Doing better so far today

I ended up with a lot of nausea on Friday -this was after taking the standard dose of 3 250-mg pills each day and one dose of Flagyl. The nausea lasted into Saturday morning. I took Zofran Friday night and Saturday morning. I am happy to report that since I stopped the antibiotic on Thursday, I finally don't have nausea.

But I do have pain in my shoulders and my right forearm. Dad finally talked me into taking Dilaudid so I took some about 1am and again at 7am. I will take that instead of Tylenol and will alternate that with Ibuprofen. I thnk the pain is less and allowed me to sleep better.

I do think the infection in my left arm (not armpit) is less. For now I will just use the antibiotic/silver powder and silver dressing, while I do WBR.

So my plan is to do the WBR, take the pain meds and the anti-nausea meds and try to keep the infection from getting worse.

Dad and Scott are building the deck in back. My friend will come over and help tomorrow. I think the rest of the summer will be spent trying to rest. And work on the back yard. Maybe later in the summer, I will be able to travel more..

Thank you all form the birthday wishes!

Looks Like WBR After All

Yesterday was my birthday - I'm now 47 and expect to have many more birthdays!

I am doing okay. I think the time at the coast helped me regain some of my mental and physical strength. I might have slept a lot, but I also took long walks on the beach, too.

I saw the radiation oncologist - the one who does gamma knife in Portland - and he suggested that I do whole brain radiation at this time. It is because of the size (about 3.3 to 3.5 cm by 2.2 cm), the irregular area of it (it is not perfectly round), and because there is a cystic component. The good news is that it is not next to the area that causes nausea or vomiting. He also didn't think I needd to start right away. But I decided to go ahead and start next week.

My digestive system is healing. I don't get the cramps like I used to in my stomach. I still just have diarrhea and the only time I really have any nausea is with Tykerb. So, I am off of Tykerb for a few weeks.

I am only going to do 10 treatments of WBR. I have already had 2. They want to do 13. I'm doing to stop it at 10. I also want to start with a lower dose next week - 200 rads (or whatever the measurement is). The usual at this point is 250. But as I've said before, I think the standard doses are for women (or men) who are bigger than I am. I want to see how well I tolerate the treatment.

In the meantime, through the weekend, I will stay on antibiotics. This is because a new wound opened up under my arm - where an area grew. It also bled a lot when I took the dressing off yesterday. So, I took all three Keflex (only took 1 a day for the last week and a half) yesterday and a Flagyl. I want to try to take all three through this weekend to see if that clears up that infection. I saw the wound care nurse yesterday instead of today. I won't take the antibiotic when I start WBR next week. The area where we're trying to grow skin is 2.5 x 0.5 cm, down from 3.5 x 1.0 cm last week. So, that's healing. The chest wound is also healing.

I guess I'm okay with the decision. It will all (or most of it) will happen while Eddie is bak East with his dad.

All in all I broke even at the casino. Pretty good for several days of playing. My sister, though, won about $300. She stopped when she won. Smart girl.

My parents got me a card and flowers. My son also got me a card and a gift certificate to a local coffee place. We treated ourselves to yummy summer drinks there yesterday, after his appointment. I also got a card from my oldest friend, P., who I need to write an email to. I got a card from my supervisor, too. That was cool. Plus over 100 well wishes from Facebook friends. My cousin and her husband are visiting last night and today. They head on up to our cousin up north later this afternoon.

My biggest problem is that I can't seem to relax my shoulder and arms enough. I'll relax them to go to sleep - and will sleep for a few hours (last night about 5 or so), but then I can't get comfortable again. It seems that laying down is the only way to relax them, so I tend to nap a lot.

I will meet with my grad student later today and see about getting her started on a couple of projects. A friend of mine also moved into my office - it will be interesting to see how she moved things around!

Have a good Friday!

A Belated Birthday

Today, I didn't have a lot of time between acupuncture and a meeting on campus, so I went to Famous Footeear to look for socks, to see if they had hats or scarves. My brother, Kevin, had given me a gift certificate for my birthday. I have tried to use it a couple of times, but never found anything, so I thought I would look around.

Today, the store had a sale on boots, and in the end, I found a comfy dark brown pair that come to mid-calf. So, I finLky found myself my brother's birthday gift!

