On The Road Again - well, not really

Finally

2012-01-17T10:36:00.002-07:00

I have a tentative schedule for my breast reduction surgery, finally, to bring the big old saggy thing down to size to match the new puppy - February 2nd. That, of course, depends on the insurance saying OK, but they've been amazingly good so far.

Then on 2/29, I'm getting a MOHS surgery to remove a squamous cell cancer on my shin, and then on 3/28, I get another MOHS to remove a basal cell cancer on my inner elbow (or whatever the area is called that is the inside bend of the elbow!). Those last two are easy.

I've had one MOHS previously - had a basal cell under my breast, that no one would pay attention to until about 4 years after I started complaining about it. Fascinating surgery - they clean it out until they think they have it all, then they take a skinny slice and go look at it under a microscope (slightly fancier technology than that!) to see if there are any remaining cancer cells. If so, they go back and take out another slice and check again, and again if needed, until it's all gone. The one on my chest required more layers than I remember - it took five layers of sutures to close up the wound.

That was kind of fun too - in a warped sort of way. I was awake thru the extended surgery (local anesthetic), about three hours I think (15 or so years ago), and watching everything closely, of course. The lady doc was very patient with me. When it came time to close, she had her resident do it. So here is this mouthy blonde, watching this poor youngster sew up my chest with these big boobs in his face, getting instructions over his shoulder from the doc - he was a wreck by the time it was done, but he did a very good job. The scar, though about an inch and a half long, is very insignificant. It's moved though. It used to be in the crease under my boob, but since that boob is gone and now 'rebuilt', the scar is up about a half inch on the boob - it may be sitting higher on my chest, but since it has no 'sag', the boob itself rests a tad lower than it used to. One more scar is hardly noteworthy at this point!

2012 - How did that happen so quickly?

2012-01-04T09:58:00.009-07:00

As a New Year's gift to myself, I gave my poor lymphedema stricken arm a day off from the constant compression it lives under. I actually do it about every four or five months. But when it came time to wrap the poor sucker up in its compression bandage at bedtime, instead I just gave it a good massage and hit the sack. And had my first good night's sleep in months!

Those who know me well know that I've always been a good sleeper - put my head on the pillow and within two minutes, I'm sleeping peacefully. Many of my friends have been very jealous of my good night's sleep. But since I've been saddled with this damned lymphedema, that is no more.

The club that my arm becomes, after the half hour it takes to get it wrapped, creates problems all night long! I have yet to find a comfortable way to position it. It's always in the way. And it gets trapped in the covers if I move, which of course drags me awake. The arm gets stuck in strange positions and goes numb or starts to throb. There's just no place to put the bloody thing! I'm probably awakened 6 or 8 times a night from the arm in various states of complaint!

But I can't treat myself often - the thing loves any excuse to swell up more, and I pay for leaving it naked for 24 hours! But it's worth it, for just one good sleep!

The lymphedema is slowly getting worse, as opposed to the initial hopes of the therapists. There is an area around my elbow that requires constant attention -
there appears to be a 'drainage pond' where the lymph fluid collects and must be forced out manually. Personally, I think it just waits until I'm not looking, and drains right back into the 'pond'! On bad days, it causes a reaction whereby I can't lift even my tea cup. And sometimes, without warning, my hand will cramp into a claw, bringing a flood of tears! I have to pry it open (hurts a lot) and force it flat and hold it down that way until the cramp passes. Sometimes that happens 4 or 5 times a day, and sometimes it goes weeks without a cramp. Doesn't seem to matter what I'm doing.

I hate HATE hate it, in case anyone wonders!

In the meantime, I had a particularly lovely Christmas season this year. I've always been a Christmas junkie. Got it from Mama, I think! We made decorations together for years. I do think of her often and miss her especially during the holidays!

When I sold my little house in the country and moved into my RV, I got rid of pretty much all my earthly possessions. If it didn't fit in the RV, it was sold or given away or donated. But not my Christmas decorations! Girlfriend Lizzie was extra sweet and let me store my boxes of ornaments and whatnot in her storage locker. So as I RV'd my way around the country, I didn't really have a 'Christmas' and I missed the celebration bunches. It's been 6 years since I had a proper Christmas!

This year, we met up at her storage unit, so she could get some of the things she was missing, and I picked up my Christmas boxes. What fun it was to open each box and find all the decorations Mama and I had made, and the special collection of my Hawaiian ornaments and those I had picked up in all my travels! I was like a kid in a candy store!!

I had, of course, put lights all over my little house already!

And then I put up my tree!

It was really pretty with its lights on too - which was 24 hours a day for a couple weeks!!

Haven't even started thinking about taking anything down yet either!

So, between having 'my' proper Christmas, and a few very special visitors, my spirits were high and I was wearing smiles every day! Along with seasonal clothes, of course, like this sweatshirt that expresses my feelings of winter pretty well!

So 2012 is here. Isn't the world supposed to end this year sometime? (you might want to check out this link, if you believe that!)

Oh, and BTW, my RV finally sold. For about a third what I had hoped for. But at least, after almost three years on the market, it's outta my hair. It was a grand life, and I wouldn't trade a moment of my RV time, but when the body said it was time to quit, unfortunately the economy didn't cooperate. Now I'm a happy little homebody, with my feet planted on the ground again.

I should find out next week when my next surgery will be, and then hopefully all that will be over with too!

I intend to ignore the bloody political scene as much as I can, and just enjoy the sunshine and gentle days that Arizona has to offer. So I can say, and mean it, Happy New Year 2012! or, as we say it in Hawaii,

I knew it!!

2011-12-12T15:51:00.002-07:00

All this time, people have been teasing me when I use "chemo brain" as an excuse for my often foggy brain, and now it appears I'm being unfairly criticized!!

Breast cancer survivors DO suffer more memory lapses - and chemotherapy may not be solely to blame

By Reuters Reporter

Mammogram: Scientists are still trying to find the underlying cause or causes to the temporary memory loss that affects many breast cancer survivors.

Breast cancer survivors on average experience more memory problems after treatment compared to those who have never had the condition, scientists from Moffitt Cancer Centre in Florida have revealed.

Many women report suffering from 'mental haziness' in the first few years after beating the disease, and researchers had thought that chemotherapy could be solely responsible.

Now scientists believe it may be the cancer itself that causes memory lapses, perhaps by triggering an immune system response in the brain.

A team from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, found patients scored lower on memory tests compared against women who had never had cancer, regardless of whether or not they had had chemotherapy.

Commenting on the study, neuropsychologist Barbara Collins from Ottawa Hospital in Ontario, said: 'We're talking about a group of people that are saying, "I'm pretty much still able to function, but I find it harder... it doesn't come as easily, and I can't do as many things at the same time."'

The latest study involved 129 breast cancer survivors in their fifties. About half of them had been treated with radiation and chemotherapy, while the other women only had radiation.

Six months after finishing treatment, and another three years later, women took a range of thinking and memory tests. Their scores were compared against the performance of 184 women who'd never had cancer, but were a similar age and from the same areas.

On three out of five types of memory tests, women who'd had either course of treatment performed similarly to the non-cancer group. But on two, their scores were noticeably lower.

At both six months and a few years after treatment, cancer survivors scored worse on tests of 'executive functioning,' which included naming words beginning with a particular letter.

They also had lower scores for tests that measured speed and concentration.

Study leader Paul Jacobsen and colleagues wrote in the journal Cancer that there was no difference in scores between cancer survivors who had been treated with chemotherapy compared to those who had not.

That challenges the notion that chemotherapy is the driving force behind mental changes in breast cancer survivors, researchers said.

'People talk about 'chemo brain,' and there's sort of a general view that if people have cognitive problems after the cancer treatment, it must be due to the fact that they had chemotherapy,' Jacobsen said.

'We provided the most definitive evidence to date to suspect it's not just chemotherapy that is contributing to cognitive problems after breast cancer.'

Collins said the cause or causes are still up for debate but said: 'There is very likely something to do with having cancer that already affects your cognitive function.

'What is it? Could it be stress? Could it be anxiety? Could it be depression? That's a possibility.'

She added that it could also be that the immune system's response to cancer affects the brain.

Collins said that most of the data still points to some mental effect of chemotherapy in certain patients - but that small differences between treatment groups might have been missed in this analysis.

She added that foggy thinking and memory after cancer treatment tends to improve over time, and many women don't suffer mental fuzziness at all.

Have a Great Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T12:03:00.003-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving

Fall of the Boobs!

2011-11-09T10:10:00.002-07:00

At least I now have one that's back up at the 1992 level, even if the other one is continuing to sink lower and lower! :o)

It's Gone!!!

2011-10-30T14:47:00.005-07:00

What a week or so it's been since last I updated my story. Ups and downs, the proverbial roller coaster!

My last post spoke of my pleasure at FINALLY learning the truth about my mysterious third boob - that it was just a little pile of dislodged fat, my bowl of chocolate syrup, that my doctor said he could easily remove for me when he did the next surgery. So it was time to schedule the surgery!

Well, that was an entertaining ride! I had seen my doctor on Monday, two weeks ago now. On Thursday that week, his scheduling nurse called and said she could squeeze me in the next Friday, the 28th! I said something like "WOW", really??, that soon?? You can get the insurance folks to authorize it that fast?? She said she had a way with those insurance folks, so count on it! OK!!

On Tuesday, she called to say the surgery had been authorized!! Terrific! On Wednesday, she called back to say the insurance company had not authorized the correct procedure and that she was going to have to go back and get them on the right page, but that I should probably not count on Friday anymore. SOB! Then she called on Thursday to say she had fixed everything and I was going to the hospital as planned on Friday!!! YES!!

In the meantime, I have two very good friends visiting me right now, Candy and Colin from Sydney in British Columbia. And Colin, sweet sweet man that he is, volunteered to paint my little house for me! All I needed to do was get new paint colors approved by the park management.

I made four submissions of paint colors, over a period of about 7 weeks, and day after day, I received negative responses to my choices. The Manager turned down NINE colors. I was going for earth tones, and she OK'd a couple different mocha type colors, but wanted me to use a stark bright white with the brown tones, and I wanted to use a creamy contrast instead. I finally said, basically, screw it - I'm not going to paint my house some color combination that I don't like, so I decided to stick with what I have - the house rules don't require approval to re-paint the existing color. I just didn't need the additional frustration and stress. So Colin started all the prep work and picked up paint and all was good!

Of course, when he was about half way through the job, I heard from the office that I had to have my paint color approved. That made me mad enough that I dragged out the house rules and wrote a letter quoting Section and Paragraph that stated "New" paint colors must be approved, not regular maintenance and touching up damage. The fact that we painted the entire house and not just touch-up is not worth mentioning!!

The house is now totally finished and looks terrific! And so far I haven't heard back from the idiots who manage this place.

So - Friday - I went into the hospital at 7:45 a.m. for a scheduled 9:15 operation - and surprise of surprises, they took me in almost exactly on time! I had created a little message for my doctor -
I was so excited to be getting rid of the third boob - and it wasn't until I put the photo here that I noticed, writing it upside down and backwards while watching what I was doing in the mirror, I misspelled 3rd, but he got the message and laughed with me and took it in stride!

Of course, that wasn't all he did. The major reason for the hospital visit was to do the trade out of the temporary skin expander implant with the permanent breast implant. That went like a dream!

Turns out he didn't actually reach into the empty space left by the temporary implant and grab a handful of leftover fat like he told me he would. :o) He used liposuction to get it out! Stuck a vacuum cleaner in there and just sucked it out! And it feels like I've been kicked in the gut! But the damned third boob is GONE, so I can live with a little discomfort for a couple days. I even dropped my doc an email thanking him bunches for getting rid of that 6 month long irritant - and forgot to mention how nicely the breast reconstruction itself has gone!

Now that the seemingly never-ending procedure is over, I am pleased with the results! The little card I received, to add to my collection showing that I have a new hip and a new knee, and now a new boob, shows that we put in 650 cc of fluid. Just looked up how much that translates to - about 22 ounces! Goodness!

As usual, everyone around me is amazed at how well I'm doing. Other than a little pain in my belly where I was vacuumed out, I feel like a million bucks! And I have a lovely new paint job on my sweet little house! Life is good!

Diet helps prevent breast cancer!

2011-10-29T12:38:00.000-07:00

Diet and Fitness Expert

Dr. Melina Jampolis Physician Nutrition Specialist

Expert answer

Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, this is the perfect time to answer this question.

And the answer is a resounding yes. To get you the best possible information, I turned to registered dietitians Sally Scroggs, MS,RD,LD, and Clare McKinley, RD,LD, at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, one of the leading cancer hospitals in the world. They explained that breast cancer risk could be decreased by up to 38% through lifestyle factors including maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, and eating a healthy diet. In fact, less than 10% of breast cancer appears to have a genetic basis.

For prevention of breast cancer, limiting alcohol to one drink a day (5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, or 1.5 ounces of spirits) is one of the most important things that you can do. In addition, a plant-based diet loaded with at least two cups a day of a variety of produce is beneficial.

According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, "no single food or food component can protect you against cancer by itself. But scientists believe that the combination of foods in a predominantly plant-based diet may. There is evidence that the minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals in plant foods could interact in ways that boost their individual anti-cancer effects. This concept of interaction, where 1 + 1 = 3, is called synergy."

Some of their top picks for cancer prevention include beans, berries, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts), dark leafy green vegetables (spinach, kale, chard, romaine, mustard greens), flaxseed, garlic, grapes/grape juice, green tea, soy, tomatoes and whole grains. A recent study in mice suggests that walnuts may also play a role in breast cancer prevention, but these findings need to be confirmed in humans.

There is also a growing body of research suggesting that curcumin, one of the active components of curry, may play a role in both the treatment and prevention of various types of cancer including breast cancer.

Being overweight is strongly associated with the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Adult weight gain of 22-44 pounds is associated with a 50% greater risk and a weight gain above 45 pounds is associated with an 87% increased risk.

