We’re Going to Have a Fun Weekend, Dammit

Cancer Diary

We’re Going to Have a Fun Weekend, Dammit

I was released from the hospital for the weekend prior to BRAIN SURGERY, which was scheduled for Wednesday October 1, 2025. After lots of tests, another MRI, a CT Scan, an EEG, and probably others I can’t remember I got to go home to spend a few days with my family. My daughters and my husband had tagged-teamed the three days at the hospital with me. Now that we were being “furloughed” I was ordered to have fun. I have to say that when you are looking at a few days to live your best life before having brain surgery it is a bit daunting to come up with fun. 

So, what did we do? We went to Costco. Yep, Costco. We went up and down every aisle as a family group of five. We bought all the fun stuff, the ridiculous snacks, the necessities, and the not so necessary. Then we ate cheap, but delicious Costco hotdogs near the check out stands. That was fun! We also went to the fanciest restaurant for fancy food where I had my first glass of wine in almost three years. (I gave up alcohol in 2022 and one of the first things I said after my diagnosis was, “I gave up wine for this!”) 

    We watched movies. We watched the movie Arthur with Dudley Moore and laughed and cried. We ate tons of good food, I having decided that life was literally too short to worry anymore about my weight. We cried a lot, we laughed a lot, we tried to figure out the new medications I was now on, we worried about the surgery. But, mostly we did have a good weekend. 

My oldest daughter, who had flown in immediately from her home in New York, had a previous job at the Columbia University Library in the Oral History Department. She brought her fancy recording devices and over the course of her 10 days here we recorded 14 hours of my history. I felt like I was on a season of This is Your Life Jenifer Smith. She led me through my childhood, my relationships with my parents and siblings, my years of schooling, my love affair with my husband, my time as a young mother, my career, my friends, my extended family, everything. It was a beautiful gift that she was able to walk me through my fabulous life and record it for my grandchildren to one day have. But the best thing about it is now when I tell anyone that I have led a wonderful and full life and that I have no regrets, I have documented proof that that is true! 

There was a lot of serendipity that weekend. My little brother from Houston surprised me and came into town to be with us before, during, and after the surgery. My sister, also from Houston, organized a family text group to keep everyone apprised of my situation. She was also my gatekeeper, screening calls and messages. I was able to have a previously scheduled dinner with my close girlfriends to tell them in person what was happening and I had time to let others know of my situation before I went back into the hospital for surgery. 

By the time we had to report back to the hospital at the crack of dawn on Wednesday, October 1, I felt like I was wrapped in protective quilt batting. I had been nourished in body and spirit by the love and kindness of my family and friends. I was ready.