Gardening at Last

I wanted to do some gardening here yesterday after my run, but it was cold and gray. I ran over to Ayrmount, the historic house and plantation with trails, which is beautiful any time of the year. I had hoped to tackle the perennials here that need pruning and clean up. When I read that the rest of the week would be warmer and maybe even rainy, I decided to hold off. This morning it was warmer so I got to them after my row. I cut back all the stalks from things like mums, verbena, coneflowers, etc. I also planted the pansies into the window boxes at the front of the house. It felt good to get my hands in the dirt and clean up all the old dead stalks that we can see from the bedroom windows. Much neater looking now. It would have been nice to end my treatment in time to have planted some bulbs for next spring, but it wasn't on my time. Next year. We'll just have to look out at the tree blossoms when spring comes next year.

This w-e I'll start cleaning up the Asheville garden. It's much bigger and tougher to maneuver. For one thing, it's a hillside and the whole time you're pulling old stalks or lopping limbs, you're balancing yourself. You feel it the next day when your calves and legs are sore. My old pal Barbara Newman used to call it full contact gardening after all those w-e athletes who complain of being sore after playing a sport they aren't used to. It's much the same.

I just finished the book "Hot, Flat, and Crowded" by one of my favorite authors Thomas Friedman. He's an opinion columnist at the NY Times and writes frequently about globalization and the need to make the world greener before we pollute ourselves off the earth. He travels extensively to developing countries and has first hand knowledge of the ways they are ahead of us (education and investment in alternative energy). It's a good book and very thought provoking. I hope the Obama administration reads it and takes the ideas for green energy investment to heart. Gas is sure to go back up to $4 per gallon (and $5 and $6 and...). We should produce more of our own energy or at least get some of our it from countries that don't hate us.
Photo: more from the birthday party, left to right Aunt Dot, me and MaMa

What 94 looks like

Holly and I headed to Charleston this w-e to attend my MaMa's 94th birthday party. Her birthday was actually December 7th though the party was Saturday (a day that will live in infamy...and our hearts since that is her birthday). Anyway, her children threw her a small birthday party at the Elk's Club. Next year, if she makes it to 95, we'll have another big blowout party like we did for her 90th birthday. This was a light one, if you will, with a potluck supper and birthday cake. Even though it wasn't one of those big Fralix blowouts complete with singing, line dancing, and poem reciting, there were a lot of people in attendance (she had 9 children producing 33 grandchildren). Most of my Dad's siblings and their kids live in Charleston, so they didn't have far to travel. I know for sure there were 4 generations in attendance.

MaMa looked great in her outfit and fur pillbox hat. The woman has style, and at 94, is only slowed by that darn knee of hers with bad arthritis. I had hoped she would get it replaced years ago, but she didn't. It has continued to get worse and is pretty angulated at this point, being bone on bone for a decade or more by now. Her brother Leroy just had his replaced, and he looked great at, oh 84 yrs old. They say he still does the Cooper River Bridge Run/Walk, a 6 mile event held each year in April. I hope to be that mobile at his age and that mentally sharp at MaMa's age.

We took advantage of being in Charleston to eat at our favorite restaurants. It was the Fat Hen on Friday night, followed by the Hominy Grill for Saturday brunch, Bessinger's chicken bbq to cart home with us, and Joseph's for brunch on Sunday. The beignets did not disappoint.

I did get to visit a little with MaMa despite the throngs of other people there. Her sister Aunt Dot sat right beside her, not doing poorly herself at 91 yo. Sure was great to see everyone and be part of the celebration. It's not everyday that your grandmother turns 94, is ambulatory, mentally sharp, and independent. Besides being the most Christian and caring person in the world (she'd give the Dalai Lama a real run for his money).

