Back in Florida now.....

The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other.  -- Mario Puzo

I’ve been meaning to get back on here to post a new blog entry, but time seems to have run away from me, and I can’t believe it has been over 2 weeks since I’ve posted.  It’s the old “no news is good news” thing – I don’t have a whole lot to report.

But I’ll begin by saying I had a fabulous 10 days in Maine with Mom, Freeland, and Nancy.  And, of course, the highlight of the visit was the wonderful celebration we had on the 14^th – celebrating Freeland’s 85^th birthday and the end of my cancer treatments – with 19 of us together for a day filled with fun and frivolity, good company, delicious food, and wonderful wine!  Oh my, it was so superb to have so many of us together.  I’ll try not to get too repetitious here because I know most of you read my last post.  But I have to say that I am STILL totally overwhelmed and quite emotional by what my amazing family and friends of the family did for me!  The medical bills are already starting to come in from various appointments I’ve had in January, and I have to say that all the stress of paying them has been alleviated!  I still can’t believe it!  I so clearly remember sitting on the couch at Mom and Freeland’s house when Nancy presented me with that big, beautiful purple card and the big, beautiful Bank of America check!  As I said in my last blog, I honestly thought the check said $1800 (no glasses on), and I thought to myself I’d better not say that out loud because there is NO WAY they are giving me a check of that magnitude!  So I nearly had a heart attack when I found it was $7800, not $1800! 

I knew we were celebrating the end of my cancer treatments, but in all honesty I was not expecting a card of any sort, much less one filled with loving messages from so many people, and I certainly wasn’t expecting a huge check to help with the medical bills!  At the very most, I thought maybe we’d have a toast – “Here’s to Suzy finishing 11 months of cancer treatment and to a better year ahead!  YAY!”  And we all take a sip of wine and go play some more ping pong or whatever!  So I was really flabbergasted by what actually transpired! 

Okay, I’m gonna start crying again, so I’d better get on another subject.  BUT THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH ONCE AGAIN FOR YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT AND GENOROSITY!!!!

I’m back in Florida now.  Flew out of Bangor on 1/22 – it was 7 below zero(!) that morning as I was standing outside on the tarmac waiting to board the commuter plane to Philly.  And it was 78 (above zero!) when I landed in Orlando.  Kenny met me at the airport – so nice to see him – and we went to lunch at a little restaurant on the Banana River in Merritt Island.  Sat outside on that beautiful Sunday afternoon watching the porpoise swimming and playing in the river. 

My INR has been within range for 4 weeks in a row!  Yay!  Unfortunately, it is either at the high end or the low end of the range, so I still have to have it checked weekly….for now.  It’s not painful – just a finger stick – but it’s time consuming – travel time, waiting time, etc. 

I started my aromatase inhibitor (generic Femara) on 1/23.  So far, so good.  No side effects to speak of except some minor hot flashes.  Nothing I can’t deal with, though.  Eight pills down, 1817 left to go!  Eeeh gads!  That sounds terrible, doesn’t it?!

I have an appointment with an ophthalmologist on 2/10 for my watery eyes.  They’re not getting any better, and they’re driving me a little crazy – at times pouring down my cheeks like a freakin’ waterfall!  Hopefully he’ll have some suggestions for me, although Dr. Sprawls warned me that he might want to put stents in to help with the drainage.  I’m not sure I’m interested in that.  Might just have to continue on carrying hankies with me everywhere I go for wiping up the constant flow of tears.

Happy to report that I’m back to eating healthy (for the most part) – mainly protein and veggies – and back to exercising again.  I’ve been trying to ride my bike to the Pioneer Trail (15 minutes), walk the trail (35 minutes), and ride back to the RV (15 minutes).  On days that it’s too windy for a bike ride, I drive to the trail and walk the trail – it’s a beautiful walk.  Today I don’t feel like doing anything because I seem to be coming down with a cold.  Bummer.  It’s zapping my energy today.  Of course I keep reassuring myself that IT’S ONLY A COLD.  As anyone who has ever had cancer will tell you, every new ache, every pain, every illness scares the heck out of you, and you start imaging the worst.  HOWEVER, I am going to BANISH those negative thoughts from my brain.  It is ONLY a cold, and I will be feeling GREAT again in just a couple of days!  In fact, I’m starting to feel better already!

