The roller coaster of life never ends…..

I lied. I didn’t mean to lie, but once again, I am on the roller coaster of life. Peace Corps had previously told me I couldn’t extend my service when I was diagnosed with melanoma. But they also said I couldn’t return to Ukraine and ultimately, I did. I find, that in life you just never know until you try to get what you want. So, when my country director encouraged me to still apply to extend, of course I did. Yes, it was approved but ultimately you need to get the final OK from the Washington DC Peace Corps office.

Before Washington will give you their final “seal of approval” you must go through another physical. I guess they want to make sure you are healthy enough to stay in your country of service another year. I did just that thinking I had gotten through the physical with flying colors. This is when I started riding the roller coaster of Peace Corps once again.

I received a phone call from my doctor notifying me that I needed to be medevacked to the US. During my physical they performed an Ultra Sound and found an enlarged lymph node/cyst (?). I guess it’s enough of a concern to send me home to have me go through further tests. I was feeling like I was so close but yet so far. I never made it to home base….

Peace Corps Washington has not given me the final approval for my extension at this time. Of course, they need to know the final outcome of these upcoming tests. I am just incredibly thankful to Peace Corps for providing me with excellent health care and support.

Everyone in my town including my husband feels positive I will be returning to Yaremche. Everyone but me. This time I want to prepare for the worst. That way I am not disappointed if I receive bad news. I want to set my bar low, so I have nowhere to go but up!

Of course, I want to come back to Ukraine if I can, but I learned from my last experience when I was medevac not to get my hopes up. I didn’t realize how much being stuck in America previously affected me, I didn’t feel like I had any closure when they told me I couldn’t return to Ukraine, I panicked. Well this time I am going to be more prepared.  I have a few weeks until I need to fly out. So, I am on a mission to get things done.

I currently have a grant open, but we are close to the end of the project,  I wasn’t in a hurry to do the final project reporting to close the grant. My counterpart, Maryana and I are racing to finish it ahead of schedule now. I also want to accomplish some personal things.

John has been wanting to see the Scorpions since he heard they will be playing in Kyiv. We had been looking at tickets since early July, but thought they were sold out. When John checked last they had released more tickets. John quickly purchased 2 tickets and we will be heading to Kyiv to fulfill his need to let out a little stress and adrenalin. Hey, if I’m gonna go out, I want to go out with a bang. I can’t think of a better way to do this than see a Heavy Metal band in Ukraine with my husband.

I also want to get a tattoo and have the opportunity to hug, have dinner and say good bye to some of the good friends I have made while in Yaremche. Just in case I don’t get to return.  I want to feel complete accomplishment this time, since I have a bit of time to prepare!!

When I feel complete I can get on that plane to America ready to focus 100% on my health. I will update and inform you when I will be unbuckling my seatbelt and getting off this ride!

Note: I am not writing about my personal issues in this blog or any social media outlet as a way to look for sympathy. I am doing this solely because I feel many people are taking this journey to Ukraine with me and I would like to update everyone as well as to journal my experience.

This blog expresses my own thoughts and opinions and in no way reflects the Peace Corps or the American government as a whole.