Photos: from the birthday party

I'm Free to Play in the Dirt

I had a follow up appointment with Dr Long and Tanya Helms, his physician assistant (PA), Thursday afternoon. He checked my blood counts and saw me in the return clinic. The area with the row of Duke blue recliners is for everyone who is getting checked after their bone marrow transplant or chemo and for blood transfusions or the infusion of electrolytes like potassium and magnesium when they are low. It is also where I received my IV antibiotics and anti-fungal medicines everyday back in July when I had pneumonia and all those fevers for days on end. The return clinic is their name for the part of the building that runs like a regular doctor's office. You check in, they weigh you and take your blood pressure, and then you wait for the doctor and/or PA to see you in a regular exam room. It is a graduation of sorts from the other area which runs more like a day hospital (though the wait is at least as long since my doctor runs 1 to 1 and 1/2 hour behind schedule-ouch!).

Thursday was my first day of follow up in the return clinic. Tanya saw me first and gave me my lab results (Hemoglobin 9.8, platelets 116,000, white cell count 3.8 with a neutrophil count of 2200), and then Dr Long came in so that we could discuss the plan from here. I had several questions (1. Can I have a flu shot? yes, but we don't have them here. Get it from your own primary care doctor. 2. Can I return to work Jan 5th as we previously discussed? yes but don't overdo it. 3. When can I garden and handle mulch? now. 4. When can I get my catheter out? today, let's pull it.). All good news. They completed the paperwork to allow me back to work, and then pulled the catheter that I had in my chest for blood draws and transfusions. The line had been inserted back in June prior to my first hospitalization for chemo. It had a pigtail portion outside of my chest and was tunneled under my skin to my neck where it emptied into one of the big veins of my heart. It was sewed into my skin with a few stitches which they had to remove so that they could pull the line. I was a little anxious about them removing it because I thought it might hurt. The removal of my portacath, which was the line and reservoir used when I had my breast cancer treatment, required surgery. But these lines are more superficial and are half outside the body anyway. Tanya gave a big tug on the part outside my chest and bam, out it came despite it's 6 month home in my chest. It didn't hurt a bit-even less than when they use those soapy swab sticks to clean the area every week during my dressing change. What a joy and relief to have that out. Now I can shower without having to first cover the area with saran wrap, and I can soak in a bathtub. Nice. At the end of the visit, Dr Long shook my hand and congratulated me on the end of my treatment. He did that touching kind of handshake where you take your second hand and cup it over the patient's hand. It was very sweet.

After the clinic appointment, they sent me over to Duke South Radiology to have a chest X-ray. They still had me taking the ciprofloxin and posaconazole for the low cell counts and fungal pneumonia from JULY. They didn't want me to stop them until I had a chest film that was clear. So I moseyed over there and slid in before the clinic closed. Friday morning Tanya called to tell me that the film was clear, and I'm free to stop the anti-infectives. I have a lab check for my blood counts in another 2 weeks, and then I see them again January 12th for a follow up bone marrow biopsy. From here on, I'll be getting my blood counts checked every month with a bone marrow biopsy every 3 months (just long enugh to forget how painful THAT is).

Thursday night Holly and I went out to Tyler's taproom to celebrate the end of my treatment. It was great to commemorate the end of that ordeal. My brain is already re-writing the whole experience into something less arduous than it was. That's probably a good thing because, really, who wants to remember how hard it was, how scary that pneumonia was when they couldn't figure out what to treat it with, or how terrible that 7 continuous days of induction chemo felt when I couldn't eat for throwing up so much. I'm glad all of that is behind me, and I can just read about it here when I'm curious about the details that I've repressed.

I am very happy to be free to play in the dirt. Seven months without gardening is a long time for those perennials. I have a lot of cleaning up to do at both houses with many spent stalks to cull and cut back. I'll be busy in the garden here and next w-e in Asheville when we are there.

We just got back from Charleston for my MaMa's 94th birthday party. I'll write about that and the w-e tomorrow.
Photo: Hominy Grill in Chas. where I had an omelette with red rice and shrimp gravy. Holly had the Big Nasty biscuit filled with buttermilk fried chicken breast and topped with sausage gravy.

