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After feeding little Snookie an absorbent amount of saturated fats, Terri and I headed to the B&B in Key West. Terri booked 4 nights at the Atlantis House:

This beautiful home is owned by Steven and Kayla  Kessler.

We booked the Master Suite, with many amenities and a beautiful decor. Outside the room is  a beautifully landscaped  private patio.

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Upon our arrival, Kayla greeted us with a a slice of her homemade Key Lime pie- it was yummy! Kayla and Captain Steve went out of their way to make our delayed honeymoon perfect! Captain Steve accommodated all our special request and was able to find Terri a very large Conch Shell-

We booked an all day fishing trip and a 3 hour snorkeling tour. Yes I snorkeled again!  No panicked moments but I did swallow some more salt water.  For pics and videos see separate pages under menu.

Since it was an all day fishing tour, we packed a lunch. I thought packing bananas would be a healthy choice, offset the key lime pie and key lime frozen cocktails. (see a pattern?) What I did not know, there is a superstition among  natives that it is bad luck to bring bananas on a fishing boat. When Capt. Steve heard me offer a banana to Terri, his jaw dropped. He explained the native belief. I offered to throw them overboard, he declined , explaining he hates to see food go to waste.  I know he was thinking to himself, “I had the boat moored over a school of yellow-tailed snapper and they didn’t catch a blessed one.”  Terri did catch a grouper and a grunt fish but they were too small to keep. I was reeling in a yellow-tailed snapper, when a barracuda bit off all but the head.

Captain Steve  took us further out to deeper waters to troll for barracuda. He explained he always catches barracuda in this area. He did not. I offered to throw the bananas overboard, he thought about it, and again declined. He decided to take us out to even deeper waters, 700 feet. On the way, we were pelted with heavy rains. I threw the bananas overboard…. He moored the boat in deeper waters- We caught  quite a few mahi mahi! It was great day!

THANK YOU CAPTAIN STEVE!

We headed to Key Largo after The Everglades.

We planned to spend one night in Key Largo and  had a snorkeling tour scheduled at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.

When we arrived at the park for our snorkeling tour, Terri and I were taken aback by the name of our tour boat…

Terri described seeing the name  Journey as a affirmation of faith. If you look closely at some of the photos you will see  this cross-

It says: Faith  is being sure of what we HOPE for and certain of what we do not see, Hebrews 11:1

For Terri and I,  our Faith Journey has been intrinsic to her  healing journey and the Journey of our partnership and marriage.  God’s Grace has blessed and guided us throughout each of these Journeys. God gives us reminders on a daily basis- and the name of our tour boat was just another reminder, He is guiding us…

I have never snorkeled before and I can’t swim. So I said yes to snorkeling?  I  am not afraid of the water as long as I have a flotation device, or Terri to hang on to. She prefers I have a flotation device… I must say,  the first 20 minutes for me were pretty rough; swallowed a lot of salt water and panicked more than once… Did I mention I did have an inflated vest on? And I still held on to Terri.   Once I calmed down and sealed my mask correctly, I actually enjoyed it very much. In fact, Terri and I snorkeled again in Key West. You can tell Terri and I are in our fifties, as others had special water-proof cases for their Smart Phones, Terri brought a Fuji 35 mm under water camera she purchased in the 90’s… So those pics will be posted once we get the film developed. They still do that, don’t they? Come to think of it, I haven’t seen any of those little drop off  booths in a few years. Where’s Thrift Drug when you need them?

Check out pics on the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park page.

After snorkeling, we headed off to Key West. Terri and I stopped off at a little restaurant  along the way.

The restaurant has very nice outdoor seating with a great view of the Bay. It also has a permanent guest named little Snookie-

Not to be confused with this  Snooki.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Terri enjoyed feeding our new friend-

But Snookie did not get any of this. Best key lime pie  frozen cocktail ever!

 

 

 

 

The second stop of the day was The Everglades. We watched a short video at the visitors center and found it very informative. I did not know the everglades was fresh water and the only place on earth where one can see both alligators and crocodiles. We did not see any gators or crocs on our first hour hike, though we did see a snake 45  seconds into our second hike and this was Terri’s reaction-

needless to say, we turned around. Check out The Everglades Page for some interesting pics.

