2016
The holiday season was sad for me, but thanks to my friends, I got through it and now the New Year is here and life is looking brighter. Christmas Day I hosted a brunch for several good friends and then we watched the movie "Inside Out" which Janet and I both liked very much when we saw it in the theater. In the afternoon I went to an open house at Linda and Tully's and in the evening I went to Laura and Mike's for some dinner and games.
New Year's Day dawned clear for a change as we had 27 days and over 23 inches of rain in December! Laura, Kara, and a whole bunch of other people braved the cold water of Sunset Bay for another Polar Bear Plunge. And it was pretty chilly that morning - in fact there's a good chance the water was warmer than the air, but no one stayed in very long.
The gang quickly headed for the car and home - where a nice hot tub awaited to be followed by waffles and mimosas - a great way to start the year.
And a week or so later, we had dinner at my house and Maggie helped me play Mexican Train.
February 7th brought us to the Superbowl with the Carolina Panthers vs. the Denver Broncos. The Broncos were the underdogs but they dominated the game and put it away 24-10.
I hosted our 13th Annual Superbowl Party for one final time. Janet and I started this party back in 2004 as a white elephant party with most of the attendees being people we had met while we were both teaching at the local community college. Though we moved here in 1998, we really didn't have any friends here until we started this party. None of the people we worked with socialized together so we found it hard to meet people.
After about five years, we stopped the white elephant part of the party and just got together to enjoy the game, the commercials and the food. The core group, that came to all 13 parties, have become our friends, even though we only see some of them once a year at this party. I held the party this year because Janet would have wanted me to, but with it being the 50th Superbowl it seemed like a good time to bring this annual event to an end.
Next year I plan to go on down to the Egyptian and watch the game there where someone else will do the cooking and pour the drinks. :)
At the end of February, I took a trip to Orlando, Florida to go to Universal Studios and see all the Harry Potter stuff plus the other rides, etc in the theme park (but not including roller coasters!). While planning the trip, I realized my cousin, Joan was only a couple of hours away in Jupiter and I also remembered that two of my friends from Watertown, NY winter in Orlando. So I got a hold of everyone and lengthened my trip to include a two day visit with my cousin and an overnight with my friends from Watertown. I played golf twice with my cousin (who is 87!) on a little par 3 course that is part of her condo. She doesn't hit far but she hits very straight which is sometimes better than distance. We had a good time and laughed at the residents who didn't play on Sunday morning because it was too cold (60ish). That's just my kind of temperature!
When I got to Orlando, I discovered that my friends, Connie and Joan, live right next door to each other in a senior complex that is right on an 18 hole golf course. We went out to dinner that evening and the next morning played 9 holes of golf and then Connie hosted a nice lunch. I haven't played that much golf in a long time and it was a lot of fun. That afternoon I drove to the hotel to get ready for my two day adventure at Universal. I stayed at a Comfort Inn that included a hot breakfast and a free shuttle to the theme park. What's not to like about that?
The first day I went to the Universal Studios side and started out with the Minions ride. That had a 45 minute wait on a non-holiday middle of the week day - holy smokes. I got scared about wait times and bought an Express pass. As it turned out, the other rides had much shorter wait times and some of them allow a single to go to the head of the line like the Express pass so I didn't buy one the second day. I went on everything I wanted to and had a good time. I especially enjoyed the Hogwarts Express and the Escape from Gringotts. The second day I went to Islands of Adventure which was the older park. It has more cartoon characters that I wasn't interested in. It also had Jurassic Park, but the ride was closed and I didn't want to wait in line to see the mechanical dinosaurs so I soon headed to Hogwarts and Hogsmeade in that park. After exploring those and doing the Hogwarts ride - really cool by the way - I took the Hogwarts Express back to the other park and spent the rest of my afternoon there. I spent about 7 hours the first day and 6 the second - that was plenty for me. I cannot imagine what a zoo that place must be during a school vacation or on weekends. Glad I was able to go "off season"!
Cousin Joan and I on her par 3 golf course
Joan, Me, and Connie Sand hill cranes - they are all over the place.
The weekend after I got back from Florida was our first RV Women rally of the season and, it also happened to by my birthday. What a great way to spend my first birthday without Janet - with all my RVing friends and family. It made this birthday really special. As it so happened, the rally was at the Mill in North Bend so I didn't have to drive very far. LOL. I decided to take the rig because you miss out on a lot of the camaraderie when you commute to a rally. Unfortunately, the weather was horrendous - lots of rain, high winds, hail, more rain, more wind and more hail all weekend. I finally took the dogs home on Sunday afternoon and left them there so they wouldn't have to put up with the loud noises in the rig. It was a nice rally and I look forward to all of the rest of them over these next seven months.
At the end of March I had the opportunity to go to Palm Springs and spend a week with my friends, Kae & Terry. I worked with Terry for almost 8 years during our time as guidance counselors at Albion High School in Western New York. They invited me to use the second bedroom in the condo they were renting for the week. I jumped at the chance to see them as well as a part of California I had never been to.
I was a little worried about how hot it would be as 90's were predicted. I'm just not used to that anymore, even if it is "dry heat". As it turned out, the temps were lower and even got a little chilly though that was all fine with me. When we came out of the Pizza Hut in Joshua it was 46 degrees and raining. I felt right at home!
We spent time sightseeing and also took several trips to the pool and hot tub as well as the local Frozen Yogurt store. It was a fun and relaxing week.
Palm Canyon - Fern Palm Trees
The Great Hiker - LOL!
