day in the life
Highlighting
the everyday life of a couple living well with a slow-growing
cancer.
Life isn’t
always easy, and there will certainly be sorrows and losses
along the way. But being alive is good. It is very good.
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Sunday, February 5,
2012
Super Bowl Sunday
We’ve hosted our share of Super Bowl parties through the years,
most of them involving teenagers and plenty of finger foods.
There was usually a television playing in the family room, and
one in the living room ... and kids sat in the hot tub or tossed
a football in the backyard or strummed on guitars. Until a Super
Bowl commercial came on. Then they all shushed each other so
they could hear the commercial.
Today,
we hosted a quieter version of a Super Bowl party. Out at
Todd Lake. No television blaring, no unhealthy snacks lined up
on the kitchen counter. Just egg salad on whole
wheat, oatmeal cookies with raisins and hot orange spice tea.
And our guests flocked in by the dozens (or maybe it was the
same dozen that flocked in over and over again).
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And then there was this little guy |
It’s
not that we don’t
like a good Super Bowl game, but with the sun shining and eight feet of snow at the base of
Bachelor, who could resist a day outdoors on snow-shoes?!
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Trek from Mt. Bachelor to Todd Lake = Good work-out |
Side note: Good thing I didn’t
need to use the powder room at Todd Lake.
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Friday, February 3,
2012
Favorite audience
You can spot a nursing student a mile off by the color of their
scrubs. Green, as in go-gettum green.
Yesterday hubby and I spoke to a first year class of nursing
students. Enthusiastic; smart; laughed at all the right places
in our presentation. You can see why nursing students are our
favorite audience.
I
noticed a few students that looked older than college age.
Starting a new career? Pursuing a latent dream? Who knows, but
good for them for choosing less sleep, less time for a real
life, and the discipline to cram a lot of good stuff into their
brains that will hopefully keep patients alive on their watch.
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First year nursing students |
I
work with some pretty exceptional nurses in the cancer center.
And I was thinking about hubby’s
night nurse when he had cancer surgery. She happens to be a
close friend of our daughter’s,
mom to five beautiful children with one more on the way, a
marathon runner, started her nursing career a little later in
life. (Are all nurses over-achievers?)
Over-achievers or not, here’s
one patient’s
wife who is grateful for quality care provided in central Oregon
by America’s
best and brightest ... and now another class of students intent
on joining the ranks.
Comment
Sunday, January
29, 2012
Something in
common
Hubby with the camera:
“Honey,
go stand near that tree.”
(You’d think after all these years I’d start wising up to him.)
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Extra large vanilla ice cream cone |
There’s
a minor scene in the 1972 western, Jeremiah Johnson,
where the main character shoots a buck.
The Utah forest ranger who actually shot the deer (you didn’t
think
Robert Redford had that good an aim, did you?); a
70-year-young cancer survivor;
a couple of guys working their way through a rehab program;
someone who had bilateral knee replacement surgery just last
year.
What do they have in common?
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Eclectic mix of
people with at least one thing in common
(photo courtesy
of Mike Gibson) |
They were all part of our snow-shoeing posse yesterday.
Seeing
how physical activity is good for your physical, mental/
emotional and spiritual health—especially
if it involves snow and tall trees—I
have just three words:
Get moving, people!
Comment
Thursday, January
26, 2012
Some system
Hubby and I make a great team. Take dinner dishes, for example.
He stores leftovers in ceramic containers (perfect for
workday lunches); I load the dishwasher; he puts food back in
the fridge.
Our system works quite well. Or at least I thought it did.
The other day, we both noticed an odor coming from the corner of
the kitchen to the right of the dishwasher. Odd, because the
only food in that area is a drawer full of pasta,
beans and rice ... and a lower cabinet with flour, cornmeal and
oats. Nothing that would give off a rotten food smell.
For two or three days we tried to pinpoint the odor. And then I
had a brainflash. Sure enough, one of the ceramic containers
stacked neatly in the cupboard
–
exactly where it belonged
–
had
leftover Chicken Divan in it.
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The guilty party: second container from the
top |
I
won’t
attempt to describe the color. Or the full odor once the lid
came off. And I won’t
point any fingers (but
hubby is the one who puts the food away).
Maybe our system needs a little tweaking.
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Wednesday, January
18, 2012
In such a community
They brought a check by today, these grocery store managers who
hosted a
“round
up”
fundraiser for Sara’s
Project this past October.
