But was it successful?

My dear pal, Ancrene, asked whether I thought my trip was successful. The answer is, yes I do think it was successful. I manged to get a bunch of relatively simple things in order, mostly phone calls to set up appointments, some organizing of papers (always a good thing to regain a sense of control, IMNSHO), made some headway with Minerva from Reach to Recovery (if you search that phrase you will find this programme in other countries as well), and really made some strides in finding her a therapist (no, no one is lined up but found some excellent avenues and leads, which again was part of the block).

One interesting source I found was the American Psychosocial Oncology Society. As as a future therapist I was quite intrigued by this concept. Which reminds me, I need to see if they called Sunny back with referrals yet. I don't know if I would want to specialize in this type of work, though I am so much more aware of the dimensions of impact cancer has on family and friends, but it's a great resource to know about.

Sunny asked that I continue to call her daily for a bit of time, which I have been doing. I called on the late side yesterday (Tuesday) and she sounded really good, proclaiming to have had a "successful day". It really was too. She drove herself to an appointment, which marks the first time she has driven by herself since maybe early November. Personally I cannot fathom not driving for such a long period, but Sunny doesn't really like driving, has a terrible sense of direction (she calls herself "geographically challenged", and isn't a very good driver. Following the appointment she had enough energy to do some food shopping at her favorite place, Mrs Greens, again since even before the cancer her energy level wasn't the best, this is fantastic.

So at this point I am trying to plan for a return visit, with (drumroll please) The Girl Friend, for Passover, on or about April 13th. This would mark the great meeting of The GF and Sunny, also The GF and various others (including my father - who really wants to meet her as well) when we attend my family's seder (which will be the first time I've attended since moving to the left coast).

Wish us luck in this endeavor, both in making it happen and it being successful.