfully, all is stable, no signs of change, flair, growth, enhancement or any other adjective that indicates anything has changed. It's good news. And I'm thankful.
Now that I only have to go once every 6 months, it's really easy to forget how horrible it is being tied to a medical facility for treatment, or bloodwork, or appointments on a much more frequent schedule. I walk in to the hospital for my MRI and I am immediately reminded of a time when I was there at least once per week.
Lucky for me, my MRI days are now pretty routine. In the spirit of sharing, here is how a "normal" MRI day goes. Not that anything about having MRI days is normal.
I get the kids off to school. Get in my car and head to my local MD Anderson. The new facility that is much closer to my house, which has been a complete game-changer for my scan days. The building is easy to access, free to park and is really a sparkling new, modern place to be. There is this artwork hanging on the ceiling of the foyer. It's really cool, but it just reminds me of all of the twists and turns a person's life takes after a cancer diagnosis. You don't know which way you're going, it's all sort of random and scattered and chaotic. I wonder if that is what the artist had in mind.Friday, December 16, 2022
Adventures at Disney - In Space
Saturday, November 5, 2022
The Littlest Gill is SIX
Already six years old. Only six years old. I lean one way or the other depending on the day. This year he entered kindergarten, head held high, and loved the freedom and excitement of elementary school. We are very excited for these years that our kids are split between 2 schools and not 3.
In his six short years, he has experienced a hurricane (Harvey), a parent with cancer, a global pandemic, and the most devastating of all, a 4 day power outage due to a major freeze in one of the hottest states in the country.
He likes consistency. He likes knowing what's next. He likes pasta for dinner.
He can swim like a fish, he speaks some Spanish but understands a whole lot, and he can hold his own on a chess board or in any video game you put in front of him. He dislikes compromise. He wants to be a big kid, but he still loves stories at night and snuggles on the couch. He has the bluest eyes you'll ever see, and he'll use them to his full advantage. He lost two bottom teeth, he can ride a 2-wheel bike like a champ, and he is starting to read. He has nothing but friends at school, at home, and everywhere we go.
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Pittsburgh With A Yinzer and A Jersey Girl
We drove to Meghan's incredible family farm in the highest of high fall color season. We had a lovely, home cooked lunch and got a small glimpse into the world of dairy farming. It could have been a more perfect fall day.
The next day we took on Pittsburgh by foot and logged over five miles around the city. We started with coffee at Commonplace in the Mexican War Streets district, and wandered through stadium parking lots and parks and riverfront.
The strangest and most colorful place, RandyLand, is both born from dreams and the thing of nightmares.
RandyLand is an abandoned lot turned art installation. There are potted gardens and painted bricks. The majority of the lot is painted and repurposed trash that tells a story and causes more than one double-take.
It's certainly nicer than an abandoned building lot!