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Peggy Lukens, Breast Cancer
Nurse Navigator; Lizzi Katz, my office
roomie and Breast Health
Educator; Allison McCormick,
Cancer Center Dir; and Lisa
Dobey, St. Charles Foundation Dir,
accept a check from Ray’s
Food Place managers. |
Eight-thousand-something in loose change, for if you round up to
the nearest dollar, it’s
almost the same as giving your loose change.
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No small
change |
Love that the funds will stay within the community to
support and assist local women dealing with breast cancer. We should
all be so lucky to live in such a community.
Comment
Thursday, January
12, 2012
Coming home
Our mid-day appointment with the esteemed Dr. Tomasz Beer at
OHSU didn’t
go exactly as we had hoped, but it also didn’t catch us by
surprise.
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Floor seven for hubby’s
appointment |
With hubby’s
rising PSA, the discussion centered around the options for the
next level of treatment.
There are a couple different chemotherapies, said the good
doctor. Also a new
drug that runs $4-5K per month. And a
clinical trial, which would mean a monthly trip to Portland.
Not today. Not next week. But sometime in the next months a CT
scan will be ordered and some decisions will be made by those in
the know.
I
don’t
want hubby to go to the next level of treatment; I’m
quite attached to this level. Next levels represent loss
in quality of life.
A
quiet drive over snow-covered mountains to arrive in time for
our monthly DEFEATcancer meeting. Exactly the shot in the arm we
needed for this day.
Performing during the dinner hour were nearly a dozen beautiful Liberian and Peruvian children.
Their enthusiasm = catchy.
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Members
of the Matsiko World Orphan’s Choir |
Our guest speaker was Brad Ludden, Nike athlete and founder of
First
Descents, a program that
provides adventure therapy for young adults with cancer.
Quite inspiring what Brad has done with his young life so far.
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Me with the 2008 hottest bachelor in
America |
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Not your
average kayaker |
An uplifting evening with a group of 80+ people from our cancer
community. Contagiously joyful Liberian and Peruvian children. Hottest
bachelor in America. Peace and knowing that all will be well. It
just doesn’t
get much better than this.
Side note: For those of you that are interested in
such trivia, Brad was named Hottest Bachelor in America by
Cosmopolitan in 2008. Almost as hot as hubby!
Comment
Tuesday, January
10, 2011
Headed for OHSU
Nine o’clock.
He said nine o’clock
and I believed him because he’s
never lied to me in all these years of marriage (well, maybe
except when I was pregnant and asked him if I looked fat).
So at 7:30am, he’s
putting away the puzzle, packing up his camera, taking things
out to the car. What happened to 9:00?
It’s
the
end of a long, lovely weekend on Oregon’s
rugged coast. Glorious sunshine especially ordered for a walk
along the waves; meeting an old friend in Nye Beach;
intermittent rain and hunkering indoors with our books and a pot
of homemade soup; blackened salmon at Mo’s
one evening.
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Pacific view from our deck - waves catching the sun |
As we speak, our car is headed in the general direction of
Portland for Gary’s
annual check-in with Dr. Beer at Oregon Health & Science
University.
The thing we keep forgetting about big cities (coming from our
small town of Bend where heavy traffic is five cars in a
round-about with the tourists circling) is to factor in traffic.
You know where I’m
going with this, don’t
you?
We leave the coast almost an hour ahead of schedule. Just in
time to hit Portland morning traffic. Good planning, hon!
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We weren’t
the only smart ones catching some rays this weekend |
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Friday, January 06,
2012
Packing for the coast
Camera, hiking boots, warm outwear.
Packing for the coast on this frosty
white morning with the thermometer
reading twenty-six degrees but no snow (what a waste of cold
if there’s no snow).
On our way to Portland for hubby’s annual check-in with the
acclaimed Dr. Tomasz Beer at Oregon Health & Science University.
But first, a slight detour to the Pacific Ocean for the weekend.
Books, knitting project, writing project (remember the
“50,000-word novel in one month” undertaking last September? Met
that goal, and have added thousands of words since; almost
finished with the first draft, will polish it up and look for a
literary agent. I know ... crazy, huh?).
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Packing for the coast |
Recipes, food stuff, 1000-piece puzzle. Hubby will supervise the
puzzle construction, which leaves the recipes and food stuff for
me. Good thing I love to cook. Simple, hearty offerings this
weekend – homemade soups and breads, seafood at Mo’s one
evening.