Then, some old friends of mine called to invite me to dinner . . . They missed my little birthday celebration in July and now theyndecided to buy me dinner. So, of course I was free! I had a mozzarella, tomato, and basil salad! Yum!

So, thank you, Kevin, and thank you, R and T! I had a great birthday, three months after the fact!

A Nice Saturday Afternoon

I will say this: the AdSense ads are encouraging me to write blogposts that are not just about my cancer status. I will say, however, that I have not yet heard from my doctors about the next step. Which is fine. My family and I are heading to Lincoln City for five days. We leave on Tuesday. Yay!

In other news, we attended Baby Goo's birthday party. Technically, he is baby Jeremiah, but that is his dad's first name, and as we call his dad "Gooey" or "Goo" (long story about the mispronunciation of his last name), I have taken to calling him Baby Goo. He is also named after my Uncle Gabe, whose Eskimo name is Aakagak.

Baby Goo's birthday party was held at Fort Hoskins Park, located west of Corvallis. It was a nice afternoon, relaxing. Good food. Good company (several of my former students and their families). What else can I say. Once I get a chance, I will post a photo or two.

I am almost done with a mandala for a friend. And almost done putting up tile on the fence. I have a couple of work things to do - maybe tomorrow morning. Okay. Gonna work on the tile.

Eddie's Wipe-out Kids' Edition Birthday Party

We had Eddie's "Wipe-out Kids' Edition Birthday Party" yesterday.  It was a  hot day (about 96) but a good one for having mud and water and sprinklers going for the kiddos.  Eddie turns 10 next week, but his dad is taking him back east, so we had the party on Saturday.

The order of obstacles in the "Edstacle Course" is:


1.  Hoop Run (step into four consecutive hoops, raise above head, drop behind you)
2.  Dizzy Dummy (a spinning table that the kids sat on)
3.  Slick Beam (a balance beam over a mud pit)
4.  Crawl Through (kids had to crawl through holes in two ladder-like apparatus with a shallow pool between them)
5.  Tarzan Swing (kids have to swing over the water hazard)
6. Slip-n-Slide


We had two rounds through the course and the three fastest times won prizes.  The only difference was that the second round, the kids had to navigate water balloons thrown at them, shaving cream on the Slick Beam, Crawl Through, and Tarzan Swing, and silly string sprayed at them when on the Tarzan Swing.


In general, I'd have to say that it was the water balloons that slowed kids down the most.


I would have to say that a good time was had by all.  Here are a few pics of Eddie on his obstacles.


Here's Eddie on the Dizzy Dummy:

Here's Eddie on the Tarzan Swing:

And, here's Eddie on the Slip-n-Slide:

I'm going to link to my brother's Facebook page - he put together a quick video snippet of the course and the party attendees.  You can follow the action at:

Eddie's Wipe-out Kids' Edition Birthday Party

Eddie and I need to give a huge thank you to my dad for building the obstacles (several longer-term projects), to my mom for taking charge of the food, to my brother Scotty for doing the electronics (theme music, stop watch, microphone and speakers and for photos and video), to my other brother Kevin for running the stop watch, my niece, Kenna, helped with decorating the cake/cupcakes, yard decorations and filling water balloons, and to my friend, Josh, for announcing the play by play as the kids ran the course.  Then, of course, there was all the set-up and clean-up.  Whew!

Happy Birthday, Spagedward!  It was a lot of work, but it was fun, too!  Enjoy!

Work and Birthday News

I am close to concluding my participation in a project that I have been a part of for two years (the "Alaska Native View of Statehood").  I interviewed 24 Inupit and Yupiit elders who were alive when Alaska became a state. 

I wrote my summary of the Inupiat interviews last fall and finally got enough Yupiit interviews this spring.  I decided to just include the Yupiit interviews into my summary and I added info from archival and literature research.

My chapter summary as well as a 1000-word essay on the "Future of Inupiat and Yupiit' was due on Monday.