One final note here – a lot of you probably already saw the photo on Facebook with me “modeling” my new Sleevey Wonders®, but I have to post a picture for the benefit of those not on Facebook.  These are the coolest things.  I can’t wear sleeveless tops due to “arm dangle.”  Well, a high school classmate and friend of mine, Ruthann Greenblat, has come up with the perfect solution.  Simply put, they are sleeves that you wear underneath a sleeveless or strapless top or dress.  They can be used to hide arm dangle or to jazz up an outfit or just to add sleeves if you don’t feel like going sleeveless.   Check ‘em out at www.sleeveywonders.com.       

Hope everything is wonderful in your various corners of the world.  All is well here in Florida.  Sending LOTS OF HUGS to everybody! 

Me in my Sleevey Wonders (and sleeveless top)

My amazing family!!!

The family is one of nature's masterpieces.  ~George Santayana

My family is SOOOOOO amazing!!  I don’t even know where to begin.  As you all know, I’m up here in Maine – at the home of my wonderful parents with my totally awesome sister – to celebrate Freeland’s 85^th birthday and the end of my 11 months of breast cancer treatment, the start of a new year, and all good things.  I’ll tell you about the trip up here in a minute, but first I have to tell you something else.  There were going to be 17 of us here yesterday, which is so totally amazing.  But, on Friday night, Brenda (my beautiful niece) arrived at the door……..with her parents, Jeff and Wendy (my wonderful brother and sister-in-law)!!!!!!  They flew in from Oregon for the big celebration, totally unbeknownst to Nancy and me, and we were SOOOO surprised and so ecstatic!!  Wendy is also a breast cancer survivor and can totally relate to the journey I have been on this past year.  Well, adding Jeff and Wendy to the “guest list” was just a really wonderful surprise.  On Saturday morning, the house really came alive when so many wonderful others of my family arrived – stepmom Shirley, stepsister Becky and her husband George, stepsister Penny and her husband Zig and their son Abe, stepbrother Stuart and his wife Donna and their daughters Emma, Delia, and Lily, and Emma’s friend, Jill.  It was really awesome to all be together, and we had such a GREAT day!  We only wished the rest of the family could have been here with us. 

Now let me tell you about the NEXT surprise, if I can do so without crying!  We were all sitting around the living room getting caught up on each other’s stories, chatting, visiting, enjoying each other’s company, etc. when Nancy “called the meeting to order.”  She gave an incredibly touching and moving and heartfelt speech – that I totally wish I had recorded, but I had no idea this was going to happen – about the journey I had been on for the past year and about how everyone wished they could have helped me more or do some of the chemotherapy for me or taken some of the pain and stress away, etc.  (They all helped me more than they know….with all the love and support and good wishes and positive thinking and cards, emails, gifts, etc…..as did ALL of my family and ALL of my friends).  Anyway, Nancy then presented me with a HUGE card filled with messages of love from family and friends.  They had emailed the messages to Nancy, and she printed out each one and glued them to the inside of the card.  It is so beautiful!!!  And on the inside of the card, there was a beautiful purple envelope (purple is my new favorite color; the card is purple, too!) that said “Open Me.”  I followed the instructions and opened it and found a big beautiful check inside!  I didn’t have my glasses on, but I could see 4 (yes, FOUR) digits before the 2 zeroes at the end – meaning the check was in the 4 figures!  I squinted really hard, and it looked like $1800 to me, and I was TOTALLY blown away!!!  But Penny leaned over and said, “That says $7800!”  OMG!!!!  I could NOT believe it!!  I was dumbfounded and speechless!  I honestly couldn’t speak.  And yes, I was crying!  And yes, I am crying now as I write this.  Nancy explained to me that they all…..and MANY others who couldn’t be at the gathering…..had hoped to chip in and raise enough money to meet my deductible for me!  My Uncle John in Arizona played a big role in this, too, by bringing up the idea with Nancy and Mom and by raising funds on “his side” of the family.  You have a heart of gold, Uncle John! 

