Scans tomorrow

I have been keeping myself busy the last few days so that I don't have time to worry about my upcoming scans and doctor's visit. The photo is of my Best Ball Golf team. We didn't get our photos in our golf outfits because it poured both mornings that we played and when we were done we looked like drowned rats. Such a shame for this big tournament to have two days of rain (on the driest days of the year in Corvallis, supposedly). We weathered the rain quite well on day one and posted a good score, but it was so cold and wet today and we all were tired and miserable that none of us played well at all. BUT I did wind the closest to the pin contest for my handicap yesterday!

I have been reading a very interesting book,The Emperor of All Maladies: a biography of cancer by Siddhartha Mukerjee. It details the history of the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, especially over the last 50 years as researchers learn more and more about the biology and biochemistry of cancer. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the progress that has been made in developing targeted therapies.

Do keep me in your thoughts and send positive energy my way over the next two days as I find out what my future will bring.

Phew!

If I wasn't anxious enough about my upcoming PET/CT scans next week, I was called back today for a follow-up mammogram because the radiologist saw something on the films from my yearly visit. They did two more views and I met with the radiologist who was still a bit concerned about a density on the films near the chest wall. So she wanted me to have an ultrasound. Luckily, they could work me in this afternoon. The tech spent about 1/2 hour taking images and then the radiologist redid the ultra sound herself. By this time I was really concerned and after they kept pointing to things on the screen, I asked what they were finding. The radiologist said that they weren't finding anything except a cyst....wish they had told me that earlier! It would have kept my stomach from tying up in knots and my mind from creating all these nasty scenarios. In the end, the radiologist concluded that what she saw was an artifact and just to make sure, she wants me to come back in 6 months for another set of scans. I am so thankful that nothing was found. I don't think I could have coped with breast cancer on top of the melanoma!!

Great 4th of July!!

I had a wonderful 4th of July weekend at the coast with my two sisters, Sue and Ann and Ann's husband. We took long walks on the beach (I'm getting stronger by the day), had great food, played all sorts of games, and had dinner with friends on the 3rd with stimulating conversations and fireworks that you could actually see this year. The weather was beautiful for the Oregon coast at this time of year but as you can see from the photo...we had brilliant sunshine but very chilly wind. (People think that I am crazy when I tell them to bring winter coats to the coast in July!!)

Weekend of Surprises

I played my second round of 18 holes of golf on Friday and held up pretty well. Even scored one of my best back nines. The additional thyroid medicine is really beginning to help my energy level. Saturday was a day of celebration for a friend and her family as her son had his bar mitzvah. He did an amazing job with a long Haftorah and an winning smile. The evening was a dinner dance at the MU ballroom. The music was LOUD but everyone got up and danced. I even danced a few songs.

Got home late and tired and let Sophie out. She went running around and barking and I opened to the door to let her in and was overwhelmed by skunk odor. She had caught a skunk in the yard. Sophie was freaked out and scared. I couldn't leave her out back and she was very upset when I tried to leave her in the garage. I was way too tired to start bathing her at 11 pm. So I closed off all the house and let her sleep right outside the bedroom door. Up at 6 am to start the process of washing Sophie and trying to get the odor out of my house. I didn't have any tomato juice but did have soda water. So I bathed her three times in soda water and then two times in dog shampoo. After an hour, she didn't smell too bad. I went to the dollar store and got lots of scented candles and burned them all over the house. By the end of the day the odor wasn't too bad.

Sad thing is that the weather is now getting warm enough to sit outside. Now when I sit outside on my patio and the wind is blowing one direction, you get eau de rose and the other direction eau de skunk!!

No wonder I was tired!

Had blood tests on Monday and talked with the doctor yesterday. Not only am I anemic but my thyroid is totally out of whack. One of the lasting side effects of IL-2 is permanent damage to your thyroid. So the next month or two we will be adjusting thyroid medication to get me back in the normal range. They think that the problem with the thyroid is also causing the anemia so we will see if that straightens out as well. I am looking forward to having more energy in the next few weeks.

Some of you have wondered if I ever get photos of Jon's little ones. One of the problems is getting Dash to be still long enough to snap a photo. But I did have a few quiet moments with both of them and captured this wonderful photo. I am such a biased Granny, but what cuties Dash and Finley are!!!

Wonderful Weekend

Just spent a very enjoyable weekend listening to beautiful music, taking walks in the sunshine with Sophie and even playing 9 holes of golf. This is the week of the Chintimini Music Festival when kids that have grown up in Corvallis and are now professional musicians come back and play a week of chamber music. The first concert was Friday and they played the first movement of a quartet commissioned by the Festival. The composer and his wife, Tomas and Jana Svoboda, stayed with me. They are delightful people and the piece that he composed was beautiful and very moving.

Saturday it rained so I stayed quiet all day and watched the golf on TV(since I had done a little too much on Friday.) Today I played 9 holes of golf with a couple that Red and I used to play with on most Sundays. We had a great time and decided we need to start the Sunday tradition again. I scored a 51 so I am feeling very good about my game even if I am pretty tired by the end of 9 holes.

Tomorrow I go to Portland for blood tests to make sure that all is back to normal. Two weeks ago I was anemic and some of my electrolytes were still out of whack. So we shall see if there is anything that needs to be done to help me get back to normal. Also I get to spend some Granny time. I have really missed seeing the little ones and I am sure that they have grown so much in a month!

Visual Candy

My friend Lynda and I traveled to Eugene yesterday to see a performance of Cirque du Soleil's Dralion. I have only been to one other live performance years ago and this one was made all the more wonderful by having seats on the front row. We had a very close of view of the acrobats and dancers, their faces and costumes. You were transported to another realm for two hours. It was a great show!!

Seem to have taken a few steps back energy wise. I probably need to have my thyroid and iron levels checked again as something seems to be off. The blood tests last week showed I was slightly anemic. They were worried about more serious stuff but that may be what is making me drag a bit and needs to be addressed.