Sweet Smelling Cakes

I've been working hard to pull together all the treats I like to make for Christmas. Yesterday I made several loaves of Susan's pound cake recipe with marzipan added for good measure. Today it's harvest loaves with pumpkin and walnuts. I've already made one batch of granola to pass around. I made fudge previously, but we ate most of that at Thanksgiving. Since it doesn't keep very well, I'll make another batch closer to Christmas. It's nice to have that as a once a year treat; it's so, so decadent you wouldn't want to have that around all year. Right now the house smells really good as the pumpkin aroma mixes with the aroma of cinnamon and other spices. One of our friends doesn't eat butter so I wanted to find a cake that she would enjoy. Both my fruitcake and Susan's pound cake have quite a bit of butter in them. I hope she likes pumpkin loaf instead.

An update on the Vew-do toy that my neice and nephews put on their gift lists. My sister says it is some kind of balance board with wheels. Her husband the Army Ranger uses it to work on core strengthening. I can give you some really good exercise for that not requiring a board. Just do the Yoga tape I got Holly for her birthday. The strength and balance routine is all about core strengthening what with its boat pose and half boat pose. They are really toughies.

I finally managed to do a longer run here in Hillsborough. I made it all the way out to Ayrmount and around the wooded trail one time and back home without stopping to walk even once. That is about 6 miles. I guess I shouldn't be too impatient; I only started back running on November 15th. But still, it has been a long time coming-getting out to my usual long run spot and doing it w/o walking or stopping. I usually see a few woodpeckers when I am out there-none today though.

Photo: Billie, Holly and I tried out the new Tasting room at the Pisgah Microbrewery. They have the Solstice seasonal brew out now.

Nothing Like Music to Get You in the Christmas Spirit

Holly heard on the radio yesterday that the Duke Chorale would be doing a Christmas concert at the Duke Chapel last evening. In lieu of an admission price, they were asking the public to bring a non-perishable item for the needy. So we attended with about a thousand other people. I have been to that chapel many times over the years,and it never underwhelms. I used to attend church service there when I was an undergraduate and saw the Messiah performance a few times (though it's very long, it affords an excellent opportunity to write one's Christmas cards). The concert last night did not disappoint. They played the carillion bells starting at 6:30pm, and the concert began at 7pm. All of the lights were turned out to allow the chorale to parade into the dark chapel with small candles. Very stunning. The harmonies were terrific, especially as they filed into the dark vestry at the beginning of the service. They would sing a few songs and then included one for audience participation, done standing ( I am sure to relieve us from the hard church pews every so often). The music was terrific what with the powerful pipe organ and the acoustics in the chapel itself. I feel like I've had my Christmas eve service complete with carol singing. And we got to donate a little something for the Urban Ministries of Durham too. What a win-win.

To my great surprise, Holly came home at lunchtime yesterday, and we went for a hike in the Little River Regional Park by our house. Shelly, our housecleaner, told us about the park because they are holding a trail race there in January. I had hiked some of the trails with Billie the w-e she came to visit, but Holly had never been there. It was very nice-such a gem close to Hillsborough. On the way back, we stopped at Multiflora greenhouses (they had gobs and gobs of poinsettias) and bought a wreath for the house from a local Christmas tree farmer. Holly turned that into a welcoming addition to our front door with the help of a colorful red bow.

My supervisor and I are making arrangements for my return to work in January. Our clinic is starting to incorporate an electronic medical record, and my return will coincide with the start of that. Fortunately, I won't miss much of the training and I'll be back at work in time to join in with the other providers who will be using it during patient visits for the first time. I am nervous about returning to work-worried about finding my groove again after 7 months off. Per my doctor's recommendation, I am starting part-time to regain my stamina for seeing patients all day. You'd think I was starting a new job with the anxieties I've had about it, but I just want to do a good job after all of this time. I have to shake out the cobwebs and concentrate on how everything works again. I've been going over my spanish too since I haven't used that much in the last 6 months.
Also, I am desperately hoping that my anemia is better by then. Right now my hemoglobin is only 8. My usual level is 13. Though I have acclimated to the low levels especially with regards to my exercise, I still think I get more tired than I should. A few extra red blood cells would be really appreciated. Maybe I'll ask Santa for that.