The whole thing is just so amazing!  I’m still in shock.  The outpouring of love (and money!) is beyond anything I could ever imagine!  Obviously, they not only met my deductible; they far surpassed it!  And they all said they want Kenny and me to take a trip and do something fun with the “extra” money, which we will definitely plan on doing!  I can’t believe I don’t have to worry about my deductible this year – a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders.  And I can’t believe there is enough money left over for us to take a really nice trip.  I couldn’t have made this journey without Kenny, and he has been by my side every step of the way, so it is going to be awesome to be feeling so good and go somewhere really special……compliments of my incredible family and friends.

I need to take a little break here and compose myself.  The tears are flowing, and everything is a big blur right now.  I’ll be back a little later.

Okay, I’m back now, but it’s the next day (Monday).  I did pull myself together yesterday, but I just couldn’t write anymore.  I have to admit that I cried myself to sleep last night.  Don’t get the wrong impression; I’m not a big huge crybaby, but I’m just so overwhelmed by all the love.  I don’t know how to explain it.  They weren’t tears of sorrow or anger; they were tears of happiness, joy, love, amazement, gratitude…..

The party continued on in full force for the rest of the afternoon and evening on Saturday – so much love and camaraderie in the house.  We played ping pong, we went for a nice walk in 20-degree weather, we drank excellent wine that the Bodycoats and Ziarniks brought, we took zillions of keepsake photos, we had a delicious lunch followed later on by delicious appetizers – compliments of Mom.  And then Mom and Freeland treated us to a superb dinner of lobster and steamers (and Mom made a big pot of beef stew and veggie chili for those who didn’t want lobster – who doesn’t like lobster??!!) with 2 delicious Mom-made birthday cakes for Freeland’s birthday.  I won’t tell you how many bottles of wine were consumed that day and evening, but we all had a fabulous time together!!  It was a VERY memorable day.

Oh yeah, I was going to tell you about our trip to Maine.  I flew out of Orlando on 1/11 – wearing thigh-high compression stockings on my legs and a compression sleeve on my left arm, combat boots on my feet to deal with snow, and a down jacket in my bag.  I really needed to get out of Orlando with all this “hot gear.”  (Compression stockings and sleeves are nice and warm in cold weather…..but they are also extremely warm in hot weather – i.e., Florida).  We stopped in Baltimore, which is where Nancy got on the plane (she had flown from San Diego that morning).  It was SOOOOO nice to see her walk aboard the plane, and the flight to Manchester went zipping by.  We got in around 6:30 in the evening, picked up our rental car, and checked into the Towne Place Suites.  Then we went to the grocery store and got a couple of salads and some wine and spent a relaxing evening in our room.  When we woke up in the morning, it was a “winter wonderland” outside – so beautiful with the whole landscape covered in fluffy white snow, and it was still coming down like crazy.  The only drawback was that we had to DRIVE  in the “white stuff” for 4 hours to get to Mom and Freeland’s house – well, that’s 4 hours on a GOOD day.  We got on the road around 9:00 a.m. after a brief workout in the fitness center at the hotel, and the driving conditions rapidly deteriorated.  Before we even got to Portland (Maine), it had become white-out conditions, and we couldn’t even see where we were supposed to be on the road.  Nancy did a most excellent job of driving and tried to stay behind an 18-wheeler as much as she could – they seemed to be doing the best job of driving.  The speed limit on I-95 was 45 MPH, but we could really only maintain about 35 MPH; on I-295, we could only do 25 MPH.  By the time we reached Portland, the windshield wipers were totally caked with ice and so the windshield was a big huge blur – could hardly see out.  We got off the highway in downtown Portland and had to roll down our windows to try to see where we were going – REALLY scary.  We found a McDonald’s, pulled into the parking lot, and heaved a HUGE sigh of relief to be safely stopped for a little while.  We came to the realization that we could go no further.  So we made a bunch of phone calls, found a motel not too far away, called Mom and Freeland and told them we wouldn’t make it until the next day, and then went and checked into the Residence Inn and didn’t leave for the rest of the day.  First we stopped at the Christmas Tree Shop and picked up 2 decks of cards and a cribbage board!  It continued to snow for the rest of the day, and I think Portland got about 10 inches that day!  We had wanted some snow during our vacation, but we envisioned sitting by the fireplace at Mom and Free’s watching it snow out the window.  Driving in it was NOT in the picture!! 