Excess belly fat seems to be particularly harmful, most likely because of its effects on inflammation and its association with elevated insulin levels, so if you tend to be more "apple shaped" and carry extra weight in your belly, it is especially important to lose weight, exercise regularly, and limit refined grains, sugar sweetened beverages, and added sugar in your diet.

When it comes to breast cancer survivors, a healthy lifestyle is just as important, if not more so. Many women are concerned about soy consumption, which I've written about before. Sally and Clare agree that up to three servings per day is safe, but they emphasize that soy should come from whole foods like soy milk, edamame and tofu, and that supplements like smoothies, bars and soy fortified cereals should be limited.

Finally, during treatment, diet is very important to maintain health and optimize energy levels, but before taking any supplements, it is best to consult with a registered dietitian, preferably one that has experience with cancer treatment, because some supplements may actually interfere with chemotherapy or radiation.

In general, the emphasis should be on whole foods rich in anti-oxidants. Vitamin C may need to be supplemented in some cases if not enough is consumed in the diet. To find a registered dietitian, go to the American Dietetic Association website.

I hope you are encouraged by the fact that you can make a difference in your risk of breast cancer through lifestyle. Here a few breast cancer fighting recipes from M.D. Anderson to get you started in the right direction.

It's been a loooong week

2011-10-17T16:31:00.002-07:00

It's been a long and frustrating week since my last report, but as of today I'm in slightly better humor!

First, after my visit with my oncologist last week, and his confident verdict that my third boob was a hematoma, I emailed my boob doc and said basically 'WTF"!! He wrote back promptly and said it absolutely was NOT a hematoma. I whimpered, and told him I was tired of wondering and worrying about it, and didn't care if it was a bowl of chocolate syrup, I just wanted to know, and have it GONE! He said he'd take a look at the scan and get back to me. So my relief at finally having an answer was dumped in a mud puddle.

Then, when it occurred to me that I hadn't heard from his scheduling gal about a date for the implant trade-out surgery, I gave her a call. She finally found the initial page saying we needed to set something up, but hadn't received the rest of the surgical order (what he intends to do, so they can get the insurance OK), said she'd check on it and get back to me (I'm getting sick of that phrase! :o)

Friday, my doctor's nurse called and said everything was confused (no shit??), and that they had a note on the file that I'd be back in two weeks for another fill-up (which we hadn't scheduled, of course), but also had a note that I'd received the normal surgery packet of info. Promising to have everything squared away ASAP, she made an appointment for me to come in today and get everything back on track.

Of course when I arrived this morning, there was no record of an appointment for me, but they made room for me, 90 minutes later. They were kind enough to give me a little $5 coupon for something to eat at the cafe in the facility, since I had to wait. Interestingly, I ran into my doctor at the cafe - he'd just returned from surgery and was grabbing a bite as he started his regular day, very late. Well balanced diet - a big bag of fresh popcorn, a big diet soda, and a breakfast burrito!

He asked where I had the CTscan performed, because they hadn't received the actual scan, just the report. Said he'd get it before he was to see me later.

Having read half-way into a new book, he arrived. Asked me to follow him, and in another room he showed me my actual CTscan. Even I could see that there is NOTHING there - nothing. His conclusion is that my third boob is simply a pile of fat (it's a drag being overweight, so fat is everywhere!!) that was sort of trapped by the rearrangement of stuff when the TRAM-flap surgery was performed. Not harmful in any way.

I asked what we could do about it. He said no problem, he'd just do a little snip when we do the implant trade-out, and it'll be gone!

Six months of fretting about this 'thing' sticking out where it doesn't belong, and it really is just that bowl of chocolate syrup. It's kind of silly to be embarrassed to find that's all it is, and not something more dramatic, but what can I say.

So all in all, a pretty good day. I did get another fill-up, and considering that the new boob is still rather mal-formed, it was probably needed. He gave me a pretty healthy load today, so it aches like a bitch, but that's only for a day or so. My third boob is presumably resolved, and my scheduling is presumably back on track. I think I'll go pour a Jack Daniels!

Third boob

2011-10-10T16:06:00.004-07:00

Well. Saw my oncologist today - just a six month check-up and blood work-up. Blood is excellent, as always, so that's a good thing.

We talked about a movie I just watched (rented from Netflix) called 'Living Proof' - about the dream of a researcher that became Herceptin, one of the cancer drugs I received. It was very well done, made me cry, made me laugh, and taught me a lot about the procedure of creating a new drug, getting approvals for testing, and more testing, and more testing. It shared the heartache of loss, the frustration of the amount of time it takes to accomplish anything within the rules when the researcher just 'knows' it's going to work, and the joy at the successes. It was a hell of a movie.

After all the poking and prodding of a regular check-up, we chatted about the progress on my breast reconstruction. It seems to me it is taking FOREVER, and I'm so tired of the entire procedure - so tired of it that last week, when I was in for a fill-up, I told the plastic surgeon I'd had enough - let's just get on with it...do the trade-out of the skin expander implant for the permanent implant, and do the reduction on the other side and just get it all over with.

Well, that's all well and good, but it looks like late December, DECEMBER!, before we can get the first step scheduled. I just wanted to cry.

But the oncologist and his PA, who I really like a lot (she always makes me laugh), raved about the new boob, said I just have to be patient (yeah, me, patient!), said everything is progressing beautifully. Linda (the PA) also suggested I talk to the plastic surgeon about putting an implant in the left side when he does the reduction, so that it will stay as 'perky' as the new boob - otherwise after 6 months or so it will be a smaller, droopy mate to the perky new one. Now that's something that never would have entered my mind - haven't read anything along those lines anywhere - but she was adamant that it's necessary for a decently matched 'set'! At least it's not an additional surgery - it would be done at the same time as the reduction. That's one thing in its favor.

Then I brought up my third boob, which continues to make me crazy! They both took one look and said, in perfect unison, "oh, it's just a hematoma" ... they poked and prodded some more and said that for sure it's a hematoma, and that it happens to some degree in most of the TRAM-FLAP surgeries they see. Linda said it usually just reabsorbs into the system over time - sometimes in a couple months, though sometimes it takes a couple years.

So I immediately came home to look up anything I could find online about it. You know, more and more, I find the internet as informative and frustrating as when we used to try to look something up in the dictionary when we didn't know how to spell it! I didn't know to look up hematomas when researching the TRAM-FLAP because no one had mentioned it. And none of the sites I found initially ever referred to that possible complication. Now I googled 'hematoma' together with 'TRAM-FLAP' and it's everywhere.

And my major question is why, oh why, didn't my plastic surgeon, who reorganized my insides, recognize it or have anything to say about it? WTF?!!

OK, I got that out of my system (temporarily at least).

I asked why it didn't show up on the CT-scan, and they said that it's really not distinguishable even to the trained eye because, one it's not even soft tissue, it's just blood, and two, it's not the type of thing 'they' look for, unless they're trained in TRAM-FLAP surgeries and are expecting it. They were looking for a hernia, and that wasn't there. A big soft mass of blood ("grapefruit size") just doesn't show up on a CTscan. Great.

So what do we do? Nothing - it will take care of itself, in time. As you might imagine, that isn't a very satisfactory solution for me. But the oncologist and Linda did convince me it's not to be feared, it's normal (within the realm of by-products of surgery), and it can't harm me. The website link I highlighted above does mention there is some surgery to remedy the beast, so I'm going to look into that, just out of curiosity.

And yes, I will casually mention it to my plastic surgeon, and try to be nice about it - as in why the hell aren't you aware of this fucking possibility and why did you make me find out about it on my own after fretting about it for six fucking months! Yes, I'll be gentle on him. :o)

To end on a slightly happier note, my hair has finally grown out enough, and filled in, that I have been able to shape it into something resembling a hair style! Not bad after almost 17 months of (patiently) waiting for it to grow in!Of course it doesn't stay all soft and fluffy for long - it's still pretty limp and the style sort of disappears after a couple hours, but it's a huge improvement from what I've lived with for the last year and a half!!!!!

Meandering thoughts

2011-09-23T11:55:00.004-07:00

The calendar says autumn has arrived, and there's no question the weather has changed here, and definitely for the better!!
The monsoons are gone, and have taken the killer humidity away too! I do believe this was the humidist (I think I just created that word and I like it!) summer by far since I've been in the desert - almost 20 years.

Because I just have a swamp cooler (evaporative cooler) on my little house, which puts more moisture in the air as it cools, I used a cooler/dehumidifier every day to get rid of some of that moisture - as in about 5 gallons of water a day! That's a lot of water pulled out of the air!!

The days are still hot (projected 101 today), but Arizona is back to her famous 'dry heat', which means it's a tolerable 101. And the mornings are delightfully cool (low 70s) and I have to tell you, walking with my pooch when it's 75 beats the hell out of walking when it's 95!

My body is considerably happier with the humidity back into the teens and twenties. I'm going to whisper this, because I'm afraid to say it out loud, but it appears I'm finally done with the hot flashes that have made me crazy for almost ten years!!!!! As in 30 to 40 of those 'power surges' a day, that nothing at all would help!

I suspect it has something to do with the cancer drug I take every day, the Femara, because its mission in life is to destroy anything resembling estrogen in my body. I've been taking it now for about 7 months, and even though I become drenched in sweat after the slightest exertion, I know it's not hot flash kind of sweating. I think my thermostat has just been demolished by menopause and all the poisons I've taken in, hence the uncontrolled sweating or chills, but it's not hot flashes!!! That is worth celebrating!

The new boob? It's growing, as expected. Last week, Monday, I had another fill-up - another 120cc of saline (about 4 ounces). At that appointment, the doctor said the implant was only about half filled - "It's a big one!" - so I'm hoping that my next fill-up, a week from Monday, will be the last. I'm getting very tired of this whole exercise.

After that, it's back to the hospital to trade out the temporary implant for the permanent one. That one has to 'settle in' for a few weeks, at which point we'll proceed with the reduction of the poor saggy old thing hanging on the other side.

Just had a mammogram on that side (thankfully, they only need to do one now - jeez I hate mammograms!), and it came back healthy. I must admit that the newer technology is more patient friendly than in the past - doesn't squish the poor puppies as painfully as before.

I can sit here and say I don't worry about the cancer coming back, but that's a blatant lie - I was scared of getting the mammy, and hated waiting the week to get the results. But everything is OK.

So now I just have two more surgeries to worry about, and the damned third boob that is still hanging around being offensive. But I am getting a second opinion on the thing in a couple weeks, so I just call it names every day and hope this new doc will have a useful opinion and maybe even a solution. I don't need to carry around a third boob after everything I've been through with the ones I have.

Meanwhile, the sun is shining, the humidity is 15% as we speak, flowers are blooming, and my pup is sleeping contentedly on the back of the sofa, so I'm smiling!

Remember - Never Forget

2011-09-09T14:18:00.008-07:00

There is a new moving video on the World Trade Center Memorial, which I think is a spot every one of us would like to find time to visit.

And I will always tear up when I hear Alan Jackson sing his 'Where were you when the world stopped turning?'

Then my blood starts pumping when Toby Keith kicks some butt with his 'Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue!'

I hope we will all remember why we are still fighting today, and who we have to thank for our freedoms! The bad guys are still out there, and they want us to die.

Remember!

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE ! ! !

Monsoon

2011-09-07T15:10:00.004-07:00

I was going to write a glowing report about the wild beauty of our monsoons, but . . .

I was curled up, reading a Sue Grafton, Kinsey Millhone mystery, yesterday afternoon, and heard the radio in the background saying it was 98 degrees, and looked like the day was going to go by without any rain. Moments later, I heard the little pitter patter of raindrops on the roof. I looked out the window and saw only blue sky!

And moments later, the skies opened up. We were slammed with rain, wind, lightning and thunder - a wild monsoon out of nowhere! I love these storms! I went to the computer and looked at the weather report. It showed no weather anywhere. Shows how much they know.

About ten minutes later, I wandered to the front window and the road was flooded with run-off, almost curb to curb! It rained, hard, for about 40 minutes! Still no sign of the storm on the computer weather picture! The temperature dropped 25 degrees!!! It was cooler outside than it was in the house!

An absolutely perfect monsoon storm! I love them, just love them! And then it was gone - blue skies, no winds, no clouds. Just another summer day.

The roads were still running ankle deep with water, the plants were all a little droopy from the onslaught of rain, but the air smelled so sweet. The humidity was thru the roof again, of course, but since it was only 73 degrees, that was OK. It was back up to 83 within an hour, but by then I was back in the house with the cooler back on!

Unfortunately, my pleasure from the storm was quickly diminished when Misha and I went out for a walk to enjoy the cool air.

The winds had played havoc with my house.

Oh well, that's just another of the 'joys' of the monsoon season!

At least we didn't lose power or have any fires started by the lightning!

Second fill-up

2011-08-30T15:23:00.008-07:00

Well, even though it's been averaging about 104 degrees again for more than a week (and projected as far as we can see into the future), it's our famous "dry heat" again (almost)! And that is pure pleasure, relatively speaking.

At least we don't have the 50-70% humidity with it right now because we haven't had any of our monsoon rains for several days. In fact, right this minute, weather.com says it's only 14% humidity! I can live with that! As long as I stay indoors!!! :o)

And the barrel cactus are happy and putting out their summer finery!

Had my second 'fill-up' into my temporary breast implant yesterday. I'm really lucky that I'm not having any trouble with pain from this procedure with the implant and skin expander. There's just a gentle ache, and with everything else I have to deal with, that's nothing.

But I'm thinking I'm about as inflated as I want to be. I'm looking rather like that email cartoon that goes around of the gal who tried to improve her bust line by putting a box of kleenex into her dress, not just the kleenex. My new boob looks about that fake to me.

But it's so much better than what I was left with after the surgery that I shouldn't, and won't, complain!