I got the 1000-word essay completed and sent in on Monday.  Then, I worked for 8 hours Monday afternoon and evening (from 4pm to 1am with a break for dinner) and then worked for 6 hours on Tuesday (from about 4pm to 10:30pm with a break for dinner).  I had appointments on Monday and Tuesday mornings (Herceptin for three hours and then errands on Monday and then an 8:50am, 10am, 11:15am, and noon on Tuesday).  I turned in my chapter on Tuesday evening.

And, it was accepted.  Now it just needs some editing . . .

Last week, I found out that OSU Press accepted my book proposal.  I met with the Acquisitions Editor to talk about my contract on Wednesday.  I'll be able to look over the draft while I'm away.  My plan is to finish the whole manuscript by next April 1, 2010.  I have a Center for the Humanities Fellowship in Winter Term that should help me write the two new chapters I need (intro and conclusion).

Wednesday also happened to be my 46th birthday.  So, I met with the editor, then a friend/colleague drove over from Bend, and we had lunch and brainstormed some ideas for new projects.  I think we might have something interesting and doable . . . now to sell the idea! 

Wednesday evening, my family went out to dinner. My folks gave me a Tom Robbins book, my friend/colleague gave me a very pretty bracelet with images of skulls, and my sister gave me a sign that said, "The beach soothes my soul" and a turtle necklace. Oh, and a colleague bought my lunch on Tuesday.  Plus, I had almost 50 well wishes on Facebook - that was fun!  Thank you for the gifts, everyone!  And thank you to everyone who wished me well for my birthday!  My favorites were the ones that said, "and many more to come".  Yep, that's my intention.

So, all in all, a good day.  No complaints!

Finally! Summer!

When summer arrives in the great Pacific Northwest, it arrives! Our weather finally got above the mid 70's on Tuesday, maybe around 85. An old friend of mine from high school, C., drove her boat up from southern California and stayed in a local hotel. I met her for dinner - she was gracious enough to pay - and we had a great time sitting on the patio, enjoying a delicious margarita and a great dinner.

Eddie and I will drive up to Camano Island to stay with C.'s mom and husband for four nights. We will get to go out on the boat, crabbing or whatever, C's stepfather said he could take Eddie for a ride on his Harley. C. will go with me to my appointment at UW next Thursday and C.'s parents said Ed can stay with them. They also have a wii, which made Eddie happy. So, I will get Tues afternoon, Wed., and Fri. to hang out on the boat. Maybe even Thurs evening. C. Sent me a picture of the view from her mom's house - I could see a great backyard, water, and mountains in the distance. Absolutely gorgeous!

Last night, I went with Cat, Goo, and Baby Goo to hang out in the Marys River to cool off. I think it got up to 99 yesterday. It was hot!

Other than that, I have been getting caught up at work. Still need to make revisions on an article.

Dad is working hard on Eddie's "Edstacle Course" for his Wipe-out Kids' Edition birthday party. There is one more obstacle to finish. I think Eddie is going to have a great time! I will post pictures. Thanks, dad!

Otherwise, I have been slowly getting my work caught up and need to work on revisions on a chapter summary. I am working with a grad student on an independent study, and am supervising three, well, four students on various projects. My office is almost finished - I reorganized and cleaned it up and there are only one or two more things to do.

Z-Day Today

Later this morning, I have my zometa appointment. They'll draw my blood and take my tumor markers. I'm hoping that they are the same as they were last month. I can still feel my lymph nodes under my left arm pit.

I am feeling effects of Xeloda - I gave myself a week-end off from it, though, as I could tell I needed a break. My mouth was starting to become really sensitive to spicy things . . . my digestive tract was irritated but I'll spare you the details of how I know that.

My softball team had three games this past week-end. We lost by a lot on Friday. We lost by only a few runs during our first game yesterday at 3pm. It was hot yesterday afternoon - temperature was at 91 degrees. I drank A LOT of water and then put a cold bandana around my neck. I didn't play very well. I had a couple of errors in the field and was 0-fer in terms of hitting.

We then had a second game at 4:20pm. We only lost by one run. In the first or second inning, I participated in a double play - I caught a line drive in right center and then threw the runner out on first. We'd been ahead by a couple of runs and then, in the bottom of the 6th, they tied it up. I don't think we scored any in the top of the 7th, and then they had a runner on first and I caught a long ball out in right center .. . had to go backwards a few steps for it . . . and then I extended my arm ======> just long enough to catch it. I think my teammates were holding their breath. I think that was the second out of the inning and then we got their third out on the next at-bat. So, it was still a tie-game in the bottom of the 7th. We ended up tied at the end of the 8th - both teams scored a run or two. Then, we didn't score in the top of the 9th and they got one run.