 

Planning the trip was quite a task. We knew we wanted to see as many national parks as possible, and had 3 months to do so. Last year we had cancel our honeymoon in Key West, due to Terri being in the hospital.  So we decided to start this Journey in the Florida Keys. We Flew from Latrobe to Fort Lauderdale and drove to the Keys in style.

The first stop was our first Nation Park:

The majority of what the park has to offer is seen via boat tour.  We did not have the time to do a tour as we also planned to see the Everglades and then drive to Key Largo all the first  day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way out of the park, I saw my first Iguana. Look at those brilliant colors!

Terri had spent the last three months of 2013 going back and forth to the hospital daily. He mother had been ill and  passed away  the beginning of January 2014. Two weeks later, Terri began complaining of stomach pain. The pain was intermittent, but continued for several days. Concerned, she made an appointment with her Primary Care Physician. He ordered an abdominal X-ray late in the day. The X-ray was done after hours and we heard nothing. The pain worsened and Terri called the on-call doctor who happened to be her PCP.  He noted nothing concerning on the X-ray,  but suggested she go to the ER if the pain does not subside. I spent the late evening trying to persuade Terri to go to the emergency room but she argued since the X-ray didn’t show anything,  it was probably gas pains and  felt the pain would go away. At one point, we even got into the car and started to the hospital, but the pain stopped and she insisted on going back into the house. By 2:30 AM, Terri gave in and we headed to the ER where the emergency room physician ordered a CT Scan.   Approximately and hour later he  approached the foot of the bed, and reported the results. There was a mass on the tail of her pancreas.  I didn’t hear much after that, bits….pieces… Terri was bewildered, stunned and  not comprehending the conversation, just the word “mass.”  Then he discussed admission and consulting oncology…..I think we both stopped breathing….

The doctor had ordered a narcotic pain med. Shortly thereafter, Terri began to get nauseated and vomited.   The oncologist came in the exam room at change of shift. He attributed her nausea and vomiting to a “stomach bug” that was going around. I had informed him, it started after the dilaudid. He reported he had reviewed the CT Scan and felt the nausea was unrelated to the mass, and the stomach bug was going around. He did say he wanted to order other tests. Terri was admitted to the oncology floor.

The pain appeared under control and the Attending Physician ordered a colonoscopy for the morning. I went home to get Terri and I some personal items. When I returned, Terri was deathly ill. Every time she attempted a sip of the prep, she vomited. I thought this test could tell us more and I urged her to drink more of the prep. She vomited again. They ordered a nasogastric tube and another abdominal  X-ray.

When Terri returned from X-ray , she was ashen. The nurse had yet to insert the nasogastric tube and Terri was still vomiting.  I  panicked, my heart was breaking and I  became Shirley McClain. I unraveled, demanding  she be transferred to Pittsburgh.  Moments later,  the Attending Physician reported on the X-ray. The mass was invading her colon and she was transferred  to Pittsburgh.

I remember pulling into the Pittsburgh hospital just as Terri was being wheeled into the  Emergency Room. At this point, she was very lethargic and barely responsive.  I thought they would have rushed her to the OR, however they ordered   more scans and admitted her to a trauma floor. They opted not to take her into the operating room because the colon was not totally occluded.  I was panicked and wondered why they were waiting. In retrospect, I thank God they waited as she was blessed with the best trauma surgeon the hospital has on staff.  She was taken into the OR the following morning and Dr. P ‘s steady hands , brilliant mind and kind heart removed the mass  and preformed a  large bowel resection and colostomy.

In little over twenty four hours our lives changed forever. Words like pathology results, Adenocarcinoma, CA 19-9 tumor markers, gemcitabine  chemotherapy and PET scans soon became a part of our daily vocabulary. Terri had spent the last three months trying to understand medical discussions concerning her mother. She was depleted emotionally and physically. She didn’t have time to catch her breath; to mourn her mother’s death or process the last three months…and now…