I do have to laugh though. I have only two tops that I can wear now, loose and baggy, to attempt to camouflage my lack of symmetry. I have this lovely new teenage boob sitting pert and firm up on my clavicle and my poor droopy saggy old thing wobbling along down near my waist on the other side, and clothes just look a little odd!

But as a few friends insist on reminding me, it beats the alternative!

I received the results from my CT scan last week. I'm very disappointed to say we've learned nothing from it. This damned third boob that has been growing below my new boob didn't show up on the scan as anything.

But it is still there, has been for four months, and it seems to me that it's growing, although that could be in my head since I'm so frustrated by the whole thing. I look down and see this thing, which so obviously is not normal (at least it seems obvious to me!), and what can I do? My very sweet PCP (primary care physician) is finally as concerned as I am, and is now trying to get insurance approval to send me to someone else to take a look.

Half a dozen medical types have agreed it's a hernia, but it didn't show on the scan as a hernia. It disappears when I lay on my back, but when I tap my fingertips where it was, it sounds so hollow (not a normal sound when you tap on your belly!) - like a tight drum skin, or a balloon! And it leaps back out to bother me when I stand or sit up again. It feels like a big fresh bruise when I touch it. It's driving me crazy!!! Crazier! :o)

The good thing, I guess, is that the scan does show that all the various organs and glands in the area appear normal and healthy. It shows some "minor atelectasis in the lung bases" whatever the hell that means. Actually, it probably means I haven't done enough aerobic type activity for way too long, as in the 37 years since I busted my body up so badly! I should probably exercise with that disgusting little machine they give you in the hospital after surgery to keep your lungs clear.

Exciting news for the future

2011-08-28T14:30:00.001-07:00

Breakthrough breast cancer scanner detects lumps without using X-rays

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 5:03 PM on 28th August 2011

The current method: A mammogram uses X-rays to detect breast tumours

Scientists have developed a new type of scanner that is claimed to be more effective at detecting breast cancer than conventional mammograms.

The new machine finds tumours in the breast without the need for radiation by using infra red beams and thermal energy.

In a major trial of more than 2,500 people, the technology was found to be 92 per cent effective at detecting breast cancer in women compared to just 80 per cent for traditional mammograms that use X-rays.

Results of the study are due to be published soon in the leading medical journal Radiology.

Trials - involving another 2,500 women - are expected to take place next year at a major London teaching hospital and major hospitals in Barcelona and Paris.

Scientists at Real Imaging - the Israeli inventors -have discovered that women with breast cancer produce different signals on the surface of their skin which is detected by the machine without coming into contact with the breast.

The device is also set to get an official EU seal of approval by the end of the year allowing it to be used in the UK.

Two wealthy British billionaire businessmen, David and Simon Reuben, have invested £11 million in the company after a close member of their family developed breast cancer.

The company claims the new technology has a major plus that allows detection of cancer in younger women who generally have denser breasts.

There is a growing pressure for the UK national breast cancer screening programme to include women under 50. But one drawback is x ray mammography. Compared to older women it is not as effective at detecting cancer in younger women where cancer is on the increase.

The new machine - which was tested at major university hospitals in Israel -was found to be as effective at finding cancers in younger woman as older women.

Billionaire brothers Simon and David Reuben invested £11m in the new breast technology after a close member of their family developed cancer

Dr Eugene Libson, a radiologist at the Hadassah University Medical Centre in Jerusalem said: 'Mammography is an old fashioned technology which requires examination of x rays by the naked eye.

'And we know that it is not as good at finding cancers in women under 50 who, it could be argued, should be offered screening.'

In recent years the breast screening service in the UK has been hit by a number of scandals where radiologists have not read mamograms correctly and missed cancer in some women.

Dr Libson added: 'The new scanner is extremely hi tech and doesn't require a human to be accurate. You get a result on a screen and there is no peering at x ray films to try and find a tumour.'

Real Imaging expects the machine to be used initially alongside mammogram machines as a back up technology but believe it could one day replace the mammogram completely.

Professor Kefah Mokbel, a breast specialist at London's St George's Hospital, said: 'It's an interesting technology and there is certainly a need for other methods than mammogram machines. I would see it being used for moment with mammography because it could very well detect a cancer not seen on conventional secreening.'

2011-08-26T13:34:00.004-07:00

Well, I had been planning to give all the CTscan info in one fell swoop, but in typical fashion, I still haven't heard the results, so...

Got off on the wrong foot on Monday, because the girls gave me the wrong address when they set the appointment. At least where I had to be was within a mile, so no big deal. Then it seems they neglected to tell me that I needed to drink some barium before the test, so the first thing I did was down a quart of the stuff when I signed in. (And for the record, should you need a CTscan that requires barium, insist on getting the lemonade flavored stuff rather that the old fashioned chalky crap - the lemonade flavor is totally drinkable!!)

After giving barium a chance to work its way thru my system, they laid me down on the sliding table, covered me with a blanket (because it was probably 55 degrees in the place!) and ran the machine over me once to get a base reading. Then they injected an imaging material thru an IV and ran the machine over me again. That was it - we were done.

The techs warned me that I'd probably have diarrhea from the barium, and for 24 hours I definitely did. I choose to think of that as a good cleansing!

I was hoping to get the results Wednesday, but noooooooo. So now I just get to look at my third boob and wonder some more. I'll report in when I learn something!

Fill 'er up

2011-08-16T12:04:00.006-07:00

Learned some stuff this week!

I saw my breast reconstruction doc on Monday, and had some time with his nurses first off. I asked about the implant gadget that I received a couple weeks ago, and they brought me two alternatives to look at and touch - very similar, but they weren't sure which one he used.

Nice soft sacks, with a round magnet about the size of a quarter on the inside (you can just see it). As I found out soon thereafter, the doctor uses a magnet finder, sliding it gently over my skin until it locates the magnet inside, and then he marks me up again (he really likes to draw on skin!) so he knows where to stick the needle in to line up with the internal magnet.

The nurses were very chatty and informative and helpful. I asked about their thoughts on saline vs silicone in the implant, and their vote is for silicone. They brought out a sample implant full of saline and one of silicone for me to feel. I couldn't really feel a difference. I still have some time to decide, so I guess I'll ask around some more. Everyone has an opinion - that's for sure!!

It seems I may have mislead you, my readers, on the procedure I had a couple weeks ago when the temporary implant was inserted. I mentioned it was like when we lift the skin off a turkey breast to put a flavored buttery baste in to keep it moist. Well, what he did is the same principal, except he lifted more that the skin. I thought it went on top of the TRAM-flap fat transplant, but the implant is slipped in under the transplant, rather than on top of it. So what do I know? I was close!!

Anyway, the doctor inspected his handiwork, and then used the magnet finder to locate the magnet inside the implant, marked me up and brought out a HUGE syringe. He stuck the needle in where he had marked it, and wiggled it around a bit until he found the hole in the internal magnet and finally slipped it inside. That was fun.

He attached the monster syringe and said 'just let me know when you feel some pressure'. Huh? All I can feel is the needle! So he slowly injected 60cc of fluid (60 cubic centimeter = 2.029 ounces) and I didn't feel any 'pressure' yet. So he refilled the thing and put in more - 60cc more - at which point I did feel a bit of pressure.

It had filled all the available space in the chest area and was pushing hard up against my skin - hence the term 'skin expander'. The constant pressure makes the skin produce more cells and makes the skin stretch and grow to be comfortable with that thing pushing on it from the inside (kind of like when we eat way too much at Thanksgiving and feel like we're going to explode - if we kept that volume of turkey and pie in our bellies for an extended period of time, the skin would grow to accommodate it!).

In two weeks, I go back for another fill-up - presumably no where near as much fluid as this time. And will do that until I reach 'the size I want'. At that point, having kept track of how much saline he has injected, he'll remove the temporary implant, and replace it with a permanent model, filled with an amount equal to that we had used before. Then I plan on a reduction of the remaining 'real' boob, reshaping, resizing and repositioning, to match the new one!

The first night was quite uncomfortable - I simply couldn't find a comfy way to sleep. But after that, it's been pretty much just an ache - a gentle ache. Nowhere near as bad as I feared - some gals have a lot of trouble with this part of the procedure, but so far I've been lucky.

I asked the doctor about the horrid pain I experienced after the last surgery, and he was apparently quite surprised when I explained what I went thru. Had no idea what might have caused it, and said it was most unusual. Not that that helped me much, but the pain is long gone, so it's just another one of those weird things that happens that no one can explain, like UFOs!

Then I complained, forcefully, about the damned bump, protrusion, whatever on my belly under my new little tittie - that it simply is not normal and I wanted to know what it is!!! I mean really, having a third boob, after having one big one, then one big one and one little teenage one, and now three boobs, isn't my idea of fun. He didn't argue at all, and wrote me an order for a CATscan, which I'll be getting on Monday. No guarantee it will tell us anything, but at least it's a start!

More soon!

just another operation

2011-08-05T14:42:00.010-07:00

I don't know if it's the effect of advancing age (not that I acknowledge advancing age), or the cumulative effects of anesthesia, but I'm definitely not bouncing back from surgeries as well as I used to. Or maybe it's just that eight surgeries in seventeen months is a few too many!!

Anyway, I'm home from the most recent phase of breast reconstruction. Went in Tuesday morning early, with an 11:15 a.m. date with a table. In typical fashion, various dramas cluttered up the surgical units, and I wasn't granted that table until 3:15. That was OK - I read, cover to cover, an entire James Patterson book - a strange one for him, about genetic mutations that created, among other things, a beautiful girl who could fly. Definitely kept me distracted!

When everyone finally started showing up to prep me, things moved a little faster. My doc dropped by for a short visit. I asked him, since he was already cutting me open, if he'd mind cleaning up a little boo-boo from his original surgery. When he got rid of the handful of unsightly skin and scars and stuff under my arm, there was a little 'thing' left over . . . and vanity being what it is, it made me nuts. I called it a little pimple, or an out-of-place nipple - which it wasn't. But it did show thru my clothes on the rare occasion when I actually wear something decent. He had a lovely medical sounding term for it, which I of course can't remember, but he said he'd take care of it.

Then he got out his pen and marked me up to show himself just what he wanted to do.

After that, he autographed my new little tittie. I asked the obvious question, why? Said doctors had been doing that since 1994 (or was it 1974?) when a doctor in Philadelphia took out the wrong lung from some poor guy.

Obviously, that doesn't always work, since we hear stories all the time about folks being operated on the wrong knee, or arm, or kidney, or whatever, but I thought, other than the rather distinctive difference between my right and left boobs, his initials would do the job!

I had given my camera to one of the surgical staff, so she could take a picture of the 'gadget' that he was inserting in to me - the initial implant and skin expander. Somehow that didn't happen, unfortunately. But my doc tells me he has them laying around his office, so I'll be able to get a photo of one next time I'm there.

Woke up promptly, ready to go home to my poor puppy who was probably worried sick, I'd been gone so long. But they were trying to get my pain under control, and not doing well at it at all. I found myself bound up tight in a compression bra, and I hurt like hell!

All my records show that I have a really high pain tolerance, so when I finally admit I'm hurting, I need serious pain meds. The best I could get out of them was hydrocodone, 5-500. I would need about 10 of those to get any effect at all, and of course them wouldn't give me that much. Finally they agreed to give me some Demerol - 12.5 mg. I asked for 50 mg to start, and they just laughed at me. I finally said I was feeling OK, just so I could go home. Where I could take some of my own meds!!

This results of this operation are so odd. He sliced me open along one of my existing scar lines, and separated the muscle layer from the fat and skin (rather like when we are doing a turkey, and wiggle our fingers under the skin on the breast, separating it so we can squish in a layer of butter and other goodies to keep the breast moist and tasty while cooking). That's where he put the implant gadget and tissue expander. Sounds easy enough!

Somehow they bandaged me up and got me into the compression bra and sent me on my way. I was to leave it in place for 48 hours, then I could remove the bra and bandage and take a shower - yes!!

The bandaging was huge for the little incision. Which was one explanation for why I was so damned uncomfortable!

Underneath all the bandages, the incision is held together with steri-strips, which hang on to my skin for dear life, ignoring the showers until they are good and ready to let go! I'm supposed to re-bandage the wounds and wear the nasty compression bra until I see the doc again, in about 10 days.

This one should have been easy. Minor pain. And if I'm standing up, or sitting, it's basically fine. I had surgery. It hurts. That's to be expected. And that part doesn't even need pain meds.

But when I bend over (and do you have any idea how many times we bend over in a day? at least 743!), the pain is excruciating, cry out loud pain, radiating waves of massive pain! I've now learned to do most things around the house without bending over. But when I forget? OMG - the screaming pain. I can't help but cry out from the pain.

That is not me!!!! And I don't have anything in the house that has much effect on it.

I've come up with a pain med cocktail that breaks the worst level of it. Can't ever tell a doctor or pharmacist about it, though! And thankfully, now that I'm into the third day after the surgery, it's finally starting to ease up just a little on its own.

I emailed my doc yesterday and asked if he could tell me why this was happening, what was causing the intense pain. He wrote back promptly and told me not to do anything strenuous with my right arm and it would get better in a few days. Huh? I guess he hasn't heard of anything like this before and doesn't have an answer for me.

Oh well, I'm finally over the worst of it. Which is good for more than just me. My poor little Misha was very upset hearing me cry out in pain, and when she's upset, she throws up. And bending over to clean that up just made me cry out again. A lot of fun. So thankfully that has stopped.

Now she just sits as close to her mommy as she can get on our makeshift hospital bed.

I wasn't able to lay down flat for the first couple nights. Did so last night for a while and it felt great - slept for several hours without waking up! Of course getting up again wasn't the easiest, but I made it!

I assume, when I see him next, I'll find out what the schedule will be from now on. As I understand it, every couple weeks, I'll go back in to get fluid put in the implant gadget, until we get to a size we like.