Today's photo: Our Christmas tree at the Hillsborough house and one of the Multiflora greenhouses with their poinsettias (sorry for the poor light control-I still haven't taken that photo 101 class from Susan).

The Christmas Season

When we were in Asheville for the long w-e, we put up our Christmas tree and outdoor lights. Last night, we put up the tree here in the Hillsborough house. On my walk yesterday afternoon, I saw a couple at one of the big historic homes, putting up their wreaths, bows, and garland trimmings. The town put up the wreaths on our downtown street even before Thanksgiving. So everyone is getting in the holiday mood. I got an email from my sister with her children's Christmas want list. I have to admit that I've never even heard of 90% of the stuff. In fact, I couldn't even tell what category the things were. For example, what's a vew-do? Is it a toy, game, video game or what? It must be very popular because all 3 of the kids had it on their list (they are ages 6, 8 and 15). Anyway, it's nice to catapult from my favorite holiday into the Christmas season. Now that we have both of our trees up, it will feel like Christmas wherever we go. One year I didn't bother with a tree, and I felt like I missed the whole thing. It wasn't right.

I finished a great book last week that I had seen in the New York Times book review. It's called "Olive Kitteridge" by Elizabeth Strout. I got my copy from our library, showing yet again how on top of it our library staff is. They seem to order almost everything I read about in the NY Times. Anyway, the book is a nice collection of interconnected short stories set in Crosby Maine where Olive is the 7th grade science teacher. She is one of those curmudgeon types who doesn't mind telling anyone what she thinks. The author did a good job of showing how our lives change and our relationships mature as we get older. I really enjoyed the way she presented friendships through the aging characters. She has a great line at the end of the book about Olive getting together with another elderly man after her husband dies. She says they fit together like 2 pieces of swiss cheese, the holes being the parts nibbled away by life. That seems very true to me and accurately reflects the way older people love each other when they get together later in life. I love that they don't feel so old that they don't "bother" with that stuff.

I had a nice run this morning under the cold blue sky. My pal Donna W told me that I had inspired her to start doing push-ups. She's already up to 35 from only 4 at the beginning. Glad she likes them too. We got some great photos of her at Thanksgiving being Sister Mary Donna. You have to love someone who's not afraid to look silly and doesn't take herself too seriously.

Where's My Turkey Boost?

I went to the clinic this morning expecting my counts to be all glorious and high and everything. They aren't bad but the white cell count is the same as last Wed at 1.8, and the hemoglobin is 8.7 (it was 8.9 on Wed). My platelets are higher though at 110,000 (they were 71,000). I had expected all of the cell counts to be higher now that the chemo is out of my system and my bone marrow is returning to normal. My guess is that after multiple rounds of that high dose stuff, the bone marrow is tired (who knew?) I do have another appt later this week to see my doctor, and I'll ask him about it on Thursday. They will redraw the labs so I'll be able to see if the numbers have improved. Let's hope so; I'm ready to do some gardening.

We did have a great visit in Asheville. The hike and dinner were terrific. We also saw Billie and had dinner together. She is all busy with her Tree of Lights fundraising event that her hospice puts on each year. That happens this Friday so it will be data clean-up after that for her.

My pals Eliza and Shannon who worked with me at the health department were in town, and we able to meet up. We had brunch at Early Girl Cafe (Eliza) and coffee at Barnes&Nobles (Shannon). It was shoppers city over there at the Big Box stores and we were out of our minds to go there to meet up. You would never know from the crowd shopping, eating, and drinking lattes that we are in the middle of an economic meltdown. Maybe it's not as bad as they say.

There are numerous photos from Thankgiving that I'll be sharing over the next few days. These are from the hike up to Rattlesnake Lodge-Susan's compositions. Thanks for sharing them Susan.