*DETOUR* to Houston TX and MD Anderson

Our plans were for a little downtime in Goodrich, make our way to DFW for Christmas, return to Alpine on New Year’s to celebrate the one year anniversary of starting our adventure, and then on to Big Bend for golf. As the saying goes, the best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men often go astray, and while we were going through routine medical checkups, what I first thought was a small mouth ulcer turned out to be cancer.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Our general practitioner recommended an Ear | Nose | Throat (ENT) doctor check the cyst under my tongue, he ordered a biopsy that came back positive and then an MRI. We met with the ENT the day before Thanksgiving, he texted his contact at MD Anderson, and by the time we arrived home at Magnolia RV Park, I had an appointment in Houston the following Tuesday. We made a few phone calls, found a spot in Highway 6 RV Resort, and loaded the coach. We moved on that Monday.

The prognosis is good, MD Anderson Cancer Center is the best there is, and fortunately, we live in an RV and move all the time. We consider this a short detour and will return to traveling soon. I plan to keep these pages about the adventure and will have separate posts in another category about treatment:
I am sorry, but it’s cancer.

In the meantime, Houston is another place to explore while on our adventure. We did receive the best service ever at Frank’s Grill, a place with several locations around Houston. The RV Park has a great place for the dogs to play.

• 

• 

• 

We watched Houston’s Magical Winter Lights win the heavyweight division of the Christmas Light Fight, and are making plans to go see the victor.

There is a pretty storm retention pond masquerading as a lake filled with a fountain, fish, and visiting birds. We have a congenial neighbor who taught me that Lit’l Smokies are the bait of choice. We practice catch-and-release but the birds take an exemption. That was a nice sized fish, and he’s still swimming.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•