I'm still trying to decide if I want to use silicone or saline. Most things I read suggest silicone is best, but most breast cancer patients I've talked to say the saline provides a more normal feeling boob! Not that I anticipate anyone feeling them again, but as I said earlier, vanity is a strong guide. We'll see. It may turn out that I don't have a choice anyway - the insurance company may have its own ideas!

Next step

2011-07-25T15:28:00.010-07:00

Finally heard that the health insurance company has come through with approval for the next phase of the breast reconstruction. I had almost talked myself out of it! Guess now I'm committed.

The table is reserved for next Tuesday, the 2nd, when I'll get the 'gadget' inserted to begin the expansion program! What shall we shoot for? Dolly Parton is a 38DD, but she weighs about half what I do, so I guess that doesn't count! I've definitely had enough of big boobs - or voluminous, as my cancer surgeon called them! And with this new puppy sitting up around my clavicle, I'll be quite happy with something a tad more petite than my saggy old things! We'll just have to see how it progresses!

Meanwhile, killer summer heat brings more pretty things to look at in the desert! By now, I suspect most everyone is familiar with how healthy prickly pear juice can be for us. But where does the juice come from? The prickly pear fruit, of course, and right now, the plants are just ripe for picking - and pretty too!

This juicing job isn't one I've attempted yet. These guys have stickers on them, as you can see! So I'll leave the work to other!

A few other cactus have put out some blossoms, what with the monsoon rains, and it's just another pretty time of year!

Pineapple

2011-07-19T14:30:00.001-07:00

from the Nutrient Insider -

The overlooked link between
cancer and digestive problems

Cancer kills more people every year than any other cause except heart disease. Digestive problems among Americans are escalating fast, sales for antacids and other digestive drugs are well over $10 billion annually. Is there a connection?

What if I told you the connection may be a simple enzyme that comes from pineapple? And what if I told you this enzyme can make your tummy feel better and fight cancer at the same time? Interested?

Well, new research says the enzyme bromelain can do just that.

The journal Cancer Letters recently published a study that examined the existing evidence for bromelain's cancer-fighting abilities. The researchers found that "bromelain has the capacity to modulate key pathways that support malignancy. It is now possible to suggest that the anti-cancer activity of bromelain consists in the direct impact on cancer cells." They also said the enzyme has strong immune-boosting and anti-inflammatory qualities.

Another study, this one from Europe, showed how digestive enzymes such as bromelain can help reduce the side effects from breast and colon cancer and their treatments. In this study, the researchers found that enzymes reduced "nausea, gastrointestinal complaints, fatigue, weight loss, and restlessness and obviously stabilized the quality of life." It works so well, many oncologists use bromelain in conjunction with chemotherapy.

But does bromelain work on its own? A new study that appears in Molecular Carcinogenesis says yes.

The researchers in this study wanted to find out if bromelain can fight cancer all by itself. They tested the enzyme in the lab against skin cancers cells (carcinoma and melanoma). They found that bromelain's anti-inflammatory properties kept the cancer cells from growing. It also significantly reduced cellular free radical damage, which forced the cancer cells to go through normal cell death (apoptosis).

The conclusion of the researchers was astounding: "Bromelain afforded substantial anti-cancer potential in these settings; hence we suggest it as a potential prospect for anti-cancer agent besides only an additive in chemotherapy."

As many researchers do with natural therapies, they stopped short of recommending its use. All they said was that it needs more research. But there's no need to wait for more research or a bromelain drug. Bromelain enzymes are perfectly safe for you to take right now.

If you have cancer, your doctor may have you taking bromelain already. If not, ask him how much you can take to fight the cancer and reduce the impact of chemotherapy.

If you don't have cancer, bromelain is a supplement you can take with your meals to aid in digestion and keep yourself free from cancer. You can find bromelain supplements at any health food stores and on the Internet. The typical dose is 500-1,000 mg daily.

2011-07-16T12:22:00.005-07:00

Interesting times in the Old Pueblo (one of Tucson's nicknames)!

We are now into a more typical summer - monsoons have arrived, which means great lightning and thunder storms with big winds and big downpours (and usually damage to trees and homes!)! And humidity, which comes as a shock to our systems!

After three wild storms over my little neighborhood, and several more in other areas around town, we're now back into 'summer', where it's dry and hot and the humidity is gone. The thing that makes the monsoons so fun is that you can get two inches of rain on your house and down the street, they won't get a drop! You can see a huge curtain of rain down the road, and no amount of begging the rain gods will bring it to your house!

What the monsoon storms and their humidity did bring was relief for the troubles I've been having with my thumb! For the week that the humidity was through the roof, my thumb was absolutely normal. But now that we're back to our more normal 8% humidity, the thumb is back to clicking and locking and popping things across the room. Almost (note, I said 'almost') makes me wish for high humidity.

But to make up for the brief respite from thumb trauma, I've developed a new lymphedema problem. I've been seeing my lymphedema therapists for my annual 'tune-up' and to get fitted for a new compression sleeve, so we've been talking about it. I now have a big 'puddle' of lymph fluid accumulating on the right side of my rib cage, just below my new little boob.

The 'educated guess' is that it's caused probably by my TRAM-flap surgery that sliced through skin and muscle and fat from hip to hip, thereby severing the regular paths of the lymph channels. There is no sewing them back together, and they do not regenerate. So I'm getting this growing puddle of fluid that can't find a way to escape. I'd like to stick a knife in and put in a spigot to drain it. Probably not practical.

What I see when I look straight down over my new little boob is this:

On the advice of the lymphedema therapists, I put in a call to my reconstruction doctor to see if I could get an appointment to talk about my new protruberance. I sent him an email with this picture of it. Amazingly, I got in to see him first thing the next day.

Doc gently poked and prodded and manipulated the bloody puddle, and agreed it does feel like a congestion of lymph. He's never heard of or seen anything like it before, 'but there's always a first time'.

That protuberance is trouble. If I bump it or lean on it, it feels like a big fresh bruise. The lymph just can't get out of there. This fucking lymphedema is going to be the straw that…

Anyway, the therapists wanted me to constrict the rib area, with something like the belly support I wore for 12 weeks after the surgery, including putting something like a piece of an oven mitt or something with lots of bumps and ridges directly over the puddle. My doctor absolutely forbids me doing that, for the very understandable reason that the basic blood flow and whatnot to the new boob comes up right thru that same area, and if it's constricted, the fat/muscle (boob) will die. "Besides, you'd be horribly uncomfortable wearing that 24/7" - no shit Sherlock!

He is confident that further surgery will not affect the area, but has no suggestions, as the therapists do not, of how to deal with it. He believes the swelling in the rib area will continue to reduce in the coming months as everything continues to heal from that traumatic surgery, which might help a little.

So, as we speak, I'm still scheduled for the surgery in two weeks, assuming the insurance company gets off its ass and responds.

I asked for details of this phase, and it's not at all what I expected. He says they'll go in thru one of the many existing scar lines near the underarm area. The new fat boob is laying on top of the chest muscle which is on top of the chest wall. They'll gently separate the area between the muscle and the chest wall (kind of like when we squish our fingers under chicken/turkey skin on top of the breast to insert a buttery seasoned baste) and he'll insert a 'gadget' (I commented on his use of explicit medical terms and he just smiled - I'm not sure he has a sense of humor, but I still like him). A couple weeks later, we go back in and start putting fluid in the gadget, and increase it every couple weeks until we get a size 'we' like. Then he removes the gadget (it has some metal parts and 'doesn't feel very breast-like', and insert in its place, the implant of the appropriate size.

I'm still vacillating daily on whether I even want to go ahead with this next phase. I'm so tired of pain, of being exhausted. Since all the chemo is out of my system, all my old pain has returned - both hips, both knees, my ruined right ankle. After years of trying, we've not been able to find anything that gives me any relief from my pain.

Now, with this dumb thumb, 'they' are looking at 7 or 8 more surgeries for me - four or five for the reconstruction, my thumb/hand, my left knee, and something for the disgusting cyctocele. Eight more surgeries? Talk about 'quality of life' - I'm thinking it's just too much. I'm just so tired. The warrior is faltering.

Another loss

2011-07-10T15:27:00.007-07:00

There has been at least one more casualty here in the park - an ocotillo.

This is another very unique plant, pretty much confined to the Southwest. Most folks new to the area, or just visiting, find it to be rather ugly. It spends most of its life looking quite dead. Dark, bare sticks covered with nasty spines.

But just wait until it rains! It immediately leafs out in bright green narrow leaves, which wither away as soon as the ground dries up again. And the flowers - brilliant red-orange atop each long whip-like straight branch growing up from the base to as much as twenty feet tall.

Most folks who choose to stay in the area learn to like these gorgeous quirks of nature. I know I do.

So it is especially sad to lose one. My new neighbor just up on the corner lost his, just after it leafed out from the last rain. A big wind toppled it! I had suggested he water it a few weeks ago, because it had been unloved for a while, and needed to get its feet secure in the ground. He didn't believe me that it was alive.

And now it's gone.

One of the very special facts about the ocotillo is that if someone sticks individual branches into the ground to build a very effective spiny fence, it often will grow into a living fence! That flowers when it rains!!

I'm sad to report also that the maintenance team here removed the entire saguaro that had been hit by lightning. I guess they considered the remaining plant an eyesore. Too bad!

Haboob

2011-07-07T08:05:00.002-07:00

If you haven't yet seen much about the massive haboob that shut down Phoenix a couple days ago, check this site:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2011713/Phoenix-dust-storm-rolls-desert-Arizonas-monsoon-season-starts.html

Looks like something out of a horror movie, or what our soldiers experience in Iraq! I can't believe there are idiots driving in that stuff!

Mammograms

2011-07-04T13:06:00.002-07:00

Since much of the last year and a half in this little blog has been about breast cancer, and knowing how important it is that we girls remember to get regular mammograms, I thought this was an important bit of information for all of us! :o)

Mammogram--court case-hilarious

While conducting some business at the Court House, I overheard a lady, who had been arrested for assaulting a Mammogram Technician, say, "Your Honor, I'm guilty but.....there were extenuating circumstances."

The female Judge said, sarcastically, "I'd certainly like to hear those extenuating circumstances." I did too, so I listened as the lady told her story.

"Your Honor, I had a mammogram appointment, which I actually kept. I was met by this perky little clipboard carrier smiling from ear to ear and she tilted her head to one side and crooned, "Hi! I'm Belinda! All I need you to do is step into this room right here, strip to the waist, then slip on this gown. Everything clear?"

I'm thinking, "Belinda, try decaf. This ain't rocket science."
Belinda then skipped away to prepare the chamber of horrors.

With the right side finished, Belinda flipped me (literally) to the left and said, "Hmmmm. Can you stand on your tippy toes and lean in a tad so we can get everything?" Fine, I answered.

I was freezing, bruised, and out of air, so why not use the remaining circulation in my legs and neck to finish me off? My body was in a holding pattern that defied gravity (with my other breast wedged between those two 4 inch pieces of square glass) when I heard and felt a zap!

Complete darkness, the power was off!

Belinda said, "Uh-oh, maintenance is working, bet they hit a snag." Then she headed for the door.

"Excuse me! You're not leaving me in this vise alone are you?" I shouted.

Belinda kept going and said, "Oh, you fussy puppy...the door's wide open so you'll have the emergency hall lights. I'll be right back."

Before I could shout NOOOO! She disappeared. And that's exactly how Bubba and Earl, "maintenance men Extraordinaire" found me...half-naked with part of me dangling from the Jaws of Life and the other part smashed between glass!

After exchanging a polite Hi, how's it going type greeting, Bubba (or possibly Earl) asked, to my utter disbelief, if I knew the power was off.

Trying to disguise my hysteria, I replied with as much calmness as possible, "Uh, yes, I did but thanks anyway."

"OK, you take care now" Bubba replied and waved good-bye as though I'd been standing in the line at the grocery store.

Two hours later, Belinda breezes in wearing a sheepish grin. Making no attempt to suppress her amusement, she said, "Oh I am sooo sorry!

The power came back on and I totally forgot about you! And silly me, I went to lunch. Are we upset?"

And that, Your Honor, is exactly how her head ended up between the clamps....."

The judge could hardly contain her laughter as she said "Case Dismissed!

Have a safe and fun 4th

2011-07-04T07:43:00.004-07:00

10 Things You Might Not Know About America's Independence

On July Fourth, Americans eat hot dogs and apple pie, watch fireworks, and go swimming.

But what are we really celebrating?

Standard answers to this question are that we are celebrating our independence or the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Well, yes and no.

Here are 10 things you might not know about our America's Independence Day.

1.) Independence Was Not Declared on July Fourth: The second Continental Congress actually voted for independence on July 2. In fact, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, predicting that future generations would celebrate July 2 as Independence Day, saying, "The second day of July, 1776, will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illumination, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore." July 4, 1776 is significant because that is the day that Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence document, but contrary to what many people believe it was not signed on the July 4. The official signing ceremony occurred on August 2, which is when most of the signers affixed their names to the document, but other representatives signed the document throughout the summer of 1776. Finally, there is no historical record of John Hancock saying that his signature is that big so that King George could read it. It has been suggested that Hancock's is by far the largest signature simply because he was the president of Congress.

2.) New York Was Late: When the Continental Congress declared independence from Britain the official vote was 12 in favor, 0 against. But wait, you may ask, weren't there 13 colonies? Where is that last one? The answer: The colony of New York abstained from the original vote on July 2. New York did not decide to join until July 19.

3.) It Was a States Thing First: Independence was not something that was confined to Congress. It started out as a state and local thing. In fact, the very first Declaration of Independence came on Oct. 4, 1774 (21 months before the Continental Congress declared independence) from the town of Worcester, Mass. During the next 21 months a total of 90 state and local declarations of independence would be made. When Virginia declared its independence in May 1776, they sent Rep. Richard Henry Lee to the Continental Congress with specific instructions to put forth a resolution of independence for Congress to vote on, thus allying all the colonies -- soon to become states -- against the British Empire in the War for Independence.

