MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
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Eli~ is that you in the red parka?
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Cruise ship miracle!!! I LOVE IT!!! I'm not even crazy about chocolate but your description made MY mouth water! Thanks for sharing!.....I think I gained two of your pounds by reading it!
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Meece, you're close. I am in the blue parka, looking shorter than usual for some reason.
My cruise tale has stretched out longer than I thought, so I will try and bring it to a close today...
Cruise Part Five: Victoria, BC/Back in Seattle
Our very last port stop was an evening in Victoria, BC. Like every Canadian city everywhere, it was so clean looking. We went on a two mile loop harbor walk, but went off the path down some side streets also. None of the places I visited qualified as actual Rain Forest, but it is not too far off and I saw a wide array of vegetation on all the short hikes I took. Here in Victoria, people were really into their front yard gardens, and at this time of year it meant lots of flowering plants that I don't even know the names of. I took a few photos, but they didn't do the yards justice, so instead I will show you what a capitol building should look like (pay attention Juneau!) Below is the Provincial Legislature building (pic#10) and on the grounds was also a gnarly redwood, hundreds of years old (pic #12.)
We sent our bags ahead so that we could have a few more unencumbered hours in Seattle, to have lunch and hit a few museums. I try to go to the main art museums in the cities I visit (and I forgot to mention an Ivory Museum that was pretty cool up in Skagway) so we did that, plus went to the EMP, a museum of music and pop culture. It's right by the Space Needle. We saw exhibits on (surprise!) Hendrix and Nirvana, and my son could not have been happier. Now that's his kind of museum. They also had hand-on exhibits for Horror Films and for Avatar.
For the whole trip, I felt far, far away from breast cancer; but we all know that it can pop back in a hot minute, a fact I was reminded of when we saw a whole parade of pink coming down the street. It was a Komen race (pic #13,) finishing at the Space Needle complex. The Seattle natives are active in their causes and the race was huge, tons of people, big music stage, and hoardes of vendor booths. I availed myself of a few free items, as if I had been a participant---I'm sure they wouldn't begrudge a survivor some pistacio snacks and a bottle of "Pink Water."
Seattle loves their Starbucks (every corner, I kid you not) and while finishing on the subject of breasts, I will close with a photo at the original Starbucks, the only place you will ever see their original topless emblem, not the modest ones across the nation and on supermarket shelves. Here it is (pic#14.) Wonder if they use their mega-bucks to $support$ B/C research?
So that's it. I'm going to end on a high note and not the paragraphs of woe involving a cancelled flight and lost (now recovered) baggage. Definitely will have to cruise again someday. It was a blast.
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Really? No one posting in 12 hours? My self-indulgent travelogue must have bored everyone away.
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Boring??? Never! .....just dreaming!
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Thanks for that, Chacha. I can sleep easier now. To sleep, perchance to dream.
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Eli, as always, your writings were wonderful, and the pics an added bonus. I went on one cruise and cannot wait to do another. Still talking hub into that ... he is NOT a traveller! Welcome home hon.
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Eli - I really loved your pics & delightful descriptions! We left AK after 30+ years. We lived in Juneau for a year in 1969-70 & I have to admit Juneau wasn't even in the top 10 of my favorite Alaskan cities. We lived a little over a mile from the Mendenhall glacier & I walked there many times with my baby in a stroller & 3-yr old. This was before I watched a black bear walk around our 4-plex which had floor to ceiling picture windows in the dining room
.... Fortunately, we were on the 2nd floor. 0 -
What a wonderful trip, Elimar!
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Thanks for the Travelogue it helps me in my traveling choices.For a first cruise you picked a good cruise line.Norweigan is one of my faves.
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Eli - The virtual tour was definitely not boring. I really enjoy your writing also. However, I spent most of the day yesterday sleeping due to walking the Relay for Life the night before. Then off to my nieces ballet recital last night. My first ballet experience - very enjoyable.
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Oh hello there Middies, those up and computing before me this morning.
marlegal, My hub has never cruised, but considers it just a floating hotel, a crowded hotel. Even after I told him my highlights, what I saw and did, and that there are many places to avoid the crowds, he turned his nose up at going. I will cruise again. In fact, since I have two sons and try to do for them equally, I am pretty sure a Caribbean cruise will be on the agenda when my younger graduates.
mostlymom, I will tell you a side story of something that amazed me. I brought a new pair of Adidas walking shoes on the trip, white around the soles. They are very comfortable so I put those on to do the Mendenhall walk. Well, as you might remember, you can go off the trail in many places out onto siltly little points that are good spots to photograph the glacier. I walked all over that silt. When it was time to head back, I thought my shoes would be encrusted with muddiness, but the silt had dried and fell off like dust and my shoes were as pristine as when I started. Even the MUD is CLEAN in Alaska!
mumito, It was mostly timing and luck that led me to go Norwegian. Although I wouldn't mind trying another line, I definitely would recommend Norwegian and would not hesitate to book with them again. You are a seasoned cuiser (and I know you did the B/C Thrivers one, too) I'll have to see what your next destination turns out to be. If I lived in Ontario, I'd be looking at the warmer cruises, but the Alaskan cruise would be perfect in the summer months for anyone living in the Southern inferno states, if they wanted a nice, cool, week-long break. Btw, which is taller the Space Needle, or the CN Tower? (Which has attracted the most aliens so far, I wonder?)