It was a close game - a fun game. I think the fact that a breeze came up and cooled things down made it easier on us. My big toes (the ones that lost the toenail last year) were sore the whole two games - the shoes were too tight in the toe-box.

Then, we went to Woodstock's and hung with members of the team for a couple of hours. Afterwards, we came home and watched Hitch until bedtime. I was bushed. Drank lots of water all afternoon and evening.

But it was a good day. The day before, we held a karaoke birthday party for Eddie. He turned 9 years old (hard to believe!). The words on the karaoke didn't work quite so well, but the kids had fun playing with the mics. We visited with the other parents. Good thing there were only 9 or 10 kids - the house couldn't have held more - because of the heat and because we only have two window units, we closed off some of the rooms and tried to contain things to just one room. In the end, I think people had fun.

Mom, dad, Scotty (my brother) and Scott (my boyfriend) all helped a lot to prepare for this party. I didn't put as much planning into this year's party as I did last year's. I feel a little bit bad about that but, on the other hand, last year I went all out with a Price is Right party for Eddie. Hard to top that. Although, I just got an idea for next year - maybe we need to try to do a Wipeout Party .. . hmmmm. Got a year to figure it out, don't I?

Home Safely

I got home a little after 1am last night and for some g*#d#mn reason, I couldn't sleep. I was restless and wired. I finally got up and went into the living room about 2:45am and read a book for awhile. I went back to bed about 3:15 and I think I slept, but I woke up at 5:30, 7:15/30, and then 8:30. Tried to get back to sleep, but I only dozed, I think.

So, I'm really tired today. It doesn't help that it's already about 100 degrees - according to my thermometer outside my kitchen window. It's in the shade, not in the sun, too. 100 degrees in the shade. Criminy.

Luckily, the house is about 80 thanks to two air conditioners - one in our bedroom and one in the living room.

Today is Eddie's birthday. He turns 9 years old! No big Price is Right game this time - although he does want to play karaoke. I need to find a good functioning karaoke machine before Saturday. My cousin Toni baked him a cake on Monday before we left - so we had cake and ice cream. I just took my folks and my brother and Eddie out to lunch to celebrate, too.

I'll need to go into work tomorrow, if only briefly to turn in receipts and such. But mostly I think I'll use this week to rest up and prepare for Eddie's birthday. I just need to find some time to write!!

So, what did I accomplish while in Alaska? Coordinated activities so that our science team could work together - elders with Kim and Larry on birds; elders with Jesse and Larry on plants; elders with me, Larry, and Matt on the map; five interviews (wanted 10 but what can you do?) - two on Alaska statehood and three on Native corporations; made some inquiries about hiring a community research assistant; consulted with various folks to find more people for more interviews (laying the groundwork for the September trip); went picking tugayuq (a type of green) for awhile with elders; an interview in KNOM (will post the mp3) and with Kawerak; and then fun stuff: two birthday parties (my own and Eddie's), two Eskimo dances; hanging out with various communities members and visiting and eating eating eating. Lots of people cooked for me, which always makes me happy!

Not too shabby for ten days, huh?

A huge thank you to everyone who fed me (Toni, Gemma, Charlene); to Toni who housed me, who took care of Eddie for me (mom, Toni) or who played with Eddie (Toni's kids; Stephen; Jaden); to people who allowed me to interview them; to the King Islanders for supporting the project; for the science team for working on this project; and for our birthday gifts - hand-knit King Island gloves, ivory earrings, a huge card, cake, a big picture of King Island village; and just for the experience of hanging out with all of you and reestablishing our connections. Thank you!

P.S. I was feeling a little down and depressed, mostly because I have no energy from not sleeping. That pisses me off when I can't sleep. But reiterating all that I have thankful has put me in a better frame of mind. Thanks to everyone for giving me the opportunity to say thanks!

My Nome Trip So Far . . .