4.) American Troops Did Not fight Under the American Flag During the Revolution: The Fourth of July is always accompanied by a lot of flag waving, but the soldiers of the American Revolution did not actually fight under the American flag. In fact, our Founders did not really consider the flag to be all that important and the design of the flag varied both in the number of stripes and in the formation of the stars. The reason a uniform flag was adopted was so that our navy ships could be easily identified when arriving in foreign ports, but the boys in the Continental Army did not fight under this flag. In fact, the United States flag was considered so irrelevant that in 1794 when someone introduced a bill in Congress to add two stars to the flag in representation of the entrance of Vermont and Kentucky into the Union many members of the House considered it to be too trivial to pay any attention to. One representative is on record saying that this matter was "a trifling business which ought not to engross the attention of the House, when it was it was their duty to discuss matters of infinitely greater importance." In the end, the bill was passed simply to be rid of it. The Continental Army did still fight under flags, but these flags were all different depending on the regiment.

5.) Our Founding Fathers Were Not Radicals: As Americans, we like to think that what we did in the American Revolution was original and that our ideas of freedom and rights were new and progressive. But the truth is our Founding Fathers were not radical new thinkers -- all of their ideas and philosophies were rooted deeply in history. Ideas of people's rights, liberty, and social contracts can be traced all the way back through our colonial history, most famously with the Mayflower Compact, and even further through British history and English common law. These ideas can even be seen at work in the medieval era with Magna Carta first established 1215. Our Founding Fathers sought independence in order to preserve their "natural-born rights as Englishmen." Though it is true no colony had ever succeeded from the mother country before and the British were quick to call it treason, everything our Founders did was, in fact, legal. Jefferson himself explains that the Declaration was not meant to express anything new. He said it was "not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before, but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject."

6.) We Are Not a Democracy: People often associate democracy with freedom. We hear this word used all the time by our politicians, by our neighbors, even sometimes by our educators. But the fact is we are not a democracy. We are a republic. Our Founding Fathers deemed this an important distinction to make and discussed the matter quite a bit. In the end, our Founding Fathers claimed that a democracy was both extreme and dangerous for a country as it would most assuredly result in the oppression of the minority by the majority. Take this one example from Founding Father, Elbridge Gerry: "The evils we experience flow from the excess of democracy." And Thomas Jefferson said that democracy should never be practiced outside the limits of a town. Our Founders were very wary of power no matter who had it and thus limited it as much as possible -- this is why we have such a unique system of checks and balances.

7.) Jefferson-Hemings Scandal--Not So Scandalous After All? With Independence Day comes a lot of talk about the Declaration of Independence and with that talk comes references to Thomas Jefferson, which these days will inevitably end with the Sally Hemings scandal. The claim that Jefferson fathered children with Hemings started by Jefferson's political rival Alexander Hamilton as an attempt to smear and discredit him. In the past several years these claims got a lot of media attention when a DNA test was done on the descendants of Sally Hemings, which led people to claim that Thomas Jefferson was definitively the father of her children. However, the matter is far from settled and there are still historians on both sides of the aisle in this debate. The DNA test actually proves that a male from the Jefferson family fathered Sally Hemings' children --that's a number of possibilities. At this point, science cannot actually provide us with a definitive answer on the subject.

8.) Our Founding Fathers Would Not Have Recited the Pledge: Another patriotic tradition that gets a lot of attention, particularly around this time of the year, is the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge did not exist during our Founders' lifetimes -- something that is very clear when looking at its text. The Pledge was written over a century after America's founding in 1892. It was also written by a socialist -- Francis Bellamy, whose original text was: "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." According to our Founders, the states are not indivisible, but very much the opposite. In fact, when ratifying the U.S. Constitution, some states, such as Virginia among others, specifically declared the right to secede from the Union should they feel it necessary just as an extra precaution to make sure that that state right was understood. Our Founders took their states rights very seriously and considered the U.S. Constitution to be a compact amongst the sovereign states so that any state could secede if it felt the federal government had become oppressive. So, if not with a pledge, how would our Founding Fathers begin meetings and celebrations? The answer: most likely with a prayer. In fact, the very first resolution brought before the First Continental Congress, and immediately passed, was the declaration that they would open every meeting with a prayer.

9.) The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere . . . and 40 others? The mythology of Paul Revere's midnight ride can be traced back to the year 1860 with the writing of that famous poem, "Paul Revere's Ride." Here's what really happened: On April 18, 1775, British troops were ordered to arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams, both of whom were in Lexington at the time and to seize arms and provisions at Concord. Upon hearing this, Paul Revere and William Dawes set out on horseback -- taking two different routes to Lexington in order to warn Hancock and Adams. Along the way, they warned the towns they passed through of the British invasion. By the morning of April 19 roughly 40 men were out on horseback spreading the news. Revere arrived at Lexington first, followed by Dawes. The two men then headed toward Concord, but were intercepted by British troops. Dawes, though injured, managed to escape, but Revere was captured. He was rescued by American militiamen a short while later. It was during this confrontation between British troops and American militiamen at Concord that the famous shot heard 'round the world was fired.

10.) The British Soldiers of the Boston Massacre Were Defended by John Adams in Court: The Boston Massacre, on March 5, 1770, began with a riot and ended with British troops killing five men. The incident help spark the greater rebellion, which led to the Revolutionary War, but tensions had been rising in Boston since British troops had occupied the city in 1768. But you may be surprised to know that one of the Founding Fathers actually defended the British soldiers that were charged of killing the civilians. John Adams, like many of our Founding Fathers, was a lawyer, and though he was a Patriot, he firmly believed in the right to a fair trial and agreed to represent the British troops in court. Adams succeeded in getting Capt. Thomas Preston acquitted as most others. And the two soldiers who were convicted were spared the death penalty.

So this July Fourth, research what you're celebrating and talk about it with your family. Benjamin Franklin said that we have Republic, if we can keep it. Former Congressman and author of the book "In Tune with America: our History in Song," George Nethercutt Jr. put it this way: "The foundation of the freedoms we enjoy as Americans is the U.S. Constitution, the longest surviving constitution of any nation in history. To be civically unaware is to diminish our freedom, but knowing our history makes us all better Americans. Read our nation's Founding documents and they will inspire you."

Nature

2011-07-03T13:36:00.004-07:00

One of the stately giants I wrote of recently has met up with Mama Nature and came out second. We had a noisy and bright lightning and thunder storm, and rain and wind, several mornings back, starting at about 3 am.

As I was holding my little Misha tight in my arms, telling her I'd protect her, there was one particularly bright flash of lightning, followed immediately by a huge crack of thunder. I knew that one hit very close by!

Walking later that morning, we found out where. Just a couple very short blocks over from us, maybe a couple hundred yards as the woodpecker flies, one of our lovely old saguaro cactus took a direct hit!

The top is charred where it was hit, and many arms simply exploded off, leaving burned marks there too. There is probably a couple thousand pounds of debris around the poor old giant.

The amazing thing about these tough old beasts is that it will probably survive, should the park allow it to stand. It doesn't look mortally wounded! It just lost about eight arms! Just. So very sad to see.

Very interesting article

2011-06-25T07:52:00.002-07:00

Breast cancer prostate drug hope

By James Gallagher
Health reporter, BBC News

Drugs used to treat prostate cancer in men may also be useful for difficult-to-treat breast cancers in some women, a Cancer Research UK study suggests.

Hormone treatments like tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors are ineffective against up to 30% of breast cancers.

But laboratory research in Cambridge, reported in The EMBO Journal, suggests some of these tumours may respond to drugs for male cancers.

Cancer Research UK said the findings were a "great surprise".

Hormones can switch on genes which lead to cells dividing uncontrollably and developing into tumours.

In women, breast cancers can be driven by the female sex hormone oestrogen. In men, prostate cancer can be driven by male sex hormones - androgens.

Breakthroughs have been made in treatments for breast cancer by developing drugs which interfere with the oestrogen's action, halting the tumour's progress.

However, tumours which are not driven by the hormone have been harder to treat.

"This fascinating research opens the door to personalised treatment for a small group of breast cancer patients," said Dr Caitlin Palframan Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Researchers at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute found that some of these oestrogen negative tumours were instead influenced by male hormones.

The same genes which were switched on by female sex hormones in oestrogen responsive tumours were activated by the male sex hormones.

It raises the prospect that drugs already developed for prostate cancer could help some women.

While androgens, such as testosterone, are typically associated with male development, they are also present in women.

The lead researcher Dr Ian Mills said: "This important discovery suggests that patients with a type of oestrogen-receptor-negative breast cancer may potentially benefit from therapies given to prostate cancer patients, which could transform treatment for this patient group in the future.

"But at the moment this laboratory research is still at an early stage."

Researchers said this could apply to up to 5% of all breast cancers.

Dr Lesley Walker, from Cancer Research UK, said: "Prostate cancer depends on the androgen receptor for growth so it's a great surprise that a type of breast cancer might also be fuelled by this protein."

Dr Caitlin Palframan, policy manager at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: "This fascinating research opens the door to personalised treatment for a small group of breast cancer patients.

"Women with oestrogen receptor negative disease have fewer treatment options and new ways to tackle it are urgently needed."

Squeezy things?

2011-06-22T10:45:00.005-07:00

Do you have any idea how often you use your thumb in a simple operation like taking a shower and prepping up after? How many squeezy things we have in our bathrooms?

First, of course, you turn on the shower. Naturally, I reach with my right hand. I simply can't grip things with the right hand anymore. So I switch to the left - that one's easy. Do I remember to use the left hand on the next project? Of course not!

There's the squeezy shampoo bottle, then the liquid face wash. Rinse the hair and then it's the squeezy conditioner bottle. Wrong hand again, of course. Then it's the bath wash - open the lid and squeeze - uh hunh. Switch hands.

Grab the razor - oops, there it goes onto the deck! Popping the razor part off, naturally. Pick that sucker up carefully and the thumb pops, snapping it bouncing off the shower door. Pick it up this time with the left hand and carefully snap it back in place. Shave the pits and legs, and only cut myself twice as the thumb jerks around! Did worse when I tried it with the other hand!

Rinse the hair and body and turn off the water. Oops, other hand, you dumb blonde!

Thankfully I can dry off normally! Then it's the pretty-up part.

I use a crystal instead of standard deodorant, and I only dropped it once! Eye cream to get rid of the bags - by the time I squeezed that one, I had enough for four days. Try to open the sucker to put some back? That one took some doing!

Then the regenerating serum to keep moisture in the face (it's a dry heat, remember?!!) Thankfully that's a 'push down' top, and I can do that one with any finger. If I can coordinate the hand!!

OK, now we open the jar for the anti-wrinkle cream. Old age sucks! Can't get a grip on it with the right hand, so I do it with the left. Feels like it turns the wrong way, but it's just my mind playing games. Put the lid back on. Oops, wrong hand again.

Make-up? Now this is the fun part! :o((
I don't use much make-up - basically just eye color. Go ahead - try putting on eye shadow with your 'other' hand! And then some eyeliner! Make-up lessons from KISS!! One big splotch up almost to my eyebrow. Clean that off and start over! I wouldn't do it at all, except I've actually been invited out to lunch and have to look at least half decent.

My hair? It's so damned hot that there's no sense in trying to blow-dry it into anything resembling a 'do', because as soon as I walk outside, my head will sweat anything I've attempted into the trash! So I just want to use a curl brush and try to turn the ends under a bit. With my left hand because I just can't get a grip on the bloody brush with my right thumb! I'm looking like Phyllis Diller!

OK, the face/hair is as good as it's gonna get. Now I need to get a couple band-aids out of the snap top can. Not with the right thumb, I don't! Yeah - got it with the left! Pulled out about four too many, but I'll need them later, so I just left them on the counter. Now let's tear the little paper off the band-aid. That was fun. Easy-open packaging - tell me about it!

Finally get the band-aid out of the wrapping and peel off the cover and the thumb pops and the band-aid sticks to itself and ends up in the trash. Good thing I have a couple extras on the counter. Get the second one open, and manage to get it on my leg to cover the four stitches. Now I need to put the next one on my right arm near the elbow where I had three pre-cancers burned (frozen). Gotta protect then from the lymphedema compression sleeve. This was a big one, so it was somewhat easier.

What's left? Oh, yeah, some lotion to protect the dry skin. That one is easy - the left hand gets used as much as the right normally in that process. A little awkward reaching some areas, but good exercise!

Oh dear. I need to touch-up the fingernail polish on one nail on the left hand. The bottle top sticks, as they always do, so I grip it with the little finger against the palm and get it. Gently, oh so gently, I grasp the cap and brush some polish on the nail, and the next fingertip, and the counter-top as the damned thumb snaps down.

This is getting really old. It's actually kind of funny watching my mishaps pile up thru the day. I'll get used to the bloody thumb, and deal with the problems, as I always try to do. But it really does reach a point where I can't help but wonder who I pissed off so much that I keep getting more and more little traumas and dramas to stumble thru! I've been tested enough! Whoever is in charge of the voodoo doll can quit any time now!!!

Well - it's only supposed to reach 112 today, so I won't be wearing many clothes! And I think I'll pass on trying to put earrings on. I'd probably punch a new hole in the ear if I did! I do believe I'll have a little drinkie with lunch! or two!!!

Wishing you sunshine, gentle breezes, no flooding, no fires, no tornadoes, no power outages, no earthquakes, no hurricanes, yada yada yada. Tell Mama Nature you love her and to please be nice to us, everywhere! And if you see anyone playing with voodoo dolls, please shoot them for me! :o)

Summer

2011-06-21T10:00:00.003-07:00

Oh, good, summer is officially here. Now it can start to get warm! As in, they're predicting 110 for Tucson tomorrow. Thank goodness I had my swamp cooler tuned up yesterday, so it keeps the temperature down in the house, which it hadn't been doing.

I'm guessing the folks in the Colorado mountains don't believe summer has arrived. 5 more inches of snow probably has them confused!

