The two of us made the decision to move back to BC where both of our families were. We upgraded to a better car for the trip back and we also managed to gain a motorbike along the journey in Ontario(a bike that Jim himself owned so long ago) so we got a trailer to take it back to BC with us. After modifying the trailer and packing up most of our belongings, we once again hit the road. We crossed the Canadian / USA border at Port Huron and continued along Route 2 through the northern USA. It was a great trip and we saw lots of wildlife and nature, as well as met some very kind and interesting people along the way. We were able to spend 7 days on our route this time as we made the move in the middle of August and camped/hotel'ed along the way. Our first food order mistake - the menu said bacon and eggs....us greedy souls decided that we were too hungry for 2 pieces of bacon and 2 eggs so we ordered hashbrowns and toast.......the next thing we knew, there were 2 waitresses bringing us 4 humungous platters of food.........food that would feed about 6 people.......Big Mistake!! There are some great memories along the way; our first purchase in the states of a full tank of gas - 2 packs of cigs and breakfast for 25.00, the Macinac Bridge, the roadkill stew in northern Michigan, the fields and fields of sunflower plants through Northern Dakota, the flat prairie land through eastern Montana, the wonderful hosts in Cut Bank Montana whom bought us dinner one night, the majestic Glacier National Park, and the interesting scenery through northern Idaho and Eastern Washington state, oh yea - the food.....we finally figured out how much to order from a menu by the time we were ready to re-enter Canada. All in all, a wonderful trip. As we entered Canada again in Osoyoos, we came back to reality.......
We went to my families place in Penticton and got settled there.....After we had been there for about a year, we faced our first medical crisis with me.
I began to have lots of pain in my belly and during every menstrual cycle, the pain grew. After seeing several medical doctors and specialists, it was discovered that I had Endometreosis. As it turns out, Endometreosis is a disease that can prevent one from becoming pregnant, and if a lady becomes pregnant with the disease, depending on the damage done to the uterus and surrounding tissues, the chance that the woman can carry the child to full term is doubtful.....in my case with the severity of the disease, I was told that if I did become pregnant, the likelyhood that I would have a miscarriage was about 95%. Endemetreosis is when your lining of your uterus actually grows on the inside of your body cavity versus where it is suppose to be. I was put onto steroids and several medications that actually changed how my body worked. I was put onto testosterone which is suppose to stop the cycle. Nothing worked.......By the time that the doctors realized how bad things were, I had several growths on my bladder, kidneys, intestines, liver and lungs. The problem with this diseases is that when you have a menstral cycle, those growths also bleed, which cause increased pain and more growths to develop. After an attack that sent me to the hospital, it was decided that I would need a Radical hysterectomy in order to stop the process, as at that time, it was the only known CURE for the disease. At the age of 22, I had the hysterectomy which in effect changed the first part of our lives together forever......We would never have the children that we wanted.
At this same time, it was also discovered that I had hyperthyroidism, which as it turned out, made the endometreosis grow at a rapid rate. Only the hyperthyroidism wasn't discovered until after I had the hysterectomy. If things were discovered the other way around, I probably wouldn't of needed the hysterectomy at that time. Shortly after discovering that I had hyperthyroidism, I had a radioactive iodine treatment to reverse the disease.
Time went on for a while and things were okay, then I began to have problems with sight, breathing, confussion, and general unwellness......one day my husband took me to the hospital where I was admitted for a week. In that time they found that I now had Hypothyroidism, which is when your thyroid goes low and they need to give you medication to bring the levels back up to normal.
By the end of that year, things had happened to our lives that wouldn't be reversed.....the only way we could have children in our lives now was to adopt. As Jim was now nearing 40 years old, at that time, they wouldn't allow a person to go through the adoption process at that age.........In other words, if I wanted to adopt a child, I would have to leave my hubby and try to get a child on my own. Not great. I made the decision to not have children and to stay with the man that stood by me through the last year.....the love that he shared with me, gave me strength to fight and carry on. It was a decision that I am still VERY happy with today!!
We spent 4 very nice years in the Okanagan / Similiameen valleys before deciding that it was time to start anew.........
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