I keep falling behind on my blogwork as I get more and more into work at the clinic, gardening at both houses, and our full social calendar with friends. It takes a lot of work (and sometimes planning/organization) to juggle two households, two sets of friends, a 3 hour commute back and forth each week, and a job. Lately, we have been doing a lot of additional travel as well, with trips to Charleston, Sunset Beach, with this w-e to Kansas. There are so many comings and goings that I keep getting confused exactly which w-e’s are Asheville ones and which involve travel to another area. It’s a great problem to have, and one that I could only dream about last year during my cancer treatment. I don’t take it all for granted. A few rogue leukemia cells, and I’d be back in my Duke blue chair in the bone marrow clinic getting platelets and blood, only dreaming about going somewhere for pleasure travel.

I have been thinking about travel a lot lately because this week is the 1 yr anniversary (if you want to call it that) of my leukemia diagnosis. While that is not exactly something to celebrate, I am looking forward to June 20th which will be 1 yr in remission from AML. Last year, I was hospitalized from June 13th-20th for 7 days of intensive, continuous chemo. At the end of that treatment, I was in remission. I plan to celebrate June 20th because it commemorates a year of life I wouldn’t have had without all of that tough treatment. I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to many people for helping me through all of that. My pal Peggy, the potter out in California, has been making mugs for me to give as cups of gratitude. I just got a shipment of them, and they are gorgeous. I am hoping that everyone who gets one realizes how much I appreciate their efforts to help me get well. And I hope that they can symbolize for me, and for them, how precious life is. Yeah, and here is a beautiful handmade piece of sky and mountains to remind you (the mugs are porcelain with a beautiful blue and green glaze that looks to me like the sky and mtns).

Today's photos are from our hike last week in the Max Patch area of the Appalachian Trail-our Ansel Adams, and cucumber vine.

Having a Time of It

We spent the w-e enjoying a beach house duplex at Sunset Beach. Though it is part of the NC shore (just barely though since you can see N. Myrtle Beach from some spots of the beach), it has the wide, gently sloped white sands of the SC beaches I grew up with. The water was a bit too cold for me to swim, though some of the hardier souls in our group took advantage of the warm sunny days to do some boogie boarding. Holly and I made do with beach runs and fried seafood and kayaking in the sound. We saw many good birds including one large bald eagle perched high in a tree on the other side the sound as well as numerous oyster catchers swooping around the waters edge. Our group of ten managed to eat, swim, play bocce ball, bird watch, kayak and cook together. Sharon reserved an upstairs/downstairs duplex, and we had plenty of bathrooms and queen beds to go around. We ended up with 2 kitchens, too, of course, which really simplified mealtimes, especially the evening we all cooked together (gaucamole and chips then grilled red snapper, boiled shrimp, grilled veggies, broiled asparagus, followed by ice cream and fresh strawberries). Though it kept threatening to rain and thunderstorm at various times during the w-e, the bad weather held off until Sunday night. It was still pretty windy this morning, but the worst of the rain had past. Before we left, I got in a good run, enjoying the beach almost to myself. It was an excellent day to watch the storm clouds roil by and to feel the pull of the tide on the sand beneath my feet. Others were out vetting their new raincoats and other waterproof gear, while I enjoyed the contrast of the post run warmth and the cold pelting raindrops. It was something else.

Though several folks made comments about our antiquated whitewater boats, which we took to kayak in the sound, we had a perfectly good time getting in and out of the marsh creeks and alleyways made by the reeds. Neither of us paddle enough to justify spending money on new boats expressly for sea kayaking or more accurately marsh kayaking. (The boats we have are free- a price I like alot, as my father likes to say...) Here are some photos from that trip. Top-me, Middle-Holly, Bottom-Holly with single, Laurie & Julia with their canoe