I'll stick to the sun - remember, it's a dry heat! :o))

Yeah, I'll stick to the sun, even if it means I have to have more skin cancers dealt with - yesterday I had one cancer sliced off my leg that required four stitches, and about 30 pre-cancers frozen with liquid nitrogen. Ah, the joys of being a sun worshiper in my youth!!!

Interesting though, the wonderful chemo that I received for several months slowed down the growth of all my skin cancers - the doc told me that might happen. Like hair and fingernails and such, skin cancers are fast growing cells, so they were incidental victims of the chemo too. Not all bad!!

But there is some good news too - some friends who had to evacuate their lovely new home last week down near Sierra Vista because of the Monument Fire have learned the house hasn't been damaged, they have power, and they might be able to go home today or tomorrow. The fire came as close as a mile on two sides of their place before it was stalled. Guess that means their views will be a little black for the time being, but that's minor when their home is OK!!!!!

2011-06-19T17:25:00.010-07:00

Opposable thumbs are definitely one of the big steps in evolution. We're incredibly lucky to have them. And it's really challenging to try to do without! This damned Trigger Thumb that is driving me crazy at the moment has reminded me how we take for granted that simple motion!

As soon as I try to pick something up, the joint will snap open or closed, usually flipping whatever it is I'm trying to pick up across the room - be it a pill or a jigsaw puzzle piece . . . or a fork full of rice! It's a pain in the ass! I have lost strength in that hand and can no longer open even the simplest jars or caps. Can't turn a screwdriver. I'm trying to learn to cook and brush my hair and my teeth with my left hand - at my age, that's like trying to learn a new language! :o)

The current suggestion is surgery - what I need is more surgery!

So instead, I'll throw in a few more photos I've taken in the last few days!

Clever little devils

2011-06-16T09:59:00.016-07:00

I've had hummingbird feeders for lots of years now - I love the feisty little suckers! I even put feeders out when I was RVing around the country, if I stayed somewhere for more than a couple days.

I learned, when I had my little house in the Tubac Foothills, to like the flat saucer type of feeders best, because I was the only source of the sugary joy juice to be found, and lots of critters wanted it - bees, ants, woodpeckers, finches, oh, and hummingbirds! The saucer type of feeder keeps the sugar water below the level of the little flowers, so most birdies, other than the hummers with their long long tongues, can't reach it. It frustrated the bees, and they learned to leave the feeders alone, thankfully!

The normal feeders, with the jug of juice feeding down by gravity, keep the level of juice right up to the brim of the little flowers, so the bees and anything else can get at it.

Where I'm living now, we don't seem to have a bee problem, and lots of birdies were trying to use my saucer feeder, spilling more than they could drink, so I picked up a regular feeder for the rest of the mooches.

I thought at the time that the drinking holes were smaller than usual, but the hummers didn't seem to have a problem, so I didn't think anything else of it. Until this morning when I went to refill the jug! Of the ten little yellow flowers on the red dish, three of them were missing! I guess the woodpeckers didn't think the drinking holes were adequate, so they yanked the little flowers off the feeder so they could get at the slightly larger holes! Pretty damned ingenious!!

I found one of the little yellow flowers down below the feeder in some of the lantana foliage. The other two are missing - I'm guessing they're in some little birdie's nest somewhere! Playthings for the baby birds! Teaching tools for when they're big enough to get into the hummingbird feeders themselves!

Kind of funny - one of the only things that concerned me when I picked this little mobile home park to move into was that the House Rules state firmly that residents are not allowed to feed the birds - hummingbird feeders are OK, but not seed feeders. I thought I'd have to miss out on the pleasures of bird watching, bird songs and antics. Wrong! There are so many large trees and other plantings that the birds are in absolute control. Feeding them isn't necessary to bring them visiting!

Among the many large trees are a lot of big old saguaro cactus! And I do mean old. The saguaro is a magnificent unique cactus. I think everyone is familiar with the symbol of the Old West . . . they were in every western movie ever made, I suspect. The stories they could tell!

We have about 68 of the old beauties here in this park - by my last casual count. And they've been here a loooong time. Because a ten year old saguaro might be only an inch and a half tall (read that again - ten years old and only an inch and a half tall!!), and they don't start growing arms until they are about 75 years old, and because most of the cactus here in the park have many many arms, we know they've been watching this city grow for decades - many for more than a century! A century!?! Some for 200 years. For some, that's back in cowboy and indian days!! For some, that's back to the very early days of our Republic!

These fascinating giants lead such an interesting life! Obviously it gets off to a slow start! Kind of a round-about way to tell its story - the saguaro is usually about 50 years old before it puts out its first flower - its first opportunity to reproduce. The flowers don't even look real - they are waxy and brilliant white and very popular with lots of critters, bees and birds and just about anything else that can reach the flower!

After the flower is pollinated, it forms a fruit which as it matures, produces upwards of two thousand tiny little black seeds nestled in a bright red fruit!

I was fortunate to take part in a saguaro harvest sponsored by the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum here in Tucson, where we learned to gather and prepare saguaro fruits in the traditional O'odham manner. We were taught to make a harvesting pole made from the ribs of the giant cactus, then knock the fruit from the 15-50 foot tall cactus into a tiny little bucket under the guidance of our Tohono O'odham guides.

Once we were finished collecting the fruit, we were shown how to use the ancient means of splitting the fruit open to reach the bright red interior - a pop-top from a beer can! We scooped the fruit into buckets, then some water was added and we reached in and squooshed it all around to break up the fruit. Almost no one in my particular group wanted to get all that red juice on their arms, so I was the one who had the most fun!

Then the juice is strained - the seeds are set aside to dry, tiny tiny seeds, and they are then ground into flour. The juice is boiled down to make a sweet thick syrup, which is then made into jellies and jams, and even booze.

We were lucky to find a couple fruit that had already started to dry - into a fabulous bright red sweet chewy treat!

Super experience!!!

Anyway, the fruit that aren't harvested, the majority by far, are enjoyed by birds and four-legged critters and they spread the seeds near and far. It's estimated that only 5 or 6 seeds of the 2000 in a fruit survive to become a baby cactus. Of those, almost none make it to maturity. The lucky babies are usually protected by trees and shrubs - called nurse plants. Most young cactus we see are growing right next to another tree, until they outlive their nurses and grow to their magnificent stature.

The point of this little lesson in botany is that once the cactus is an adult, it becomes home to many birds (hence, lots of birds here in the park!). Gila Woodpeckers and Flickers drill holes in the cactus, looking to build the perfect nest. Often they create several before they make 'the' choice. Others take advantage of their work. The cactus builds a hard shell around the cavernous holes the birds make, forming it a safe home for the nest and baby birdies.

It's lovely to walk the streets in late spring, early summer, and hear all the babies in the multitude of nests in the saguaros crying for dinner. They definitely keep their parents busy!

Flag Day

2011-06-14T13:03:00.002-07:00

Fly it, honor it, understand what it stands for!

Lots of news

2011-06-09T14:18:00.006-07:00

I want to start this post with a response to a comment on one of my old articles - the comment was made anonymously a couple months back to a posting from over a year ago, so it's just lucky that I ran across it today while looking for something else. I was asked if I knew where to find a fancy compression sleeve and gauntlet (the fingerless glove). I found the one I bought at BrightLife, and they have a lot of neat designs! Hope my reader checks in and finds this link!

Back to today - as I read and watch more of the terrible destruction from the fires here in Arizona that have consumed more than a million acres already, with no end in sight, I'm reminded of something I did several years ago, when I was still in my little house in the country. We were having another bad year for fires, and I could see flames licking at the top of a ridge line down a few miles south of me. I wasn't threatened by it, other than the level of fear that a raging fire always brings, and I didn't expect trouble from that one. But I thought to myself, self, what would you do if the authorities showed up at your door and said you had to evacuate in 20 minutes?

What I did was pour a healthy Jack Daniels on the rocks, sit down in my easy chair, and plan what I would do with that 20 minutes. It was an interesting and enlightening experience. It took a couple hours and a couple more JDs, and I ended up with a concise list of what was most important to me, and how I would pack it in my car efficiently in my allotted time. I was rather proud of myself. Definitely time to update it.

For me, my photo albums were vital to my existence. With my damaged and non-functioning memory, my albums and my pictures are my only history. They absolutely had to be rescued. (after my doggies, of course!!) Since then, I've put all my photos on my computer, and they are also backed up online with Carbonite, so I would no longer have to take the albums. Had to have my dog's records and meds, and favorite toys and treats. I have a little fire safe, which I'm sure would actually melt into a big splot of plastic if subjected to a major fire, but it has all those important papers that are a pain in the butt to replace, so that had to go. My good jewelry didn't take much space and was easily convertible to cash, should the need arise. Same for guns - I had six at the time, and they had to go too. Partly for safety, so they wouldn't fall into someone else's hands, and partly because they could also be easily turned into cash. I suspect most of us have a 'go-bag' always packed and ready to go - all mine needed was my current meds and a couple changes of clothes - shorts and t-shirts. I had about 400 CDs, many with my favorite Hawaiian music, and in two shoe boxes, they didn't take much space - fit on the floor right behind the front seats! I've since put all the music on the computer, and again, it's backed up on Carbonite, so they wouldn't have to go this time either. My computer at that time didn't have much of value on it - and was 'old fashioned', as in tower, monitor, keyboard, speakers. That wouldn't go. Today, the laptop would surely go. and my iPod! That was pretty much all I needed. Everything else was just stuff. Turned out I had extra space available in that experiment (had a Caddy with a huge trunk), so I threw in a couple coolers with as much as I could get in them from my outdoor freezer, and as much water (and a jug of Jack Daniels) as I had room for. That did it. I had a list, and the order of loading the car, and I could be outta the house in 20 minutes. With all the unbelievable weather, storms and fires, I think it's good to have a plan.

Now, an update on the body - had my first appointment of six with the lymphedema therapists for the one year follow-up. One year? I'm been fighting this nasty arm for a year already? And I hate it as much, or more today, as I did when first diagnosed. But.

The gals were impressed with how well I've taken care of the damned arm - measurements were actually a tiny bit smaller than the last one's they took when I was presented with my official custom made sleeve and glove. I figure as long as I have to suffer with this affliction, I might as well do it right.

The custom sleeve was a horrible fit, as you may recall, and I wore it less than a week, I think, before resorting to the plain old compression sleeves you can buy on the street. I've quit wearing the 'glove' because I couldn't really use my hand for anything - had trouble holding a glass, definitely couldn't hold a pen or sign my name, working in the kitchen with a knife? Not. Instead, I've been wearing a gauntlet, and haven't suffered for that, apparently. So I've now received a new sleeve and gaunlet, and they are hoping to get me a second set thru the Susan B. Komen Association, which helps out when insurance isn't totally useful.

I've developed something called Trigger Thumb - my right hand of course - which is not much fun. The joint locks in the bent, or straight, position, and then snaps open, or bent, of it's own accord. I've become quite good at snapping pills and food across the room. My arthritis doc gave me some goop to rub on it, with no helpful results at all, and recommended trying Naproxen to loosen it up - no luck there either. So today I received a shot of cortisone in the joint to see if that will help. We also did a blood test to see if I was developing rheumatoid arthritis, as the trigger finger sometimes is an indicator, but the results were negative, thank goodness!

Saw my reconstruction surgeon on Monday - three month follow-up. He continues to be very pleased with his handiwork. The little teenage tittie scars are minor at this point. I'm lucky I continue to scar well. That pie-shaped piece in the middle is from the TRAM-flap surgery - it's a hunk of my belly skin, and the bulk is my belly fat.

The wound in my belly is FINALLY almost completely closed up. We have made a date to do the next phase of the surgery - August 2nd. Same as last time, we have to have a set date for the surgery before the insurance company will determine if they will approve it or not!

This next phase will be to put in the skin expander and the implant (empty!). Then as the skin grows over a period of time, fluid (silicone) will be injected into the implant a little bit at a time, until the desired size is achieved. This surgery and the follow-up infusions are all done on an out-patient basis. Basic simple cut and paste and go home.

So - I think we're pretty much up to date. More flowers next time - much more pleasant to look at! :o)

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T06:46:00.013-07:00

A time to remember

A time to give thanks

A time to honor

Those who served

Those who died

A time to remember

Freedom isn't free

Summer has returned!

2011-05-25T15:27:00.011-07:00

Summer has returned?? Well, as with the rest of the world, the weather is one of the major topics here too. We are finally expecting our first triple digit day this weekend, after having a delightful week of mid 70s! In May! In Tucson!

I don't think any of us will ever again be able to talk about "normal" or "usually" when we're talking weather. It's just weird everywhere.

And the poor folks in the Midwest with their tornadoes and floods. . .unbelievably horrible! Thank goodness, Americans are so resilient and giving, since we seem to be the only ones rushing to our own aid!

On a lighter note, I saw my first covey of quail babies this morning - and they must have just recently popped out of their shells, because they were so so tiny - no more than an inch and a half tall, scurrying after their parents as fast as their little legs would carry them! And of course I didn't have my camera with me.

Last couple mornings I've been watering all the flowers in one of my neighbor's yards, while she's out of town. She has a handful of green thumbs and has a lot of gorgeous flowers I've not even seen before!

Plus a lot that I do know, and in wonderful colors!

Armed Forces Day

2011-05-21T14:24:00.003-07:00

Today is dedicated to those who served, and those who died serving, in the Armed Forces.

Sixty-two years ago, in the wake of World War II, then-Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson established the third Saturday in May to honor the armed forces of the Army, Navy, Air Force Marines. It was the same year those branches came together under the auspices of the Department of Defense.

Back then, its purpose was to honor those who served in the two world wars the country had found in the first half of the 20th century.

Today those veterans have essentially disappeared. The last World War I veteran recently died in Australia, and there are increasingly few World War II veterans left today.

But they have been replaced with a new generation of veterans from the conflicts in the Middle East over the past two decades who join veterans of the Korean and the Viet Nam wars.

