I hope you understand. I just had to get back to the island.

At this very moment, I'm sipping on a piña colada on our rental villa terrace. From my vantage point, I'm watching Paul teach Allen and Boyce how to snorkel in the swimming pool that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean from the north side of Vieques, an island just a 30-minute puddle jumper plane ride southeast of the main island of Puerto Rico.

Paul and I spent a marvelous week here last year, thinking often how much we'd like to bring the boys down here with us. Well, it's spring break. I'm feeling much, much more myself, now almost seven weeks out from my last chemo session. We had four plane tickets that were about to expire from an aborted trip last summer because of my surgery. And I found a last minute deal on a villa right on the ocean. What else could we do?

Paul and I are not Caribbean resort-y kind of people, and that's what we love about Vieques. There is one small resort on the island that's quite easy to overlook. The rest of the island is frozen in time. Pristine, completely undeveloped beaches on the south side of the island, most of them part of a national wildlife refuge...so, they're always going to stay that way. A smattering of small grocery stores that may or may not have the supplies you're looking for, but somehow you make do. A handful of really amazingly good restaurants, filled in with little mom and pop cafes and food trucks with simple delicious Caribbean fare like pork carnitas and empanadas.

So, here we are on our first family vacation in over a year. And, I must say, I've earned this one. We've earned this one.

Next week, on April 18th, I'm scheduled for a thoracotomy, an eight-inch incision or so surgery on the right side of my torso to access the right lower lobe of my lungs, where the remaining remnant of a nodule resides. I'll be in the hospital for at least five days, the first night of which will be in the ICU. I'll likely be on narcotic pain medication for eight weeks after the surgery, due to surgical incisions through major muscles and nerves. This is a big deal, but it's my best chance to cure that lobe of any malignant disease.

Then, about two weeks after the surgery, I will do at least another three sessions of chemo.

Like I said, we've earned this vacation. And we are grateful for every moment.

Other good news...my mom came home from the hospital Friday and is doing well. Thanks to all of you for your kind thoughts and prayers for her recovery.