Hi everyone!
I'm sorry I haven't posted much for the last week! I don't have easy access to the internet - my cousin Toni has internet at her home, but with the kids and Toni herself using it, I may only have a chance to grab a few minutes myself. We can sometimes get a wireless, but the signal comes and goes.

Then, so much has happened since I arrived! Our first day, we went to camp at Woolley Lagoon. It was fun seeing what kind of changes have occurred out there in the last three years. We rode with Kim and Will, both of whom are birders, so they taught us some about the birds we were seeing. We also saw an Arctic Fox on the way down the road - if I remember, I'll try to post a picture.

Then, on Monday, I ran some errands and then that evening, we had an Eskimo dance at Nome Eskimo Community. Turns out there were some filmmakers in town from Australia who were filming for National Geographic. They were filming a new series and Episode 6 (or was it 10?) was on Alaska. They were working with Matt, our archaeologist/mapper for the King Island placenames project, and Matt really wanted them to film the King Islanders dance. That was fun. Before that, we went to the Rock House on the Nome-Teller highway and the kids climbed up on top. When I went to AC, I also found a nice Columbia Sportswear shirt for $14 - down from $60.

Tuesday, I ran errands again and made phone calls. I was interviewed by KNOM in the morning (I'll post the mp3, if I get it) and in the afternoon, I agreed to an interview for a company that was doing interviews for a "cancer treatment company" that turned out to be GlaxoSmithKline, the makers of Tykerb. More on that later.

Then, Toni threw a birthday barbecue for me (I'm 45 now). Caroline gave me some ivory earrings, Gemma gave me some hand-knit gloves, mom gave me a big card that had the song Celebration on it, and Ugi gave me a blown up photograph of the village on King Island. I bought myself a new sweatshirt with a wolf dancer on it and the words "UgiuvaNmiugurugut" (We are King Islanders) and also "Setting a Precedent". There's a story there with the subtitle . . . and I'll try to tell it later.

Wednesday, I again ran a couple of errands, then I interviewed one of the Bering Straits Native Corporation's former board members, past President and also past-President of AFN. It was a really good interview. That evening, it was really warm and hot and we ended up with a thunderstorm. We tried to go to the beach but it started pouring down rain.

Thursday, I again ran errands, then in the afternoon, we worked with the elders on placenames and corrections to the map in the afternoon. Thursday night, Toni and her kids, Eddie, mom, and I went to the West beach in Nome and the kids played in the waves.

Friday, I gave a presentation at the Nome Youth Facility at the request of Charlene Saclamana and told them about the King Island project. Then, mom, Teddy, Iviana (Agnes), Aapak (Frances Muktoyuk), and I drove out to Nuuk, parked at Helen Pushruk's cabin, and picked tugayuq (a type of green) for 30 minutes. We ended up with four grocery bags full. In the afternoon, I interviewed two people at the BSNC offices - both interviews went well. In the evening, we went to the East Beach near the Nome River - Eddie played in the waves and mom and I collected beach glass.

Today? Not sure yet. My days unfold as they will. I'd like to go to the Senior Center. I may call a couple of people for interviews. We may go to Gemma's house and visit and also I need to sit and visit Uncle Edward for a bit, too. We may go to camp later. Who knows? I also need to pick up a receipt and also some more cash.

I really want to spend a whole month up here. Hmmm . . .

Overall, it's going well. I'm staying busy but also taking time to just hang out and "be". Have a great week-end! I'll think of you all today - it's going to be a high of 60 here and I see that it's supposed to be really hot down south! Have fun!

A Great End to the Week-end

First, some updates:

Eddie - no live lice yesterday, although I found a handful of nits that I picked out of his hair. (An all new meaning to the term "nit-picky"!). I think we're beating this infestation, although I don't think we're out of the woods yet.

Scott - the area that he thinks was the first to contact the poison oak has started to weep. Poor guy is walking around with calamine lotion all over him.

Scott - today is his birthday (48th). Yesterday evening, I planned a little surprise birthday thing after our softball team's game - we always go to a local pizza place. My folks and my sister and her family also joined us. Luckily, we all showed up a the pizza place first and then 15 min later, Scott showed up - and we yelled "Surprise!" He was surprised, although he thought that I was acting a bit strange earlier when I kept pressing him for his ETA. We had pizza and cake and joked around with folks. I fed my friend's almost-year-old little bites of cake. I said I was "contributing to the delinquency of a baby".

