reflection

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Flat Stanley in Ory-gun

Flat Stanley arrived in town from New Jersey yesterday and, being the good hosts that we are, we immediately wore him out with hiking and rock-climbing.

Today was a slower day of sight-seeing – we took him to downtown Bend and Mirror Pond (see photo below with Middle and South Sister looming in the distance), and we showed him the historic Pine Tavern, established in 1936 with its 250-year-old Ponderosa Pine growing through the restaurant roof. Flat Stanley was pretty amazed!

When Flat Stanley first arrived, he wasn’t properly attired for the rugged Pacific Northwest—being a city boy from Jersey—so we purchased hiking boots, a hat and vest, and binoculars for him.   I think he’s having such a good time that he won’t want to go home, but on Friday we’ll board a plane together and I will hand-deliver him to our 8-year-old granddaughter, Lilly, who will then take him to school and share his Oregon adventures with her classmates, complete with photos and maps.   And then I’m sure that Lilly’s teacher, Miss Foley, and the entire second grade class of Ben Franklin Elementary in New Jersey will immediately pack their bags for a trip to Ory-gun!    Comment

Monday, April 20, 2009

Baby steps

We’re driving home over the Cascades on a glorious spring day with the news that Gary’s PSA count took a downward turn. Our next appointment at the Oregon Urology Institute is in four months, so … a respite of not having to think about what ifs.

We did some brainstorming on the road, and completed a couple of homework assignments, including drafting a list of accomplishments requested by our CPA for the filing of our non-profit annual report to the IRS. The non-profit was established at the end of 2008 so our list is short, but it was encouraging to write it out: 

• Created Cancer Adventures Web site

• Developed a tag-team presentation; conducted speaking engagements at cancer centers and hospitals across Oregon and into Idaho

• Published the book, Cancer Adventures: Turning loss into triumph

• Developed a “Call to Action” hand-out for our presentation audience

• Board of Directors in place

• Began researching for grants while waiting for IRS approval

• Began scheduling 2009 speaking engagements

We left Tacoma this morning after a weekend with my mom and older brother—catching some rays in the beautiful Tacoma/Seattle area, and helping Mom pack in anticipation of moving to Florida. Photo at left was taken while on a leisurely stroll along the Puget Sound at Point Defiance followed by lunch at Anthony’s overlooking a snow-covered Mount Rainier. It was a really good weekend of being

with family and accomplishing things that needed to get done (how difficult must it be to have to part with the things that make up the memories of your life?).

So, downward PSA counts (a special thank-you to all who have been praying), time with family, lists of accomplishments. We are taking baby steps, and even though I want to take a giant step and quit my day job tomorrow so we can put full-time effort into our mission and see our family as often as possible, I will content myself with baby steps ... because these baby steps are headed in the right direction.

Comment

Friday, April 17, 2009

Four-day weekend

It’s 7:30am and I’m still in my pajamas - yahoo! (Normally would be sitting at my desk in Cancer Services at St. Charles.) I have the day off since I’ve already put in 40 hours this week. Tuesday evening was our monthly DEFEAT Cancer meeting with a terrific group of thriving cancer survivors, enjoying a nutritious soup and salad bar and an inspirational guest speaker.

Wednesday evening was the Wendy’s Wish committee meeting. This dedicated team led by Al Huntley has reached its endowed amount and now is beginning to see the fruits of their labors. I was pleased to give the monthly report that Cancer Services has assisted 11 patients representing 9 different types of cancer with non-medical living expenses ... all because of their hard work and big-hearted efforts.

And then last night Gary and I hung out at the Foot Zone in downtown Bend, helping people with online registration for the upcoming Heaven Can Wait 5K Walk/Run for breast cancer. Foot Zone hosted the evening event in celebration of the 10^th anniversary of HCW, now Bend’s largest athletic event with 3,400 participants in 2008 (between 350 and 400 of them cancer survivors).

We’re leaving early tomorrow morning for Tacoma, WA, to visit with my mom and older brother. On Monday, we’ll swing by Springfield, OR, for Gary’s appointment with the good Dr. E where we’ll learn if the ketoconazole has brought Gary's PSA count down.