NM, I have only seen a bit of southern Maine. Once I get to my final two U.S. states, it might be time to get to your NE corner again.
O.K., barsco, I can understand that post-Relay exhaustion. It was lonely here on the weekend, BUT so long as everyone was out enjoying themselves, I'll just have to hush up.
carollynn79, Sorry to hear you are still hopping around. A hairline fracture should take only a few weeks to heal. Cellulitis is more unpredictable, but I hope yours gets GONE soon.
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Eli love your travel diary. Really makes me want to take that cruise
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Hey there Middies!
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend - sounds like our little group was busy this weekend. Wish I could say I was doing something great or fun but I was just doing a good scrubbing of the house and trimming of some bushes.
Elimar - Thank you for sharing your cruise with us. Hubby & I did a Caribbean cruise 3 years ago for our 10 yr anniversay and want to do an Alaskan cruise for our 20th. I am glad you enjoyed your cruise and hope you have many more voyages in your future.
Sweet dreams ladies. Wishing everyone a great week!
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Wish we had "clean mud" here - my son was out 4-wheeling yesterday and seems to have brought home half of the trail on his pant legs!
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love the pics!
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Got scolded a little this morning when I set us my mammo for next month. She noted, "Oh, you missed your 6 mo. appt in January." I replied, "I phoned in to cancel that and from now on I will be good following up, but it will be just once a year." They don't like it when you stray off the path, but I thought long and hard about what is best for me.
For any relatively new Middies, I scaled back on my mammo squishing because: First and foremost, the squishing gave me petchia (small red spots of broken capillaries that didn't go away.) I'm sure this is due to radiation in the first place, since my good side was able to withstand the squishing, but I don't want to add further trauma to my treatment side. Secondly, although I have Grade 2, I know that the mitotic rate was the lowest so my orig. tumor was slow growing. I reason if there was a cell or two left behind, it will take years to even get big enough to image. I fully expect to get to the 5 year point "cancer-free," but what happens in 8-10 years? Who knows? They told me my 7mm (BB-sized) tumore had probably been there for 7-8 years in the first place. Which brings us to thirdly, perhaps the weakest reason, which is mammo didn't detect my original tumor, so I don't have 100% confidence it will find something new that might arise. My breasts were dense and I was just darn lucky that my tumor was near the surface and I could feel it. This is the weakest reason, tho', because now that I lack estrogen (menopause and Tamox.,) the composition of my breast should be getting fattier and easier to image.
I write all of this, not to influence anyone to blow off their mammos, but just to say that we aren't all the same. The person on the phone with me did not have a clue to my pathology. She was just following the routine agenda, but I made a careful, informed decision to do something else. Sometimes it has to be like that as you assert your individuality in the B/C world. I don't know more than a doctor, but I know me.
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cmbear, I know you'd rather have Johnny or George, but during your recovery you need some real help and, let's face it, it has been years since either of those two has even taken out the trash so I had to find you another home help hunk. This one will leave the kitchen spotless after making you a pancake and serving it to you in bed. Enjoy.
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He definitely works for me, lol, bye-bye Clooney
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I hear you Elimar! The biggest reason I chose a MX instead of a lumpectomy was that I found the beast myself, two months AFTER a clear mamo.....and my BC also said it had been growing for 7-10 years! ...every year I was vigilant about getting a mammo.....but not so vigilant about doing self exams. I'm not real confident in the mammo......but I DO think they are muy important! More important is that we know our own body!
Now I'm torn between having the "good" breast removed during my DIEP. Initially I was adamant so as not to have to worry about BC recurrence in that breast....and no more mammos......and a better chance of symmetry in the reconstruction. But now I'm thinking if there is cancer cells floating around...they've had 7-10 years to find a new home....and I kind of like having feeling in my "good" side. I have my PS consult on the 18th. Hope I can come to a decision I will be at peace with.0 -
I need one that actually has a real job. One where he gets up everyday and goes to work and gets a pay check at the end of the week. Although this one will do until I can find one with a good resume. LOL
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I totally understand doing what feels right for you not just following standard protocol. And I hate mammys... BUT, just playing devils advocate here but I owe my life to one. By the time my tumor would have become palpable, I would have been terminal. That said, I understand they aren't perfect so I opted for a BMX to reduce my risk and get better reconstruction results.... Besides, never having to ever get another mammy, priceless!!!!!!