Descending on the tram from almost 8,000 feet
Monzogranite formations
Fountain in front of the Indian museum downtown
Terry under a Joshua Palm
Desert Fan Palm at Palm Tree Oasis
Kae & Terry at Palm Tree Oasis
In April, the next RVW rally came rolling around with this one in Gold Beach, OR at a place called Turtle Rock Resort. The park was lovely and the clubhouse superb. The only slight wrinkle was the clubhouse was a long walk from the park itself so we quite often shuttled between the two in cars. In addition to our usual activities of eating and playing Square 9 in the evenings, we had a craft project where we made little sewing kits from canning jars. We glued fabric and batting to the lids to use them as pincushions and filled the jars with sewing supplies. It was easy and fun.
On Saturday morning a bunch of gals went over to the beach and found glass floats that the local chamber of commerce had put out. They were happy to gather together for a group picture with their prizes.
On April 23rd, I finally held the Celebration of Life for Janet. It was at the Black Market Gourment with about 60 people in attendance.
I have decided to devote a separate page to this event, featuring photos that were taken for me by my friend, Steve Leibrand. You can access it by clicking on Janet's portrait.
I had planned to go to all the ORVW rallies this year, but fate has dealt me a different hand. Back in February, I began to realize I was having some bladder issues and pain in the lower right hand part of my abdomen. I kept ignoring it because of all the travel plans I had, but in mid March finally called the doctor's office. The first step was to rule out a bladder infection which we did. The next was to refer me to a gynecologist. As it turned out, I couldn't get in until April 12th so it didn't mess up my Palm Springs trip.
At the April 12th appointment, my doctor felt a mass and immediately referred me for an ultrasound. The follow up appointment was on April 20th (Janet's birthday) and I was told that my right ovary was greatly enlarged. I was referred to a gynecological oncologist in Eugene for surgery.
On May 4th I underwent a complete hysterectomy through a large abdominal incision so that they could remove the enlarged ovary without having it rupture. That led to a seven inch incision which actually curves around my belly button - interesting to say the least.
The bad news - I have ovarian cancer. The good news - it was confined to the ovary. All other biopsies came back negative. The good news - I found it early - Stage 1A - because it grew so fast and I could feel it. I felt like I was lying on a ball when I rolled on my stomach - and I literally was! The bad news - it grew so fast because it is an agressive type of cancer called clear cell - not the usual ovarian cancer. So, I need chemotherapy - six rounds. I figure it will end the last week in September or first week in October.
I had my first chemo on June 10th and started losing my hair a week later. I'm hoping to have hair again by my birthday in March though I guess each case is different. I guess curly is pretty common, but it usually goes back to the way it was eventually. Some say it comes in thicker. I would love that as my hair has gotten quite thin on top. Time will tell.
My doctor is quite optomistic that the chemo will take care of it. I think I have yet to wrap my head around the fact that I have cancer - maybe because I always thought it would be breast cancer like my mom rather than this.
I am going to delay my chemo in August so that I can attend the RV rally in Florence which is only 50 miles away. I really miss my RVing friends and can use their support at this time. Local friends have been wonderful - taking me to chemo, walking the dogs when I don't feel up to it and helping in any way they can. It took a long time to make friends here, but I feel very fortunate to have such wonderful friends now. It was worth the wait!
May 4, 2016 - waiting to go into surgery. I'm in a paper gown filled with warm air. I guess to keep everything flowing before I went into surgery.
I had my head shaved on June 21st after I found hairs coming out in my hands as I ran my hands through my hair. The barber I go to was very sweet and refused payment for it.
The stubble catches on everything and I have to wear a knit hat to bed to not get caught on the pillowcase. Who knew?
Jim and Sherry came for a visit July 8th and were here to help me on a couple of projects - replacing some of the border boards in the landscaping and putting in a backsplash on the main kitchen counter area. It was a first time for them doing this sort of thing, but other than needing more tile than we originally bought and having to make a second trip to Eugene for that, it came out very beautifully. My next project is to paint in the kitchen to spruce it up and hide the very thin wallpaper that is now there and some 22 years old. Eventually I'll also do the bathrooms leaving only two walls in my bedroom with the paper on them. When that happens will depend on how I feel between chemos and when I can get Kara to help me with the trim.
Somehow, in the middle of chemo, I got some energy and painted the kitchen. I wanted to compliment the new tile work and chose a color called Morro Bay which is a gray-blue. I also lived near Morro Bay for 2 years so it had meaning for me. It came out pretty well.
I finished chemo on September 30th - yeah! I took another photo of my bald head to mark the date and to track how long it will take until I have hair again. I'm hoping for some by Christmas and enough to cut by my birthday in March.
The election season was a disaster as far as I and mosts of my friends were concerned. We could not believe that Donad Trump was elected President. We are in for some dark times over these next 4 years.
The holidays came and went before I knew it. I once again hosted a Thanksgiving potluck and a sausage and gravy breakfast on Christmas morning. This year we watched the cartoon, The Secret Life of Pets. In the afternoon I went over to Laura and Mike's for food and games with Kara and Steve and Laura's family.
New Year's Eve I was also at Laura and Mike's along with Kara and Steve and Laura's family. We played games and tried to find a TV station showing the ball go down in NY at 9:00 but were unsuccessful. I headed for home around 9:30 and watched the ball come down at midnight our time. And so ends 2016, not the best year I have ever had, but I will hope for a healthier and happier 2017.
