Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed.
The day has finally come. Jarod and I get to go home! These past two weeks have been a varied mix of emotions; anxious, restless, excitement, and peace.
A colleague of Jarod’s provided us a few hotel suggestions for long term stay in near proximity to MSK. We knew from my previous surgeries, that sleeping in a standard bed even days after surgery is not ideal. One of the suggested hotels was Affinia Gardens which just happened to have a powered-recliner within the suite. Through my mother-in-law’s generous assistance, we were able to secure the next six days at this convenient and spacious location. A flood of flower bouquets soon followed to brighten the room and our moods.
Food was hit or miss
Although the hotel was equipped with a small kitchen, we wanted to experience New York cuisine. This decision proved to be regrettable… The nearby restaurants that delivered had sub-par service and quite unpalatable dishes. Never eat at The Palace – the worst food I’ve ever eaten.
Luckily as the days went on and I started having the energy to walk, we found a few chain restaurants that had safe menus and provided us the comfort of familiarity. We also went on a quest to find a high quality, gluten free bakery. And, we did! So many delicious bakery items to choose from and perhaps the best cream puff I’ve had.
We’re New Yorkers Now
Spending two weeks in a new city starts to give you a sense of attachment. You start recognizing streets and not every tall building looks the same anymore. While almost every block in New York has a Starbucks, each has varying menus options and their own décor. One observation that was made quite quickly was identifying New Yorkers from tourists. New Yorkers don’t utilize cabs, Uber or Lyft, but instead walk everywhere. All of this exercise, as one would imagine increases fitness and the local’s slender appearance (this is to say that on average New Yorker’s are thinner than non-New Yorkers).
Over the weekend Jarod and I decided to grab tickets to a Broadway show, a great opportunity to get half priced tickets during Broadway week and attend our first ever show. It was hard to choose from all of the incredible offerings, but we ended up on Waitress. A two-hour escape from reality with the type of acting and singing only New York could offer.
It is Well
Sunday, we attended service at Hillsong church in downtown New York. Many of the same worship songs that I sing at our home church in Fargo were sung in a much larger setting including heart pounding drum beats, literally. The message was given by a pastor at Hillsong’s Perth location in Australia. Her message intertwined scriptures of peace along with examples in her life where she felt peace was missing and how easy it is to receive from God. The exact message I needed to hear. Through all of my emotions, peace was freely given and fully accepted that day.
The early part of this week was our chance to walk further and explore more notable New York destinations. We pushed our way through Times Square in awe of the sheer number of tourists, fashion shows in the rain, and huge, fluorescent billboards that lined every inch of real estate. It is quite the spectacle in person, I joked that flashbacks of TRL flowed through my mind as we tried our hardest to not lose each other in the massive crowds.
M&M World is located within Time Square and boasts three-tiers of candy and merchandise. Twelve years ago, while Jarod and I were in Vegas for our honeymoon, we also went to their version of M&M World. We hadn’t yet picked up any souvenirs for the kids and decided M&M World would have much to choose from. A few t-shirts and of course, M&Ms later, we were on our way back to the hotel. Enough people and adventure for one day.
Melville/Long Island
The firm where Jarod works has a few locations in New York, one downtown and the other a short cab ride east in Melville, on Long Island. The Melville location has quite a bit more space and is where many of his colleagues work. I had the opportunity to meet his boss and a few other close colleagues. All of course were friendly and wanted to ensure we had enjoyed our time at both MSK and in New York. Two days in Melville and then back to the city.
Last night I begged Jarod to do some last-minute shopping and walk through Central Park one last time. He obliged and we found ourselves in Bloomingdales with designer stores at every turn. We had a few last gifts and souvenirs to purchase and this was a perfect place to do so. It was nearing 8:00pm so we briskly walked to Central Park. Even at this hour the Park was still full of people seemingly on their daily walk. What a beautiful place of solitude found in the very center of the city. Also providing a few opportunities to see the skyline through the trees.
Grateful, thankful, and blessed. I want again to thank you all for your outpouring of support to me and my family and to Love Your Buns. I know that this foundation will be educational, give others hope, and most importantly, aid to improve the life of colorectal cancer survivors. Please continue this journey with us. We plan on documenting our experience and growth from start-up non-profit, to hopefully world-changing organization. We’ll continue to share updates. Hope you’ll stayed tuned!
Love Your Buns is a non-profit initiative aiming to remove stigma and improve awareness around rectal cancer, its prevalence and its symptoms. A growing epidemic in young adults, rectal cancer is easy to remove if caught early, however due to a variety of reasons, young adults are not likely to seek screening options like colonoscopies. This gap in screening is leading to more advanced disease at diagnosis and more challenging and strenuous treatment. We're working to Educate young adults to increase awareness of the signs and increasing prevalence of Rectal Cancer and to Empower informed decision making and Improve quality of life in Survivorship.
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