Seems to me we all have to make our own decisions and individualize our treatment to us not just accept the cookie cutter protocol....
Wishing all my middies sweet dreams tonight...
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I agree with odie- we all have to do what feels right for us and what gives us the most peace of mind. I also opted for BMX and have not regretted it.
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Hey Elimar! I loved reading about your Alaskan cruise - and thanks for the photos, too. It sounds wonderful, especially being lucky enough to have an art auction on your particular cruise - as much as you love art! I'm glad you hit the EMP Museum in Seattle - my son is living in Seattle this summer and STILL hasn't seen it, although that was #1 on his list. Hopefully, this weekend...
I was thrilled when my BS told me in February to just wait until August for my next mammogram. He moved me to once per year on his own, although I was all prepared to ask for it and debate him. He said they are finding in younger women that it's not such a good idea to scan so frequently because of the chance of radiation building up in the tissue. Besides, I hate being smooshed!
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Like your new avatar HnS76! My son loves Seattle. He has been out there three times now. I know your son will have a great time this summer and have many tales to tell. Ask him to try and get me Bill Gates home number. Also, he's gonna need rehab for a Starbuck's addiction, so heads up on that.
Yeah, I didn't like how my Breast Center made a big deal out of me coming just once a year. I know that some women on here go yearly schedule at the 2-year mark, so what is the big deal considering the Dx and treatment I had. The funny thing is that I think I go back to "screening" mammos after 5 years, and no longer get diagnostic ones. I guess that's o.k., but I almost wish they would still be taking a closer look and do few more views until the 10 year mark, as slow growing B/C takes a while to even show up. I think I am going to push for additional U/S screening every couple years if my breasts are still dense after the 5 year mark. They need to consider all factors for the individual. Is that really so hard?
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I'm in same boat as Odie...my tumor was deep enough that I wouldn't have felt for many years after a young resident radiologist caught it on my mammo. My surgeon and I agreed on a yearly mammo schedule at the 5 yr mark (I'm almost 7 yrs out), but either she or I felt something at alternate 6 mos visits with her and she sent me for ultrasounds. I have a lot of internal damage from rads after my lumpectomy, and so far that's what all the lumps have been. I like her proactive measures and willingness to make a plan, but then change it when necessary. Another instance of just saying that we need to find what works for us, what lets us sleep well at night. Well, that might be asking too much, but you know what I mean!!
Eli, I'd love to hear more cruise stories and see more pics ... your story-telling is great
Hugs to all with tests and treatments this week.
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I don't know where I should post this....but it just occurred to me yesterday that I had donated blood one month before my diagnosis.....and I was an active bone marrow registrant. I called both today to update my health status and was told they were very appreciative I thought to contact them. I can't donate blood until 5 years in remission, AND I was taken off the marrow registry permanently.
It seems like the question re: recent blood donations etc should be standard protocol when you are diagnosed. With everything else to think of....this didn't occur to me until after three months! I don't know if my blood was already used....but would be horrified to think something I did to help actually caused harm to someone else!0 -
In hindsight, wearing my black boots with my swimsuit was probably not the best fashion statement. Thanks for dredging this old photo back up E!!!!
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Chacha, I think we went over the whole blood donation thing on here at one point. If I remember correctly, there has not been a case of someone getting cancer from blood. There have been several cases of cancer developing after receiving tissue or organ transplant. Jump in anybody that has heard otherwise.
That article I linked last week was about the CTC, circulating tumor count, which could further check people who had no evidence of distant spread. It is probably more expensive, being new, but maybe it would be something done routinely on donated blood in the future. Or maybe that just does not matter; that cancer just can't spread that way.. What, to me, is the big question mark is, why are some told o.k. to donate after 5 years of remission, but some have been told no donating for life. Like I was writing earlier, a person with a slow growing cancer (like me) can make it to the 5 year point, maybe donate, and then have their cancer return 7, 9, 12 years later. I feel too confused to donate again, unless it was life or death for a family member.
Eph! I told you to wear your white boots, like I did, so it could match our belts! If only we wore attention getting straw hats, we could have been in the center of the photo, like Miss Thing. I am almost cut out as it is.
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Ha! I still have that parasol. Maybe I'll take it to the beach this weekend
Chacamom, one of my friends who knew that I donated frequently called me a few months after my dx to say that I should probably alert my donation center to NOT call me for 5 yrs. I never thought of it either! And one of the best feelings in the world was when I passed that 5 yr mark - for lots of reasons of course, but honest to God, one of the key ones was knowing I could donate again.
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