We, as humans, are often faced with adversity, challenges in life, and sometimes they alter who we are, and indeed *what* we are. We deal with those challenges in different ways sometimes falling in a heap and giving in and at other times fighting tooth and nail to overcome them. I've seen strong people driven to their knees and people one would expect not to cope stand tall and triumph. It's all subjective and how each of us deals with the challenge of adversity is unknown until we are directly faced with it.

Recently my family has faced one such challenge and whilst we are certainly not out of the danger zone prospects seem to looking quite good and so I thought I'd write a little about it. I'm referring to the recent battle with cancer my wife's mother has faced. Some of you may know about this however until now I have not mentioned the nature of the cancer and the severity of it. 

It started over six months ago when my wife *Faith* and I returned from Europe after six weeks of holidaying. Within 48 hours of us returning we were in the hospital with her mum and a couple of days later she was diagnosed with bowel cancer and had an operation date booked. That operation removed most of her bowel and it was found the cancer was a little more widespread than at first thought however the surgeon's were confident they had caught it in the *nick of time*. I'll not go into details of course, however soon after the operation the six month course of chemotherapy began. 

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Just for the record, we are not strangers to cancer as my wife's father died aged 33 (when my wife was 11) from it and my mother also succumbed to cancer at age 59. Like most people we had been exposed to it however this time it was different, especially for my wife considering the loss of her dad at such a young age; She is very close with her mum. We had some idea what to expect however didn't think for a moment that it would go as wrong as it did once the chemotherapy started. 

My wife stayed with her mum throughout the treatments or she would come and stay at our place for a few days after the actual chemo-drugs were administered. It was a terrible time as her mum was violently ill, life-threateningly so, and in and out of hospital for weeks and weeks. As it turned out the hospital had gotten the chemo *mixture* wrong and the drugs were killing her. Again, I won't go into it in detail but she was rushed back to hospital six or seven times by ambulance and once by my wife, on each occasion on the brink of death. 

She was taken off all chemo drugs and they went back to the drawing board to determine the right mix. After a month off from the drugs to recover her strength she finally went back on it and it seemed to work. She would have chemo-drugs pumped into her for 3 days, then none for 11 days then more drugs for another 3 days and another 11 day break. That continued for six months and in the process she has suffered some unpleasant symptoms, some of which may stay with her for life. 

Throughout the entire ordeal my wife cared for her mum, either at our house or when she stayed over at her mum's. She also ran our business, kept our house and managed not to break down in the meantime. She's also been facilitating a renovation of her mum's house with fresh paint inside (she prepares the walls and ceiling and paints herself), and has had new floors put down, paving and retaining wall work outside plus a mini-renovation of the kitchen. She has done a remarkable job and sometimes when I sit back and consider everything she has achieved in that time PLUS handle the emotional stress and worry of her mum's illness...Well, it makes me very proud of her. 

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The last several months have taken their toll on all three of us and we are only now starting to find some normality here and there. My mother in law has had to deal with the massive change to her life, the prospect of death and the loss of her partner of 25 years to cancer *in the same week she was diagnosed herself!* Yeah, I know right? 

My wife has dealt with...Well, with everything I guess. She has been amazing and I know I'm biased in this regard but I don't know anyone who is as strong as her. And me? Well, I've tried to stay as low-impact as I can and help out where I can. I don't know how much help I was though, probably not too much,  but I tried.

Anyway, to celebrate the end of the treatment we have decided to go on a holiday. My mother in-law has never been overseas so we are going to take her to New Zealand. I know, you may not think that's a big deal but there are reasons we are unable to fly further. We will be there for about 12 days and are only going to the South island so we get to spend some quality time exploring. We also have to move at a pace my mother in-law can sustain. 

We will be taking a helicopter ride to set down on Mt Earlslaw Burn (pictured immediately above) and a glacier, will be boat-cruising on Milford Sound (main picture above), doing a jet boat adventure ride on the Shotover River, the gondola ride 450m above Queenstown and then star-watching and a whole heap of other things as well. I think we'll eat a lot too...Trust me...We'll *eat!*

I booked the flights, hire car and the helo-tour a couple of days ago and am looking at accommodation at the moment so it's all happening! 

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We are making this trip all about my wife's mum so whatever she wants to do we are doing. She will have to take some care along the way and won't be able to get as adventurous as she may like but I think she'll enjoy it. I'm really keen to make it happen and to ensure she has a great time and for me it's as much about her as it is my wife as they *both* deserve a great break! [*You can see us all here selfied last weekend. As you can see my mother in-law's hair is coming back.*]

Bowel cancer kills over 5,300 Australians a year, that's around 14 people a day, and has a 5-year survival rate of 69%. Fortunately my mother in-law has made it this far and it seems that things are on the right track although it's still early days. This is why we are taking this trip; Because there is no better time than *NOW* to live life. Don't you think? I'm looking forward to heading off in October, and to sharing this new Zealand experience with my wife and her mum. She has some testing in the intervening period however with an attitude like hers and the support my wife gives her I'm confident she'll kick cancer's ass! She is not the fall in a heap sort of character and my wife takes after her as well. They both need a break though so I hope life can be a little more kind from here...

In case you are wondering, ***<a href="https://www.maori.com/aotearoa">Aotearoa</a>*** is the Maori word for new Zealand and it translates literally to **_land of the long white cloud._**


**_Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default_** - @galenkp 

P.s. If anyone wants to hit me up on Discord: @galenkp#9209 

***<a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/mitre-peak-milford-sound-landscape-2278361/">im srce</a>***
***<a href="https://www.nomadsafaris.co.nz/gallery/lord-of-the-rings-gallery/#gallery/102d299294c1f7a74ae3a555e5195ec0/123">im srce</a>***