I don’t like living from PSA count to PSA count because the numbers dictate the direction our journey will take. But when you really think about it, it’s God who dictates our journey’s direction and we firmly suspect it will be an exciting, adventurous one.

Meanwhile, today I’ll do some follow-up calls to the East Coast – we’ll be there for a week at the end of June and have connected with a handful of cancer centers and organizations in the area.  I’ll begin writing a new grant that Gary recently found online (he’s always finding extra work for me to do … sigh). And I’ll get some laundry and packing done, may even try a new granola bar recipe.

Diligently pursuing grant-writing

Sometime today I’ll need to walk over for a few groceries and a Chai tea. (A girl can only sit at her computer for so long before turning a glowing shade of blue, but nothing that a Chai tea can’t fix.)

Here’s to 4-day weekends. May there be many, many more!

Comment

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Soaring on wings

Last month I wrote a blog about Gary being videotaped for a sermon series entitled “Live Like You Were Dying.” Gary was pretty nervous about seeing himself on the big screen at this weekend’s Easter services, but he didn’t need to be.

The piece was done nicely and included two other people – a woman whose mother, sister and close friend all recently died; and a young woman who tried to take her own life. It ended with these words from Gary: “Cancer has caused me to re-prioritize my life and to try and figure out what God wants me to do with the time I have left.”

So, with the time we have left together, we are on a cancer mission – to share our proactive survivorship message and to encourage others that are facing life’s challenges to rise above them and look for ways to give back within their communities.

A few weeks ago, we were approved to submit a Letter of Inquiry to a foundation based in Florida – one of those organizations where you can’t apply for a grant without an invitation. (Our connection was the wife of one of our Board members who went to bat on our behalf.)

I received a call earlier this week from the president of the foundation – “You’ve been selected … we’re mailing a check.” For $20,000. I think she was quite impressed with my calm, professional response: “Oh my goodness! Are you serious?! That’s awesome! Woo-hoo!” I exclaimed in high decibels.

And so now we have a new challenge, and one that we relish: that of traveling to a number of communities across the country with our message (the easy, fun piece) balanced with coming back to the work piled up on our "day job" desks (the challenging piece).

We recognize that all the open doors and provision and connections are God's way of choreographing our dance. We also recognize that it will take more divine intervention for us to move forward and handle the stress that comes from having to maintain our everyday jobs and soar on wings as eagles toward the vision.   And we do intend to soar.

Comment

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Sunbathing Central Oregon style

While our son wrote that they were celebrating the advent of spring in Phoenix

with a Diamondbacks opener ... and our daughter posted photos of her family vacationing on North Carolina's Outer Banks in 70-degree temperatures, Gary and I strapped on our snowshoes to do some sunbathing of our own - Central Oregon style.   Arizona and the Atlantic shore ain't got nothing on Central Oregon!

Comment

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Real men wear pink

Four cowboys and a cowgirl stopped by with a sizeable check from their “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” campaign at the Columbia Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals last fall. (“Tough Enough to Wear Pink” is the western industry’s effort to raise money in support of breast cancer research, awareness, education and screenings.)

I get frequent calls from the public: “Our business (church group, golf club, builder’s association) raised this money for cancer and we’re not sure what to do with it.” I always suggest a photo op—“Would you like to come by the Cancer Treatment Center and meet Peggy Carey, Director of Cancer Programs?"—because it’s so much fun to put a face to the names of these wonderful people.

My boss, Peggy, wearing red in photo at left, is a horse woman herself. The pink western shirt was signed by the cowboys and cowgirls at the 2007 circuit finals and has been proudly displayed in the Cancer Treatment Center ever since. It’s actually a great conversation piece – folks can never figure out why there’s a pink shirt hanging on an easel covered with signatures!   Cute, young, single Janette from our Marketing Dept was on hand to flirt with the 6’4”, 200-lb. steer wrestler. “Wow, is that where you jump off your horse and rope the steer’s legs?” “Does it hurt the cow?” “Do you lift weights?” asked our own cute, young, single Janette. The big cowboy loved the questions and politely explained the difference between calf roping and steer wrestling. (Janette emailed me later: “I am totally going to the rodeo this summer.”)