On our way soon!
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Sunday, January 01,
2012
Welcoming
the New Year
Some of you may find this hard to believe—especially our
children who ask when they call after 8:30pm: “Are you
awake?”—but hubby and I stayed up to welcome in the New Year.
In an effort to convince ourselves that we’re still young and
hip, we managed to stay awake until midnight last night. One of
us—the more fun and adventurous one—wanted to bring in the New
Year on Dutchman Flat. In snow-shoes.
The other of us—known for his safe and common-sense ways—thought
we should stay home since there would surely be inebriated
drivers on the road.
Safe
trumped adventurous.
But fun was still had. A Barnes & Noble date; a late dinner, our
fireplace burning cheerily; beating hubby at Rummy; and bundled up outdoors at the stroke of midnight.
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iPad indicating one minute after midnight |
Welcome, Twenty-Twelve!
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Saturday, December
31, 2011
Snow in town
According to my
well-kept journal, first snow in town last year was October 26.
This year, we may have gotten a dusting of powder that lasted
half a day sometime in October. But nothing since.
Until last night,
which means we woke up to beautiful white. A very thin layer of
white, but nonetheless beautiful.
Which calls for a
celebration. The best I could do at short notice was banana
muffins for breakfast (needed to do something with the
over-ripe bananas). I may even throw in some scrambled eggs if
hubby behaves himself.
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Banana muffins for breakfast |
So on this New
Year’s Eve day, snow. Not enough to write home about, but
still …
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Sunday, December
25, 2011
Filling Christmas weekend
The only nice thing about not getting to spend Christmas
with kids and grandkidlets is you have to be organized early to
get gifts out the door in time. Which means the last two weeks
have been blessedly peaceful.
Knowing we’d be alone this long holiday weekend, we
intentionally filled our days with things that matter to us.
Like unique opportunities for giving. And cooking, especially
new recipes. And getting outdoors, that matters to us.
So
we shopped for a gift for Shepherd’s House and volunteered to
help at their Christmas dinner (except there was already enough
help and we ended up as guests).
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Gift-giving at Shepherd’s House |
And we tried a new outdoor thing yesterday: Nordic skiing. Snow-shoeing, yes. Downhill
skiing, yes. But not until yesterday had we ever
been on cross country skis.
Fun. Cold. Beautiful. A few tumbles. (I know what you’re
thinking ... how can you fall on flat ground?)
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Gary ... wait up! |
Son and DIL are with her family this holiday weekend, and we were briefly in New Jersey with
daughter, SIL and fam as they opened
gifts this morning. Thanks, Skype.
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In
New Jersey earlier this morning |
Of the five weekend services at our church, we chose this
morning’s.
Lovely candlelit service.
As I write this, a turkey is roasting, butternut squash kugel
and roasted Brussels sprouts are just out of the oven, potatoes
are ready to be mashed and apricot bars (new recipe) are waiting
to be baked.
The tree is lit and Christmas music is playing.
Oh,
rejoice rejoice
Heaven sings tonight
Rejoice, the Lord is come
Hopefully next year at this time we’ll
be with family. But for now, hearts full of gratitude and joy.
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Wednesday, December
21, 2011
Socks
Who would have thought that socks
could create such a buzz?
A couple of my lovely, hard-working, brilliant co-workers had a
brainstorm shortly after Thanksgiving. Why not
collect socks to give as a small holiday gift for our patients?
Over the past few weeks, staff members have
been bringing socks to work. Dozens of socks. Fuzzy socks, thick
socks, socks that look like high-top tennis shoes.
Each one was
wrapped and labeled male or female
(you didn’t know socks had gender, did you?) and stuffed
into a couple of extra large Christmas stockings.
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A few
of my lovely, hard-working, brilliant cancer center
co-workers |
Sock distribution began this
week. Our social worker reports that some of our patients
got
teary-eyed. Over a gift of socks.
Some asked if they could
put the package under their tree to open on Christmas Day. Of
course you can.
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Socks
and more socks |
So ... what does a pair of socks cost? Not enough to break the
bank. And yet, prepared with thoughtfulness
and love during this season of giving = beyond valuable.
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Friday, December
16, 2011
Coolest date night ever
We tossed our equipment into the back of our small SUV hoping
for some snow-shoeing by moonlight. Turns out, we couldn’t find
the moon, but the stars were out by the gazillions.