Yet Another Reprieve

I had my yearly mammogram this morning, and I am happy to report that everything is clear there too. Last week it was the bone marrow biopsy results, and this week the mammogram. Duke just replaced their mammography machines with a new state-of-the-art digital machine. Unfortunately, at this point, they only have one of them. Everyone who used to get their scans in the three different rooms must now funnel through the one machine. The scan itself is quicker and has higher resolution. However, because there is currently only one of them, all of us waiting for the radiologist to interpret our images waited with the ladies yet to have their mammograms. I sensed that things were pretty tense as soon as I stepped into the room to wait on my turn. First, there was only one free chair for me to sit in, the rest were filled with other women waiting to go back to have their mammogram or to receive their results. One lady got called back to the radiologist's area for a "consultation." She ended up having additional views taken, followed by an Ultrasound. Suffice to say that she did not get good news today. It cast a pall over the whole room. I wanted to tell her that I'd been there, done that, but I kept quiet. It was unnerving enough for the poor lady to get bad news surrounded by a whole room full of strangers. Of course, they didn't actually tell her the news in front of us all, but we were all sitting there waiting to be told that we could get dressed now and everything is okay and here is your copy of the radiologist's note, blah, blah, blah. She didn't get any of that; she got extra scans, an Ultrasound and questions from the tech about how to contact her doctor. So we all knew without officially knowing anything specific. She left with that blank, shocked look on her face that I know only too well.

When I got back to the big Snappy machine, I just let my tech move me all kinds of different ways - pushing me here and there under the plexiglass ledge and bending my face out of the way of the beam. She kept commenting on how good a patient I was, and how she hoped that she wasn't hurting me, especially when she had to get the machine really tight into my chest wall where my old scar is located. I told her that my goal is to be flexible like Gumby; she seemed to appreciate that. "But you are so good; usually they are complaining when I press this hard." I explained that after the bone marrow biopsies, this was nothing. "Well I hope that you don't ever have to have another one of those," she said. Yeah, well that isn't likely, I thought, but I kept it to myself. I got good news today, which is more than I can say for that other poor lady. I'll be thinking about her this week, and all she has to take in.

On a different note, we did have our fete for Ellen on Sunday. Here she is in her celebratory yellow shirt at her graduation party.

Peonies for Mom

Today is Mother's Day and I am up early enjoying the birds singing and the big bushy peonies blooming in my Asheville garden. I'll do a run later this morning before the gang comes over for Ellen's brunch. We are honoring our pal Ellen because this w-e, she is graduating with her BSN in Nursing. Tough as it was, she worked full time as an RN at our hospital here AND went to school for the advanced degree. I think we'll get to see a little more of her now. So we are having a big celebratory brunch for her on this beautiful Mother's Day.

My mom, Sara, is in Atlanta to celebrate the college graduation of my niece, Sara, from the University of Georgia, which incidently my mother graduated from as well (a branch of the UGA system in Columbus). My mom also went to college in her 40's and worked hard to attain that precious diploma. She and I were in college at the same time, so I know a thing or two about how hard that must have been to achieve. But my mother is one of the strongest people I know, and when she sets her mind on something, watch out! She always told us " where there's a will, there's a way" and she made that happen. I am so fortunate to have some of her determination and will in me.

I think I also inherited my love of plants from her; so Mom, here are some beautiful peonies I photographed just for you this morning. If I could bring you one so that you could smell its sweet aroma and see all the delicate layers to the blossoms, I would. I love you very much. Happy Mother's Day, your Tree

Date Night

Holly and I had a date last night and went to the locavore restaurant Watt's Grocery which is located in an older neighborhood in Durham about 1 mile from the University. We had an excellent meal with a roasted beet salad and an entree portion of their flounder cakes on a bed of creole style black eyed peas. We had a similar dish in Charleston last w-e at the Fat Hen, also a locavore place, that served us shrimp and crab on a bed of black eyed peas. Last night we talked about the fact that until we got together, Holly had not eaten black eyed peas. Amazing! I ate them lots growing up, and they always make me think of my grandmother (not my Mama who is my Dad's mom and always cooked an okra soup/stew/gumbo). It tickles me that this dish we used to have because it's thrifty has become one of those fancy sustainable foods. Of course it always has been a sustainable food and a delicious one at that. I usually fix it with rice and saute in some onion, garlic, and a little cumin. It goes great with greens like kale or collards. Add a little corn bread or a biscuit and Ruby (my grandmother) would be proud.