On Friday (the 13^th!), the roads were plowed and sanded, and we ventured out again.  We met Mom and Free in Camden where they treated us to a delicious lunch at the Waterfront Restaurant for Freeland’s (actual) birthday.  And then we drove the rest of the way to their house after lunch.  It felt so good to finally arrive here! 

I guess I should fill you in on some of the “medical” things that have transpired since I last wrote in my blog…..if I can remember anything…..LOL! 

On January 6^th, I had an appointment with the radiation oncologist and also had to get my INR rechecked.  They are SO nice to me at Space Coast Cancer Center.  When I walked into the waiting room, there must have been 6 other people in there, but they called me back first.  They checked my INR first, and it was 1.8.  Just can never seem to get it in range.  They upped the dose to 6.5 mg and said to recheck it on 1/11 before leaving for Maine.  After they did the INR, they sent me to the radiation waiting room, where another 6 people were waiting – and they called me back first again!  It was my lucky day!  And Karissa told me that when Cathy, the nurse practitioner saw my name on the schedule she was so excited and said, “Oh good!  I can’t wait to see her!”  It made me feel so good.  And Cathy gave me a big hug when she walked into the room!  So nice!  She told me my burns were healing beautifully and I could stop the dreaded soaking! YAY!!!  She said to keep using the Silvadene cream on one small area for a few more days.  Now my burns are totally healed, and I don’t have to do anything to them while I’m here in Maine….or after I get home, for that matter.  I’m done!  And what a marvelous feeling.  I think it took the burns about 3 weeks to heal. 

Kenny says I haven’t stopped smiling since my last day of radiation, and I do believe he’s right!  I feel like a different person.  I feel so good and so happy now that everything is behind me!

By the way, INR stands for International Normalized Ratio.  Several people have asked me that, and I couldn’t remember.  The proper name for the blood test is PT INR; the PT stands for prothrombin time.  The test measures the amount of time it takes for the blood to clot. 

My hair is coming back much better since I had it shaved off again.  In fact, I sometimes even go without head gear now!  I think I had my bandana off for a good part of the party on Saturday.  I still think it looks a little goofy, but I got several compliments on the chic look!

I did have a DEXA scan and chest x-ray at the end of December but can’t remember if I reported on those results.  The DEXA scan revealed that I have osteoporosis in the spine and osteopenia in the hip.  I don’t want to get on yet more drugs, so I’ll be consulting my chiropractor/clinical nutritionist on the best route to go with that.  In fact, he has already given me some good advice – calcium, vitamin D, vitamin K, and weight-bearing exercise.  I can’t do the vitamin K yet because of the Coumadin, but hopefully I can do that as soon as I’m done with the Coumadin.

Well, I think perhaps I have rambled on enough for today.  I just want to thank everybody who traveled great distances to be here this past weekend – driving for hours/hundreds of miles, flying from the west coast/thousands of miles – and for making Saturday an awesome celebration!  Thank you to Mom and Freeland for buying my plane ticket(!) and for opening up your home and arms and hearts to 19 people for a day of frivolity and for supplying all the delicious food.  Thank you to everyone who brought beer and wine for the occasion.  Thank you to my most amazing sister for organizing/coordinating the whole event and for putting the beautiful card together, for the incredible speech, and for making this trip with me.  AND THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE FOR THE HEARTFELT MESSAGES IN THE CARD AND FOR THE EXTREMELY GENEROUS CHECK – FOR MEETING MY DEDUCTIBLE AND WAY BEYOND!!  I am so happy to be a part of this huge, loving, supportive, unbelievable family!  I can’t even begin to express my gratitude for what you all have done for me….and Kenny….now, and during this entire journey.  THANK YOU SO MUCH!!  I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

The beautiful snow!

