{"id":373,"date":"2026-08-26T20:05:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T20:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/?page_id=373"},"modified":"2026-08-26T20:09:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T20:09:48","slug":"the-dream-we-had-before-cancer","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/the-dream-we-had-before-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dream We Had Before Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/p>\n

\n
\n

RETIREMENT STORY<\/p>\n

The Dream We Had Before Cancer<\/h1>\n

\n We thought retirement would mean an RV, open roads, and finally
\n having the freedom to explore.\n <\/p>\n

\n For years, we imagined this chapter differently.\n <\/p>\n

\n Retirement was supposed to be the time when the calendar opened up,
\n work stopped dictating the schedule, and the road ahead finally
\n belonged to us.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n \"Mike\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\n We talked about an RV. Long drives. National parks. Time with family.
\n Places we had always said we would visit \u201csomeday.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n And then cancer changed the route.\n <\/p>\n

\n Not gradually. Not conveniently.\n <\/p>\n

\n Almost overnight, the future we had pictured became filled with
\n appointments, scans, surgery, treatment decisions, recovery, bloodwork,
\n and a new vocabulary we never expected to learn.\n <\/p>\n

\n The life we were preparing to begin suddenly felt very far away.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

THE PLAN CHANGED<\/p>\n

When the Future Suddenly Looks Different<\/h2>\n

\n One of the hardest parts of a serious diagnosis is that it does not
\n affect only the present.\n <\/p>\n

\n It reaches forward.\n <\/p>\n

\n It changes vacations you were planning, purchases you were considering,
\n timelines you thought were certain, and the assumptions you made about
\n what the next five or ten years would look like.\n <\/p>\n

\n For us, that included retirement.\n <\/p>\n

\n We had spent years thinking about what life would look like when we
\n finally had the freedom to travel more.\n <\/p>\n

\n The RV dream represented more than a vehicle.\n <\/p>\n

\n

It represented freedom.<\/p>\n

Choice.<\/p>\n

Time.<\/p>\n

Adventure.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n It represented the idea that after decades of work, there would finally
\n be room to slow down and explore.\n <\/p>\n

\n What happens to the dream when the future changes?\n <\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

A DIFFERENT KIND OF DECISION<\/p>\n

We Didn\u2019t Want Cancer Making Every Decision<\/h2>\n

\n There was a period when it would have been easy to simply abandon
\n the plans.\n <\/p>\n

\n To decide that the safest thing was to stay close to home.\n <\/p>\n

\n To stop imagining.\n <\/p>\n

\n To stop planning.\n <\/p>\n

\n But somewhere along the way, we realized something important.\n <\/p>\n

\n Cancer had already changed enough.\n <\/p>\n

\n We did not want to hand it every remaining decision.\n <\/p>\n

\n That does not mean ignoring reality.\n <\/p>\n

\n It means learning how to live within it.\n <\/p>\n

\n Treatment schedules matter. Energy levels matter. Side effects matter.
\n Medical access matters.\n <\/p>\n

\n There are practical things we have to think about now that were not
\n part of the original retirement plan.\n <\/p>\n

\n But the desire to explore did not disappear.\n <\/p>\n

\n The dream just had to become more flexible.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Retirement wasn\u2019t canceled.<\/p>\n

It was rewritten.<\/strong>\n <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

REWRITING THE ROAD AHEAD<\/p>\n

A Changed Plan Is Still a Plan<\/h2>\n

\n That idea has become one of the biggest lessons of this journey.\n <\/p>\n

\n Sometimes life does not give you the chapter you expected.\n <\/p>\n

\n That does not mean the story is over.\n <\/p>\n

\n You adjust.\n <\/p>\n

\n You rethink.\n <\/p>\n

\n You make different choices.\n <\/p>\n

\n You learn to hold plans a little more loosely.\n <\/p>\n

\n Maybe the trips are shorter.\n <\/p>\n

\n Maybe the route changes.\n <\/p>\n

\n Maybe you stay closer to medical care.\n <\/p>\n

\n Maybe the RV dream happens differently than originally imagined.\n <\/p>\n

\n Or maybe the adventure becomes something you never would have planned
\n at all.\n <\/p>\n

\n The point is not to recreate the exact future we imagined before cancer.\n <\/p>\n

\n The point is to keep moving toward a life that still feels meaningful.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n The road may look different now, but it is still ours to travel.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

WHY THE RV DREAM STILL MATTERS<\/p>\n

It Represents More Than Travel<\/h2>\n

\n For us, the RV is still symbolic.\n <\/p>\n

\n It represents the life we were preparing to begin before the diagnosis.\n <\/p>\n

\n But now it represents something else too.\n <\/p>\n

\n It represents the decision not to stop dreaming simply because life
\n became uncertain.\n <\/p>\n

\n We do not know exactly what the road ahead looks like.\n <\/p>\n

\n We know there will be appointments.\n <\/p>\n

\n There will be tests.\n <\/p>\n

\n There will be days when treatment takes priority.\n <\/p>\n

\n There will probably be more unexpected detours.\n <\/p>\n

\n But there can still be sunsets.\n <\/p>\n

\n There can still be campgrounds.\n <\/p>\n

\n There can still be new places.\n <\/p>\n

\n There can still be mornings with coffee outside and nowhere we need to be.\n <\/p>\n

\n There can still be adventure.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

THE ROAD AHEAD<\/p>\n

We\u2019re Still Looking Forward<\/h2>\n

\n We are not pretending cancer did not change our retirement.\n <\/p>\n

\n It did.\n <\/p>\n

\n But we are also learning that a changed life can still be a good life.\n <\/p>\n

\n A meaningful life.\n <\/p>\n

\n A life with purpose, family, travel, laughter, advocacy, and moments
\n worth remembering.\n <\/p>\n

\n The dream we had before cancer may not look exactly the same anymore.\n <\/p>\n

\n But we have not stopped looking down the road.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

AND SO…<\/p>\n

The Adventure Continues.<\/h2>\n

\n We will keep sharing what happens as we navigate retirement, treatment,
\n travel, changing plans, and the decisions that come with building a life
\n after an unexpected diagnosis.\n <\/p>\n

\n


\n WATCH OUR JOURNEY
\n <\/a><\/p>\n


\n MORE RETIREMENT STORIES
\n <\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n