I’ve often wondered if Central Oregon has more than your average share of big-hearted people. I tend to think the answer is yes. And we met five of them this past week, bearing gifts and wearing cowboy hats.

Comment

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Fun in the CTC There is no end to the laughter in the Cancer Treatment Center. Yesterday one of the patients came in with her cockapoo. Our head nurse, Cheryl, told the patient about her cockapoo. Seems that Cheryl had been wanting a small lap dog and found a cockapoo puppy in the paper. The owners were a little distance from Bend, over the mountains and past Diamond Lake.   They arranged to meet at a roadside area and Cheryl brought the required

$400 in cash. She brought her new puppy to work where co-workers told her they didn’t think it looked much like a cockapoo. The puppy had huge paws that it grew into, and more and more people told her they didn’t think it was a cockapoo. Cheryl tried calling the original owners but their phone was no longer in service. 

Nevertheless, Cheryl’s family fell in love with the lap dog that kept growing and now weighs more than 100 lbs. They suspect it’s a cross between a Rottweiler and a shepherd.   When our new patient first showed up with her cockapoo, Julie, one of the schedulers, called Cheryl from the front desk: “Hey Cheryl, do you want to see what a cockapoo really looks like?!”

It was this same Julie who handed me a note yesterday with a man’s name and phone number. “This guy called and wants you to call him back.” I took the paper and didn’t recognize the name. “Did he say what he wanted?” “Nope, just that he wanted you to call him as soon as possible.”

I dialed the number and got a recording for the High Desert Museum. We are in the middle of collecting sponsorships for an upcoming 5K walk/run for breast cancer; perhaps they wanted to donate. The recording instructed me to key in the first three letters of the person’s name. I punched in the letters for “Bob” but the only Bob listed was someone with a different last name.

There was the option to leave a message, which I didn’t want to do, so I punched a few more buttons until I got a live person. “Yes, this is Marlys Johnson calling from St. Charles Cancer Treatment Center and I have a message to return a Mr. Bob Katt’s phone call. Is there someone there by that name?”

The guy paused for a second before he said, “No … but have you stopped to think what today is?” April Fools Day. And then I got it – Mr. Bobcat at the High Desert Museum wanted me to return his call! I threw my head back and laughed … and this guy laughed right along with me.

It doesn’t take long for things to get around the CTC. All day today people asked me, “Hey, did Mr. Bob Katt return your call today?”

Very funny.

Comment

March 2009

Live like you were dying

Day jobs

Connected

CAN Cancer

The power of one

February 2009

It's official

Fun with the medical professionals

To my valentine

Moments in Jersey

January 2009

Leaving on a jet plane

Scans ordered

Welcome to life

Insane residents

Back in high school

Engaged crowd

Out of the mouths of babes

Divine intervention

December 2008

Christmas via webcam

A merry little Christmas

Somewhere on purpose

Adventure and romance

Celebrate life

Imagine

Men and menopause

November 2008

My Thanksgiving list

Thanksgiving Eve

Roundabouts

How Starbucks saved my life

Training for Switzerland

Radio interview

Super colon

Thoughts on being invisible

The speed of a turtle

October 2008

Obligation of the cured

Cancer Adventures – the book

Blue and orange town

Hope Couture

First snow

Simple pleasures are the best

128 quilts

September 2008

Whale watching and kite flying

The new and relaxed Gary

The scenic route
Packing the essentials

One step at a time

PSA count celebration

August 2008

Frost in August

Reading list

Soaring Spirits

Checking in

9:30am rock band

Lingering

July 2008

Grand for a reason

Mickey Mouse pancakes

Survivorship is all the rage

Follow your dreams

Birthday weekend

Only in America

Unrelated goose incident

June 2008

Geese

Road trip

Friday night date

Tough day on the job

Best dad

Confession

Light bulb moment

Homesick

Amazing volunteers

May 2008

Countdown

Extended family

Testing the limits

Trailblazers

The last lecture

Mother’s Day thoughts

Welcome to our world, Lydia

Personal touch

April 2008

Dispensing goodness

Cancer community – Part II

Cancer community

Barn door analogies

Homemade soup day

Mice and tumors

Waiting room magazines

Weekend date

First entry