The ugly snow!

Jeff, Nancy, and me -- after Jeff surprised us with his presence!

The Gathering!  Thank you all so much for being here!

Mom and Freeland -- the host and hostess of the magnificent celebration

Nancy giving her awesome speech

My beautiful card

The loving messages inside the card

Shirley and me

Mom, Freeland, Jeff, Nancy, and me

Becky and me

Penny and me

Stuart and Nancy

HAPPY NEW YEAR ONE AND ALL!!!!

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity.  The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.  – Winston Churchill

GOODBYE 2011!  HELLO 2012!!  I was so happy to kiss 2011 goodbye.  It was a very tough year, as you all know, and I’m really looking forward to 2012 being a great year with all kinds of things to look forward to – heading to Maine next week where I’ll get to spend precious quality time with at least 15 family members (can’t wait!), Mom and Freeland will be coming to Cocoa Beach for the whole month of March (sister Nancy will be here for a big chunk of that, too!), we have a Workamper position lined up at one of our favorite parks – Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine – for May, June, and July…..and who knows what else the year has in store.  Road trip out west in the summer/fall??  Suffice it to say I am very excited about this year.  It’s time to put the “cancer stuff” behind me and forge on, move forward, LIVE LIFE AGAIN! 

I’m feeling GREAT, and it’s so wonderful to be able to say that.  I’m still dealing with the radiation burns, but they’re healing.  I got permission via phone on Monday to stop soaking the chest area and just continue with the under-arm burns.  I’ll see the radiation oncologist on Friday for a followup visit, and hopefully I’ll get permission to stop the soaking altogether.  I really don’t want to have to deal with that on my “vacation” in Maine (not a “true” vacation” because I still have to work, although “my girls” are going to jump in and cover some of it for me so I can enjoy the quality family time).  If I DO have to continue with burn treatment, my wonderful sister, Nancy, has already stepped up to the plate and offered to take over for Kenny and do all the soaking and bandaging (love you, Nance!), but I truly hope all the burns will be healed by then.

Unfortunately, I’m still having problems with my INR.  The dang numbers just won’t cooperate.  Last Wednesday it was 3.5!  Geez!  So they lowered my warfarin dose….again…..and I have to have it checked again on Friday.  I guess I’ll be having that checked in Maine since we can’t seem to get it stabilized – 3 months now since I developed the DVT; in fact, it was 3 months ago today. 

I did get my Femara (aromatase inhibitor) prescription filled and will start that after I get back from Maine.  I’m truly hoping there will be NO side effects from it.  I’ve read some horror stories online.  I should STOP reading that stuff because maybe I won’t experience ANY of the side effects.  One side effect I DID experience was SHOCK at the cost of the freakin’ drug.  I lucked out and found a pharmacy where I can get it for $40/month – such a deal!  Walmart wanted $1288/month and Hobbs Pharmacy wanted $1516/month!  Yes, you read it right – per month!!  Can you believe it?!  I’m not sure how the other pharmacy (located in Cocoa Beach) can sell it for $40/month, but they will obviously be getting my business.

Please pray/cross your fingers/think positive thoughts/whatever…..for no blizzards/snowstorms on the east coast January 11-16^th (when my sister and I and lots of family members will be traveling to/from Maine) and January 22^nd (when I’ll be flying out of Maine back to Florida).

It seems to me I had all kinds of things to write about, but I just can’t remember what they were!  If I think of them, I’ll be back.

Until then, HAPPY NEW YEAR, everybody!  I hope it’s a wonderful year for everybody.  Wishing you all good things – HEALTH, happiness, prosperity, peace, joy, love….. 

You know you’re a cancer patient when you can't remember the last time you bought razors!

New Year's Day at Cocoa Beach (New Year's resolution -- lose weight, grow hair!)