After our dinner, we drove to the Duke gardens to see the flowers. It was filled with families enjoying the sun after 2 days of rain. The big blossoms of digitalis, peonies, and allium didn't hurt either. The gardens are tiered, if you've never seen them, sloping down to a koi pond with water lilies. When I had my breast cancer chemo (every other friday for 12 weeks), we used to sit in the gardens on the other side of the koi pond and take in the flowers while we ate lunch. It felt odd to be back in that same place and just be able to enjoy the sight of it all-no need to steel myself for upcoming needle sticks, nausea, and feeling sick. Holly asked me if it feels weird to be back there where we spent so much time associated with my treatments. It does feel a little weird because it reminds me of all we had to go through so close by in the medical center. But I have lots of other happy memories of the place too-memories from my undergrad years of running through the trails, memories of walking there during med school when I had a short break, and even fond memories of Jason and LeAnn's wedding with the whole Riley clan taking over the lawn. I owe alot to those gardens with their soothing paths and varied plantings. And the best thing of all is that I don't take it for granted. I got another clean bill of health this week, and I'm almost a year out from my leukemia diagnosis. Very delighted by that.

Photos: Duke gardens on May 7, 2009 and Quigley sleeping under her mink with my socks and underwear to feel close, I guess

Another 3 Mos Reprieve

Holly and I just returned from a w-e in Charleston SC showing her Dad, the history buff, around the old revolutionary and civil war sites. He made a list of the things he wanted to see and managed to get to many of them. It's pretty cool to see your old hometown through someone else's eyes and enjoy the wealth of history and sightseeing that comes with being a visitor. Holly rented a condo in a great central location West of the Ashley River, which was convenient to all the different spots we visited. The condo complex was located on a piece of land that used to be my Mom's old housing project. She lived there when she was in high school and used to take me to stay with my grandmother who continued to live there after I was born. I have seen photos of the housing complex in the early 1960's and believe me, the condos are much more upscale. Oddly enough, we were also just around the corner from the house where we lived the first time Dad served in Vietnam. Each morning, Holly and I ran along a greenway trail that crossed the street near the old house. In addition, my aunt Mary Alice and her family lived just across the street in a similar house. I took some photos of the two old homes to commemorate where I played outside with friends and skated at Christmas in my Indian outfit. Somewhere I have photos in my army fatigues posing on the front lawn with Beth and Becky in their matching twin dresses. You'd never guess at all the history in those homes if you drove by, barely registering the low, simple ranches with their dirt driveways and chain link fences.

When we returned from Charleston today, there was a phone message from Tanya ("this is Tanya from Duke") about my most recent bone marrow biopsy. The results were all normal fortunately. Lest you think it's easy to wait a week each time for those results, let me disabuse you of that notion. Something about having cancer and treatment and cancer and treatment and now big needle pokes every 3 months that reminds me of where I've been and where I could end up again. I don't know if I'll ever get more relaxed about the whole biopsy process. I mean, really, what greater reminder can you have that you have/had a life threatening illness than the death scare that just can't be swept cleanly away. I do manage to put it all out of my mind once the soreness from the big needle receeds (and the news is good, obviously). I'll be there in a week or so, when my biggest preoccupation again will be work, until the next time (cancer, what cancer?). I hate to belabor the point, but I just don't think anyone who hasn't been through it can imagine how nerve wracking and potentially upsetting it is to wait on those results. Thank goodness I have another clean bill of health, and I can move on again for the next 3 months.

Today's photos: the West Oak Forest homes looking nicer than I remember them from 1968