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Twilight photo session |
Hubby froze his fingers fiddling with the camera settings for
twilight shooting. And then it was my turn with the camera. I
ran ahead to snap this shot of hubby coming toward me with his
headlamp (not that you can
actually run in snow-shoes).
I’m
thinking my
high school photography teacher would be proud.
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Hubby headed my way |
Have to say, it was one of the coolest date nights ever.
(Actually, that should be coldest. One of the coldest
date nights ever.)
Side note:
Coming home, hubby gets online and finds the perfect solution to frozen hands and winter
photography.
Multi
Shooting Slip Resistant Camera Gloves.
Seriously.
I don’t
make this stuff up.
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Thursday, December
15, 2011
Dressed in pink
I squatted down to his level and snapped several photos in quick
succession as he toddled my way
–
reaching out his hand to touch my camera,
his brown eyes so serious, a pacifier in his mouth.
Heart-melter, this one.
He and his family were campers at
Soaring Spirits. I remember
that his older sister learned to knit while his dad and big
brother went fishing. His mom, having beaten breast cancer, was
happy to be in the great outdoors with her family.
That was a couple summers ago.
Today, there is a pine tree in the front yard of their home
that friends and neighbors have dressed in twinkly lights and pink
ribbons. The young mom has recurring Stage 4 breast cancer. Hate
that.
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Neighborly gesture of love |
Hubby and I hung a note on the pinkly-decorated tree today.
Friends set up funds in the Vargas Family
name to help defray medical costs
– one at Sterling Bank on Third; one at Selco Credit Union on
Greenwood.
Many, many thoughts and
prayers are going out on behalf of this family.
Love that the community has reached out to them in this
way.
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Sunday, December
11, 2011
Butternut squash day
Hubby has been wrestling with vertigo for the past few days, so
we hunkered near our fireplace and the Christmas tree lights
this cold, wintry weekend.
Which put me in the mood for cooking.
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The aroma alone is worth the effort |
My friend and co-worker, Lizzi, brought a delicious
Butternut Squash
Kugel to a potluck lunch at work: “I tried to think
of something you could eat with your braces,” she’d said.
Turns out, I’m not the only one who asked for the recipe.
Traditionally served on the Jewish Sabbath, kugel is a baked
pudding that’s generally considered a side dish (although with
its hint of sweetness and holiday spiciness, this version would
be equally delicious as dessert).
Thursday, December
8, 2011
Making
connections
I love my job. I get a call this week from a woman who makes
quilts and sells them at holiday bazaars. She has two left this year
and wants to donate a pink one to a young girl dealing with
cancer.
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(Not the actual quilt) |
I call her back to say that most central Oregon pediatric
patients travel to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital at the
research university in Portland, but I could place a couple of
phone calls and find a recipient family.
And then 3-year-old Emily* walks into our cancer center (well,
actually she was pushed in a stroller). Childhood leukemia. Just
finished chemo and heading to Doernbecher for six weeks of
radiation. Hate that.
Emily’s mom heard about our Harvest of HOPE food assistance
program. We loaded her up with groceries, gave her gas cards to
help with travel expenses ... and when she gets back from
Portland, there will be a lovely pink quilt waiting for Emily.
Connecting people to the things that will help make the cancer
journey a little easier
–
this is my job, and
they actually pay me to do it.
*Name
changed
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Friday, December 2,
2011
Painted hills
When we were kids, my parents would pile us in the back seat of
the family Ford – seat belts not required – for Sunday afternoon
drives.
I grew to dislike these required close-to-home road trips. I
couldn’t see much from the back seat sandwiched between two
brothers.
“He’s touching me!”
“She’s looking at me!”
This was usually
followed by threats from the front seat: “If I have to stop this
car …” (we never knew what would happen if Dad ever
actually stopped the car).
Fast forward to the present: I love back country roads, part of
my parents’ legacy to me. Which brings us to today’s date: A
drive through Prineville out toward the Painted Hills of eastern
Oregon.
Beautiful water colors in the desert.
Up close, just a pile of rocks that look suspiciously like
dried-up clay.
But from a distance, broad artist strokes across an uneven
landscape.
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The green
is not grass or moss, but actually the color of the
rocks |
I have nothing against dinner-and-a-movie dates. Yawn.
But a creative road trip date with incredible landscape and
lunch al fresco? Out of the ballpark.
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