Summer has arrived in Tucson! updated!!

2011-05-13T12:39:00.020-07:00

Updates and flowers!

Visited with my breast reconstruction surgeon this week, and he continues to be pleased with how well I'm healing. I questioned that some, since I still have an open wound on my belly, although it is showing noticeable progress daily now.

My doc talked to me about how long it takes for nerves and the tiny blood vessels to regenerate. As in about 1 mm a day - that's one millimeter, about 0.03937007874 inches (four hundredths of an inch!!!). That's tiny! And they were cut at the top of my chest area, and have to grow down to the injury on my tummy. That's a bloody long way to go at 4/100s of an inch a day! No wonder it's taking so long to heal.

I'm accustomed now to much of the feeling/non-feeling of nerve regeneration. I experienced it when I went thru the radical mastectomy, particularly in my side and right arm after the removal of my axillary pad (the lymph nodes). The tingling - the numbness - the sharp shocking zaps of electricity sometimes. With this recent surgery, the entire area under my breasts (well, under the new teenage boob and the saggy old breast) was totally numb, and the area under the slash across my belly was also dead to all feeling. Much of the feeling has returned to my upper tummy area - though there is still considerable tingling. But I still have no feeling on my lower tummy - My hand feels my belly, but my belly doesn't feel my hand! Now I understand why!

Then, of course, there's muscle control. Or lack thereof. I have no idea if I will ever again be able to 'hold my tummy in' - it's sure pretending there are no muscles at all there as we speak! When I had my hip done, the muscles healed up in no time at all. These tummy muscles think they have the easy life now, no more stress!

Beyond all that, I'm feeling pretty good. I think my hair might actually have started growing a little bit. Not that anyone else would notice. I haven't trimmed a single hair since I let it start growing back in June (almost 11 months!!)!

It's way thinner than before, still very fine and limp, and either it's finally responding to my pulling on it constantly, or it's starting to grow!!

The good old 'they' originally believed that as soon as chemo was over, the hair and nails would start to grow again. Seems that the Herceptin treatments also have the same effect, of stopping all growth on fast growing stuff like hair and nails. My nails are still a mess, but I can see that the quicks are looking healthy, a good sign for the future! (Both the links to nails make for interesting reading, at least for me!)

I have a long way to go to have anything resembling stamina, but I'm handling regular chores with no problems, have a wonderful appetite (nothing ever bothers my appetite) and my Misha and I walk three times a day. I don't see my doc for another month this time, at which point I assume he'll tell me what's next. He did say it'll be a few months before we carve on me again, giving my body a chance to recuperate.

The walks with Misha are when I take pictures of the local flowers. Most of the cactus blossoms are gone now, but there is still a lot of color out there.

We have a tree here called a palo verde - green tree. Now that seems like silly name for a tree, but as you'll notice in this picture, the trunk of the tree is definitely green - almost lime green! And in the spring, the entire tree is covered with tiny yellow flowers - it's spectacular!

I love my friends - I've received an 'accuracy correct' email about my favorite green tree:

"in the interest of accuracy...

Palo Verde translated means Green Stick or Club. Named because the branches and trunk, on all three species of P.V. that we have here, remain green for the bulk of their lives. The green is chlorophyll and allows the tree to photosynthesize even when completely defoliated. Only in its later years, do the branches and trunk tend toward brown.

So, it's not such a dumb name, at all. :-)"

My hibiscus sure seem to like the weather here!

And just a few more for the fun of it!

May Day is Lei Day

2011-05-01T09:00:00.003-07:00

Yes, I still miss Hawaii!

On Target!

2011-04-29T16:08:00.002-07:00

I don't think I mentioned earlier that when I went thru that delightful TRAM-flap surgery 8 weeks ago, I felt my belly button was in the wrong spot!

When the doc visited while I was still in the hospital, I asked why there was a little round wound near my waistline (assuming I had a waistline - I was so swollen from the surgery, it was hard to tell!) He said they had to reattach my belly button when they rearranged my tummy. OK.

As I went thru the very extended healing process, I kept looking at the new belly button and it just wasn't in the right place! When I would absent-mindedly reach to scratch the thing, I always put my finger about an inch and a half lower than the 'new one'. I even went back thru some old pictures to see if I was nuts. I wasn't - at least no more than usual!

Mentioned it to Honolulu pal Suzie, and she suggested getting a copy of the Target logo, and presenting it to my doctor. I figured, since I've already damaged my relationship with him by correcting him on our planned procedure in front of his team, I couldn't make it any worse.

So I took a 'target' with me when I saw him earlier this week. Put it on my sign-in form that he receives when he enters the room, so he'd be sure to see it. He, of course, asked about it. So I stuck my foot squarely in my mouth and suggested he use it next time he did a TRAM-flap so he'd be able to put the belly button in the right spot.

Well. It appears I was wrong. Again. Sort of. When he reattached the umbilicus to my tummy skin, he put it where it 'should' be - rather than putting it down at it's elderly gravity sponsored location. Oh. Said, since I'm 'svelte' now, it should be where it belongs - with a smile on his face!

Army Field Band

2011-04-29T15:50:00.002-07:00

A few nights ago, my lovely neighbor Cathy had an extra ticket for a concert by the United States Army Field Band, "The Musical Ambassadors of the Army". WOW doesn't even begin to describe the show!

It was held at St. Augustine Cathedral in Tucson, which has just been through a restoration and is magnificent!

The band is professional, proficient and over-flowing with talent! The soloists were divine - a saxophone solo performing Dorsey, and then a trombone solo! Wonderful! The singers were terrific, especially the soprano who received a standing ovation!

The music ranged from good ol' brass band specials from John Philip Sousa to Shenandoah to Bernstein and more.

It was worth every moment, and it was FREE! I highly recommend taking in their concert if it's in your area - a rousing and cheerful evening!

2011-04-24T13:32:00.015-07:00

Gorgeous spring day here this Easter - with mid 90s due by mid-week. I remember when we've had snow on Easter in the not so distant past! Summer looks like it'll be early, long and hot!

I'm actually feeling relatively human, finally. Sleeping normal hours, no naps (unless I want to!), getting my energy and strength back a bit at a time, and the open sore on my belly is finally starting to heal. It's been a LONG seven weeks since the start of the reconstruction and I find it hard to believe it's the end of April already! Where is this year going?

The flowers here are still spectacular, so in honor of Easter, I'll share some more of the high desert color!

The Cereus blossoms are the size of dinner plates!

Roses love the desert!

another note on pills

2011-04-21T14:03:00.003-07:00

I recently ran across an article in Cure Today about taking meds as prescribed. I think it applies to all of us, not just cancer patients and am putting its thoughts down here.

Someone wrote and asked "Is it OK if I skip doses of my oral hormone therapy?"

Their response: "For decades, doctors have known that patients simply don't take their pills the way they are supposed to. However, in cancer treatment - because many of the medicines are given intravenously in a clinical setting - that has not been viewed as a large problem. Oncologists have assumed that cancer patients, unlike those with other diseases, would take their oral medicines willingly, just the way they are instructed, because cancer can be so scary.

For may women with breast cancer, taking pills at home is very much a part of their treatment programs, especially to prevent the cancer from recurring. For many of those women, taking medicine by mouth for five years can be the difference - literally - between life and death.

So imagine how surprised oncologists have been to find out through several studies that many women in fact do not take their breast cancer adjuvant treatment as prescribed. A study recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology further underscores the problem we call "compliance" with taking medicines as prescribed.

The researchers examined medical records from nearly 8,800 women who were prescribed oral medicine to prevent the return of their breast cancer and were followed over four and a half years. They found that about one-third of the women stopped taking their medicine completely before the end of their expected treatment program. Fore the women who continued with their medication, about one-fourth didn't take them as instructed. And it didn't matter whether the drug was tamoxifen or one of the aromatase inhibitors.

The net result? Only about half of the women in this study took their treatment for the complete course (usually five years) or followed their doctor's instructions as to how to take their medicine.

Compliance is a serious issue, especially because many more cancer drugs are now given orally instead of intravenously. And predictions are that many new drugs on the horizon are going to be taken at home by mouth.

We all need to pay attention to the implications of this and other similar studies. We can't assume that a cancer diagnosis is going to make patients more inclined to take their medicine, especially when we consider the costs and side effects of cancer treatment. Careful counseling, monitoring, and follow-up all need to be part of our efforts if we are going to continue to get the benefits that modern cancer treatment has to offer."

written by Len Lichtenfield, MD, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for the American Cancer Society.

Personally, I'm famous for self-diagnosing and self-medicating - but in this one instance, so far, I'm taking my one tiny little Femara pill every single day, as directed. This last year had been a bear, and if that little pill will forestall any more troubles, I can remember to take the little sucker.

I do know of a couple gals who have stopped taking their meds because of side effects, which I do know affect the quality of life hugely. But there are alternatives out there, so hopefully most can find something that works. The alternative leaves a lot to be desired! IMHO.

weather

2011-04-11T15:35:00.009-07:00

Everyone is talking about the weather - and I really shouldn't complain, since almost everyone is getting kicked in the teeth with flooding and hailstones the size of baseballs and tsunamis and more, but it's really odd here! We set record highs last weekend, 96 degrees, and record lows this weekend, 47/36! And today? It's 83! I think Mama Nature isn't just angry, I think she's going thru menopause!

So I'll just put out a few more pictures of the incredible spring flowers!! I didn't think it rained that much this winter, but the cactus surely thought there was enough!!

And then there are more flowers!

Spring has sprung!

Thermometer

2011-04-03T13:40:00.015-07:00

Guess it's time for a new thermometer. I had been bouncing between major chills and hot sweaty periods, but my thermometer insisted my temp was only 95.2. Now I usually have a lower than normal temperature, but even I know that 95.2 is a bit low, especially when I'm freezing and clammy!

Plus, my incision had split open right in the middle of my belly, and was pretty gucky, so last Monday I called my doc to see if I could sneak in for a quick visit for his appraisal of the situation.

Turns out I was right - the belly wound was infected, but not too badly. "Not to worry" - so I picked up a two week prescription of Keflex (500mg 4xday). Cute doc said, if necessary, the scar could be cleaned up at a later date if it gets really ugly.

While there, his terrific nurse offered to show me her scars, and her rebuilt boobs and her tattoos - she had the same thing a little over two years ago. Her belly scar is not pretty - what I can see of mine that is healing OK is already better looking than hers. She had the surgery done in Houston, because no one here in Tucson was doing the TRAM-flap method when she needed it done. It's obvious hers was sutured (as opposed to mine which was just taped shut) because she has major purple scar points from each stitch. But her boobs look terrific, and her tattooed nipples look incredibly real. Hers are dark (Hispanic gal, at least hapa), and she's had kids, so they look 'used' (for want of a better term)...compared to mine that are basically skin color and don't even show unless it's below 30 degrees! I don't think I'll bother with a tat, unless I get a plumeria or a roadrunner or something like that! :o)

Anyway, she told me, several times, I simply have to give myself permission to take it easy - if I'm sleeping 10-11 hours every night, I need to be! And taking a nap everyday is a good thing too. She said it took her at least a year to get her strength back! This belly wound really beats the body up. So I'm going to try - really try - to allow myself not to fret about everything that I need to do around here.

(She says, after stopping at Wal-Mart on the way home to buy a vacuum cleaner and a couple plants and four bags of soil so I can plant my cactus and flowers . . . gotta have my flowers!)

So this last week has been a long one - I'm just plain exhausted all the time. I'm forcing myself to take my sweet Misha out for her walks, and there are many days when that's all I have the strength for. Didn't help that our power was off and on for three days this week, but I haven't even been up for keeping current with my emails - have almost 1100 to deal with now. Today is a month since the surgery, and I can't believe how weak I feel. I guess five surgeries in about a year is too many!

Rest! Go take a nap! OK.

Well maybe later. First a few pictures from around the park - spring has definitely sprung and everything is turning green, and flowering!

Gorgeous time of year! (except for the last couple days when we set records for high temperatures - 95, 96. Too soon, too hot! Thankfully, it's 10 degrees cooler today! Orange blossoms are out and the aroma is magic!

And there are some cute yard deco pieces!

2011-03-22T16:30:00.003-07:00

One more week, one more visit to the handsome doctor! And again, he seemed very pleased with his handiwork! Always good to hear!

I kind of overdid it (surprise!!) the day before - moved some heavy furniture so I could lay down some carpet. (and then took a four hour nap!) But that meant my drain bags were fuller than usual, and bloodier than usual, so I really expected that he'd tell me I needed to keep them for another week. Bless his sweet smile, he pulled them out without an argument!

What a difference that makes in how I feel - freedom! Except for the hospital corset - I get to keep wearing that for about 6 more weeks. That I can live with.

Interesting minor debate while taking the drains out - my doc took out the one on the right, and his nurse (obviously top notch - she's been with him every time I've seen him) pulled the one on the left.

Since this wasn't my first experience with the drain bags, I'm used to the instruction "take a deep breath, and blow it out hard" - and of course that's when they yank out the couple feet of drain tubing - and no matter how I try not to, I still flinch, 'cause it feels so weird to have the thing that feels the size of a garden hose pulled out from my body. My doctor just said "take a deep breath" and as I was drawing in the breath, he yanked the thing out. I didn't feel it. And I was watching! That brought up a discussion and an agreement to try both and get more comments, in hopes of lessening any discomfort for the patient! Good for them - nice to see that they do care!

I get to see the doc again in two weeks, but it looks like about six months before anymore work is done on me. Clothes will again be fun - one young teenage boob up high on my chest, and the other old bag hanging down around my belly button. I'll create a new style!

Speaking of belly buttons - I asked why he had to go in thru my belly button to do ... whatever. Turns out he didn't go thru it. After he carved up my lower belly, doing the TRAM-flap work, they pull the belly skin down to attach over what they had removed. That meant the belly button would be way down around the pubis. That would definitely look odd (as if anyone is going to look at me again). So he removed the belly button and moved it back up to 'where it belonged'!