Deanna - we won our softball game 23-10. I was 3-for-4 batting. Whatever hesitation I felt earlier this season due to my reconstruction surgery (with my tight abdomen and tight shoulder and test) has gone. Although I still don't quite have the distance on my throw, it is getting better and I'm able to get that ol' snap to the throw that I used to have. My personal chef was on the other team and then one of Eddie's classmates mothers was on a team that played just after ours. Anyway, it was great fun, topped off by a good visit.

Deanna and Scott - the reorganization of the house is coming along nicely.

I went to 3, yes, THREE pizza places today!

Today was Eddie's last day of school. Our original plan was to go to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate, like we did last year. Eddie likes traditions like that.

But on our way to the car after school, another mom mentioned that a few others were going to a local pizza place for lunch. This pizza place has a play room for kids. So, we went for lunch and a few of Eddie's classmates were there.

Then, we drove to Chuck E. Cheese. Eddie got to play a lot of games there. There was a mall nearby and so we were finally able to buy his summer sandals.

At lunch, this same mom mentioned that her daughter's softball team was going to a pizza place in the next town for "Family Karaoke Night" around dinner time. Eddie said he wanted to go so that he could karaoke. I figured, what the heck? So,we went. Eddie sang, "Life is a Highway". He did okay, although sometimes he forgot to sing because he was so busy reading the words.

Am I nuts or what? We're both tired. Good thing we can sleep in tomorrow!

And, now we know what to do for Eddie's birthday party - karaoke!! Anyone out there have a karaoke machine we can borrow? ; 0 LOL

Eddie's Big Wheel

Finally!! I was able to get around to continuing the paint job on Eddie's Big Wheel. All I need to do is to paint white wedges on the sides and maybe do a few touchups. I really want to give a big Thanks! to my friend, Brenda, who spent a couple of hours helping me out! (Brenda, I betcha didn't know that my paying for dinner was a bribe! LOL)

It's coming along quite nicely, even if we do say so ourselves! I will post a picture as soon as blogger lets me.



Eddie's party is on Saturday evening at 6pm. We are calling it, "Eddie's Price Is Right Birthday Game Show". He wants to play Plinko, the Grocery Game, the Race Game, Lucky 7, Golden Road, and then the Showcase Showdown. My brother-in-law, Henk, made Plinko and the Big Wheel (another huge thanks to Henk!). I've been collecting prizes and starting to make signs and such for the games. My folks are going to help me clean the house and get set up. Of course, each child will win a prize. Everyone will get to play the games.

I'm sure it's going to be fun!

So, thank you Brenda, Henk, and Scott (who helped me paint the Plinko board)! Eddie will much appreciate it, I'm sure!

A busy week

Well, sorry to have been off the blog for so long . . . I've been too busy, which is a good thing! So, I guess, generally speaking, if I don't have a lot of entries it's because I'm out living life.

From Tues to Fri last week, my family and I were staying in a house near Chinook Winds Casino in LIncoln City. While temps were in the high 80s or low 90s, it was a nice comfy 65 to 70 at the coast - even needed jackets. We had good weather most of the time, although it was windy. Here's a picture of the "sand people" that my sister took - all the kids wanted to be buried in the sand. (Blogger is having technical difficulties - will upload it when I can get a chance.)



Then, I dropped some things off at a garage sale at a friend's house - they held it from Sat to Sun - and ended up earning $35. Not too shabby.

I spent Sat afternoon and evening and Sunday morning in Portland, visiting Scott. We had a nice, relaxing, fun time.

Softball on Sunday, where Deechiro went 2-for-3 with 5 RBIs for the losing team (see entry "Deechiro Made the Paper").

Monday, which happened to be my 44th birthday, I took my son for his annual check-up at Shriner's Hospital. The doctor has no concerns about his feet or his floppy ankles. However, they do want to refer him for a Marfan Syndrome evaluation . . . more on that later.

So, taking a breather . . . getting caught up on emails at work. Whew! Things are good, in other words. I'm enjoying myself even with this radiation burn!