16 State GeoAdventure - The Pre-Trip

For most of the summer Hubby (and I) have been planning and looking forward to our trip to AZ. We decided to bring the travel trailer and drive through 16 states. The main reason for the 16 state GeoAdventure was attending the GeoCoin Fest in St. Louis MO on October 15th. We attended it in Lincoln/Omaha NE last October and decided to go again. The original plan was to leave on Tuesday, September 28th, camping in Sioux Falls that night to visit the grands one more time. Camp ground reservations were made. We packed for our winter in AZ as we do not take luggage when we fly. We also had to plan and pack for our Europe trip after Thanksgiving as now was the time to make certain what we needed was in Watertown and not AZ. We also packed a suitcase for SF and the kids' house, just in case we do not get from SF to Watertown when we do fly back on Thanksgiving Day. And then there was all the geocaching supplies that might be needed. You get the idea...

Two weeks before we were to leave, Hubby shared he was once again experiencing some chest discomfort. No pains. No tingling. No heartburn. Just discomfort. He met with the cardiologist on a Monday, who ordered an EKG which showed nothing. A stress test was performed the next day. We waited and waited for test results thinking Hubby probably needed another stent. (The waiting and waiting was only 6 or 7 hours, but because we did not know if there would be some surgery, we did not know if we were going on the 28th or not.) Packing was put on hold. Finally, he got a phone call saying the stress test showed no changes from the one given a year ago. Three days later, the discomfort disappeared. We were back to packing.

That same week I had my yearly mammogram. For the first time ever, I got a phone call 3 days later saying I needed to come back for a recheck. Something was noticed on the left breast. The earliest I could get in was the following week on Wednesday, the day we planned to be in Nebraska. Dang. The recheck was necessary, so the GeoAdventure was on hold. I also learned I would not have any test results for 7 to 10 days following the recheck. It is what it is. Maybe we could still do St. Louis???

During the initial mammo, I happened to look over at the monitor and noticed a white spot on one of the x-rays. (Yes, I know it is called something else, but it is like an x-ray.) So, I really wasn't surprised by the call from my GP. Disappointed, but not really surprised. So I mentally planned for a diagnosis of breast cancer. Two recheck tests were completed in 45 minutes on Wednesday, Sept. 29th. The doctor of radiology read both tests immediately and told me everything was OK. She just wanted to make certain the area had not changed from last year. Woo Hoo! I went home and told Hubby to finish packing, we could leave on our GeoAdventure...two days later than the original plan.

Of course, in the "waiting period" he had canceled all the reservations. Better safe than sorry. We loaded the camper and headed to Sioux Falls on Friday afternoon; ready to begin the 16 State GeoAdventure.