That created one of those little 'aha' moments - I've been looking at my poor beat up belly button, thinking it was in the wrong place. Put it down to how swollen I still am, yada yada yada. Now I know! He really didn't get it back in the right spot - exactly. I've been looking at it for more years than I want to acknowledge, so I could have told him where to put it, but no one thought to ask me! :o)

And all that certainly explains why everything hurts so damn much. Actually, in truth, I'm doing waaaaaaaaaay better. It's just that everything I do wears me out completely. Pulled some weeds today, after a rain storm blew thru here last night. Figured the weeds would be more cooperative. Wrong - not as much rain as it seemed - the ground itself was still dry and the weeds fought back. And then I took a three hour nap. It's taking so long to get my strength back - so frustrating!

Also, girlfriend Lizzie has returned to Vegas in hopes of getting her busted shoulder looked at by some professionals. Bless her heart, she wanted to stay with me to help me out, but since between us we barely had one whole body, I finally convinced her to go take care of herself! Busted bones can be bad if not treated properly, so we're hoping for the best!

Banner Day

2011-03-15T08:24:00.002-07:00

T'was a banner day for me yesterday! A long and exhausting day, but a good one!

Had two doctor appointments to get to, and I drove myself!

My very good friend, Lizzie, is in town from Vegas to keep an eye on Misha, and take care of me thru this recovery. Unfortunately, the morning after I came home from the hospital, she tripped and fell, and broke her right shoulder. Between us, we've had almost one whole body!

So besides hurting like hell herself, she's felt a tad guilty about not being able to do everything she'd like for me. Like drive my car. Handling a stick-shift Mustang without the use of your right arm is pretty much an impossibility. So when it came time to talk about how to get me to the doctor appointments, we talked about renting a new fangled automatic.

But in my inimitable fashion, I wasn't having any part of it. I knew I could drive. Perhaps it wasn't the wisest move, but . . . So I gave it a try a couple days ago -- I have pretty much full use of my right arm, even with all the carving on my chest wall, so shifting wasn't a problem at all, and using the clutch and brake and gas caused me no additional pain! So I was all set!! I was mobile!!

Shouldn't come as a surprise - I've long known that I need to do things for myself - that's how I get well!! Makes a lot of my friends crazy, but it works for me. I have to DO THINGS MYSELF - makes me stronger, faster! Gives the entire body a boost to realize I can do it!

So! Yesterday morning I received my final Herceptin IV! I'm finished with all that chemical and biological stuff!!! YES!! Since my port had been removed already, I received it thru a regular IV, but that was no big deal. Also received my semi-annual dose of Zometa, my IV osteoporosis drug. And I don't have to go back to the chemo palace for three months!! and then it's just for some blood work and a check-up! I'm done!!!!!!

From there we went to a cute little Mexican place, Rubio's, for some quick fish tacos - yummy stuff - I'll go back there!

And then it was to the plastic surgeon for my first follow-up. He was highly impressed that I've been walking my sweet little doggie, and surprised that I felt up to driving. He was quite pleased with his workmanship, removed one drain and invited me back in a week to get the other two out. He confided that he's had a couple patients tell him they would rather go thru the pain of child birth than do this kind of surgery again! But he promises it'll get easier in another week. or two. or three.

All in all, a great day! Good medical reports all around, a fun lunch, and no problems driving! Of course I took a long nap the minute we arrived home, but that's OK too!

This was a rough one

2011-03-12T10:59:00.007-07:00

Man, oh man, this was a rough one - this surgery recovery has been a lot tougher than I was prepared for!

A week ago Thursday, I went under the knife to begin the long, involved breast reconstruction process after my radical mastectomy in February last year. I really did like my cancer surgeon, but as I think I've mentioned before, aesthetics wasn't her concern. The scar she left me wasn't just a scar, it was a disfiguring monstrosity, IMHO. (and my humble opinion is the only one that matters!!) I was left with a handful of dangly flabby flesh under my arm, and a big indentation in the center of my chest.

So after my usual research and much consideration, I decided to go ahead with some reconstruction. My doctor is adorable, with great eyes and a wonderful smile. But I suspect I started this whole thing on the wrong foot, because I may have embarrassed him in front of his surgical team the day of surgery.

He came in to see me as I was being prepped and explained what we'd be doing, for my sake as well as for his team. Well, he apparently hadn't read my chart that morning, or had forgotten what we'd agreed upon, so I had to correct him as to what 'we would be doing' that day. In my inimitable 'stick foot in mouth' fashion, I mentioned reading my chart, and opened my gown to show him the big dent in my chest and asked if he remembered me now.

You could see the light dawn, and he covered himself beautifully, and went on to say that what he had mentioned previously would be the next step after we did the TRAM-flap surgery to repair the deformity left by the scar, and that we may or may not get to the next step today, depending on how well I stood up to this first step. (I reminded him of the crap under my arm too - an easy fix - just whack it of and stitch it up.) He reminded me that this would be a more painful recovery than most. Oh yes, and he was going to take out the port in my chest where I received my chemo and Herceptin - with only one more Herceptin treatment, taking it out now would save me another trip under anesthetic and the knife to remove it later.

As you may recall from an earlier posting, TRAM-flap surgery is quite involved and includes moving some of my own muscle and body fat from my belly (take it all!! please!!) and placing it up in chest to fill in the big dent and create the start of a replacement boob. I have plenty of fat to share, but apparently it's not in the right location - most of my fat seems to be under the muscle layer instead of on top, which is the stuff that can be moved. So, as he told me when we began all the conversation and study, my fat wouldn't give me enough of a boobie to be worthwhile, that we would have to do an implant as well. OK, one step at a time.

Anyway, now that we were all on the same page, and I knew I'd be getting the surgery I thought I was there for, my doc took out his pen and drew all over me, to mark where he wanted to cut and where he intended to put my fat. The new one is gonna be up there somewhere near where it was when I was a teenager, to match (?) the poor other little thing that's hanging down around my belly button! That, presumably, will be taken care of 'later.

Then I went to sleep. When I woke up, I hurt ALL over. Drugs, give me some drugs, NOW!!

Turns out I was sliced from hip bone to hip bone to recover my 'usable' belly fat. And muscle. Remember when you first tried doing sit-ups after years of no exercise - you thought you'd never stand again, let alone breath or sit up or bend? This was worse. OMG, it was worse. Wasn't just the skin that was sliced hip to hip, it was the muscle (and I obviously had more there than I thought!!), and it hurt to move at all! And, oh yeah, as you can see, I have three drains in me. Plus, he went thru the belly button to do some of the work, so my poor belly is sore and swollen and hurts!!!

But I have the beginnings of a little boob!! And amazingly, there is little to no pain in the area, unless I move wrong and yank on the drain line. And the crap under my arm is GONE, and the port is GONE. I'm feeling almost human! Relatively speaking, of course!

Now, if I could just sit up without wincing...

The next step, Monday, will hopefully see the drains come out, at least two of them. The next surgery, should we decide to go ahead with it, is a couple months down the road. That would be the beginnings of an implant - a skin enhancer to stretch the skin to encompass more growth in a budding boobie. We'll see how I feel about it all later. I might just settle for a breast reduction on the droopy side and let it go at that.

But first? Stand up straight! I've walked with Misha a couple times now, and by the time I get home, I'm starting to fold in the middle from exertion and weakness. I'm thinking my doc didn't tell me how really painful this part was because I embarrassed him in front of his team! Not really - I think he knew I was tough. I just didn't know how tough I'd have to be for this one!

some very promising research!!

2011-02-28T08:28:00.001-07:00

New gene technology ‘can cause breast cancer cells to self-destruct’

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:22 PM on 28th February 2011

New gene technology that can cause breast cancer cells to self-destruct has been pioneered by scientists at Belfast's Queen's University.

Researchers have shown that by using an innovative, miniscule gene transport system they can deliver a gene directly into breast cancer cells, causing them to die.

The transport system called a Designer Biomimetic Vector (DBV) packaged a gene into a nanoparticle 400 times smaller than the width of a human hair, allowing it to be delivered straight into breast cancer cells in the laboratory.

Progress: Researchers have shown that by using an innovative, miniscule gene transport system they can deliver a gene directly into breast cancer cells, causing them to die

Dr Helen McCarthy from Queen's School of Pharmacy revealed details of the work, carried out with the help of funding from the Breast Cancer Campaign, in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics.

'A major stumbling block to using gene therapy in the past has been the lack of an effective delivery system,' Dr McCarthy said.

'Combining the Designer Biomimetic Vector with the iNOS gene has proved successful in killing breast cancer cells in the laboratory.

'In the long term, I see this being used to treat people with metastatic breast cancer that has spread to the bones, ideally administered before radiotherapy and chemotherapy.'

The iNOS gene forces breast cancer cells to produce poisonous nitric oxide, either killing the cells outright or making them more vulnerable to being destroyed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

As this approach leaves normal healthy breast cells unaffected, the experts said it would overcome many of the toxic side effects of current treatments.

The university said further investigation is needed on the system, but said it could be trialled in patients in as little as five years.

Dr McCarthy's next step is to turn the nanoparticles into a dried powder that could be easily transported and reconstituted before being given to patients.

Research Information Senior Manager of the Breast Cancer Campaign Dr Lisa Wilde said: 'Gene therapy could potentially be an exciting avenue for treating breast cancer.

'Although at an early stage, Dr McCarthy's laboratory research shows that this system for delivering toxic genes to tumour cells holds great promise and we look forward to seeing how it is translated into patients.'

I missed it!

2011-02-24T09:23:00.003-07:00

I missed a very important holiday - February 22nd was National Margarita Day!

If you missed it too, please know that you are required to have three Margaritas immediately in order to properly pay homage to the special day!

Enjoy! (and get a designated driver!)

One Year

2011-02-17T08:44:00.002-07:00

Today is a big day for me - one year since my mastectomy. What a year!

Major surgery and home the same day. Long recovery with infections in my 'broth' and skin areas along the scar that died and had to be excised. Chemo, which went amazingly well. The development of lymphedema, which made me wonder, and still does, if it was all worth while. Two more sessions of Herceptin and then all that is finished.

And now, I've received word that the insurance company has approved my doctor's request to begin breast reconstruction. With the understanding that if we do it all, it might take up to another year to complete, because my scar is so disfiguring that it must first be repaired before any reconstruction can even begin. Gonna be another long year.

But I have the most amazing friends and supporters, and I've already received several positive 'you go girl' kind of comments that will keep me headed in the right direction!

Plus, even though the sale of my RV fell out, so I have to start all that routine again, I'm in the process of moving into a sweet little mobile home just down the road. A new phase of my life, with a new body! What more could I ask??

World Cancer Day

2011-02-04T10:02:00.002-07:00

On the 4th of February, 2011 the UICC and its partner organizations will run campaigns all over the world to raise awareness for a disease that causes millions of deaths every year, many of which could have been prevented.

More than ever before there is a need for a concerted and coordinated fight against cancer, and the World Cancer Day organization believes that World Cancer Day can play its part by providing an even bigger platform for your cancer messages.

Their hopes are set high: 2011 promises to be an important year with the UN Summit on Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) taking place in September.

If you would like to support their efforts, you will find all the information you need on their website: get informed, learn how to eliminate your own personal risk factors, sign their declaration and help spread the word. It might save a life.

another voice in the mix

2011-01-27T08:59:00.001-07:00

Here's a cheery report for someone who's considering breast reconstruction:

About that Breast Implant/Cancer Risk

WSJ's blog on health and the business of health.

By Katherine Hobson

Breast implants may be associated with a rare form of cancer, the FDA said yesterday.

Anaplastic large cell lymphoma, or ALCL, isn’t breast cancer, but very rarely the disease — which is treatable — can show up there. That’s what has happened with a small number of women who have had implants; their cancers have been found “in the fibrous scar capsule” surrounding the implant, but not in the breast tissue itself, the FDA says.

Here’s a bunch of information from the FDA on the topic.

As the WSJ reports, the number of cases reported thus far is very small. The FDA has identified up to 60 cases and verified 37 in women with breast implants since 1997, out of an estimated 5 million to 10 million who have had the devices implanted. Even assuming 60 cases among 5 million women, that’s about one case per 83,333 women.

That’s higher than the usual incidence of ALCL — only about 1 in 500,000 U.S. women each year gets the disease, and just 3 in 100 million develop it in a breast, according to the FDA — but still tiny.

An Allergan spokeswoman tells the WSJ in a statement that “a woman is more likely to be struck by lightning than get this condition.”

We checked out the official government stats on lightning strikes. The odds being struck by lightning during a given year is between 1 in 500,000 and 1 in 750,000, depending on whether you’re counting reported cases only or estimated cases. Over a lifetime, that risk is 1 in 6,250, the National Weather Service says. But those stats include men and women, and men are four times as likely to be struck than women, according to a study.

It’s not clear what the lifetime risk associated with implants — if in fact there is one — actually is. (Here’s the FDA’s review of the scientific evidence.)

It is clear, however, that women with or without breast implants (and of course men) are far better off focusing on the common health problems most likely to affect them. Cardiovascular disease, for example, killed more than 831,000 people in 2006 alone. And breast cancer — a disease that has not been linked to breast implants — likely killed almost 40,000 women last year.

a weed?

2011-01-26T14:52:00.002-07:00

As someone who has enjoyed the sunshine my entire life, to the extreme in too many instances, I've had more than 30 skin cancers, basal cell and squamous cell, sliced off my body. My legs are polka-dotted with the scars. And I've had probably had couple hundred more burned off (frozen with liquid nitrogen). So this article is very exciting. A weed can heal the little suckers!! A weed!!! The petty spurge plant, or Euphorbia peplus, also called 'cancer weed'. It's actually kind of pretty! I have a pretty good green thumb, so growing a weed shouldn't be too tough?? If I can find it! I need some of that sap!!!!!!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12275507