Scattered Thoughts . . .

We were back at the hospital today...  back in Oncology...  and back seeing Sheila's surgical Oncologist.   On the drive up to the hospital, Sheila and I were talking about being unsure of where our emotions are at this point in her treatment.  In the beginning, it was a bit of a roller coaster ride of emotions. Then, for a long while, especially during the months of daily visits, we were definitely a bit numb.  It was like we were on auto-pilot and just going through the motions...  one step at a time.  Then we had another roller coaster ride during her last treatment stage which included an ambulance ride to the ER.  Neither one of us is quite sure about where we are at now.  I think we're just bit weary of hospital visits.   So we headed back up to Burlington today to spend some time in the Breast Care Center at UVM Medical Center... Today's visit, fortunately, was uneventful.  Sheila's imaging looks good so that is good news.  There is no swelling anymore,

After spending some time walking the trails along the Pacific coastline at the western shores of The Presidio, we leisurely made our way to the Golden Gate Bridge.   The weather was beautiful so we were in no hurry.  It was sunny, the skies were deep blue, and temperature was comfortable in the upper 80s but bordering on uncomfortable if we were in the sun and out of the cool Pacific breeze.  In those situations, it felt like it was 100°!  Considering it was still wintertime and we had at least four feet of snow at home, this was very welcomed weather for these northeasterners.  A leisurely stroll on a trail overlooking the Pacific Ocean sounded like a great way to spend a day in San Francisco! We took our time exploring some of this coastline, hiking from overlook to overlook.  We scrambled up embankments and ladders to historic big gun batteries fortified along this western coastline with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.  We continued to get closer and closer to the

On our second day in San Francisco, we walked from our inn down to the transportation center on The Presidio.  It was a beautiful morning for hiking so that was our plan on this day.   We chose to start hiking along the cliffs on the west side of The Presidio overlooking the Pacific Ocean and then make our way to the Golden Gate Bridge.  If we finished all of that early enough, I had hoped to recommend we visit the Palace of Fine Arts too.  It would be a busy day regardless. We actually caught our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean the previous evening.  Our shuttle bus from Inspiration Point down to Crissy Field took a circuitous route that provided us a surprise view of the Pacific Ocean as the sun was beginning to get low in the sky.  I snapped a one-handed photo, below, through the window of the bus... I was interested in hiking some of the trails along the Pacific Ocean for two reasons.  First, of course, this would provide some spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and

Last Saturday, I was cutting the lawn and I stopped to cut back some brush.  As I stepped into the brush, I must have stepped into a nest of yellow jackets.  I felt like I was stabbed on the front of my shin by a broken twig and then I had a swarm of bees swarming around me.  When I stepped back to see if I had broken the skin by the sharp twig, I noticed that I had a bee stinging my leg.  It wasn't a twig! I squashed the bee with my hand and then moved from the area quickly.  I realized that it would be wise to head inside to grab my epi-pen since this sort of thing typically affects Mastocytosis patients more severely than healthy patients.  I took some extra medications and then went back outside to finish the lawn.   The area of my leg where I was stung felt a bit painful and itchy for the rest of the weekend but it wasn't worth mentioning.  Now, eight days later, my leg is still itchy, red and swollen so it is worth mentioning at this point.  So, I did some researc

For two years, we have been focused on Sheila's cancer and I sort of pushed any thoughts of my own health to the back of my mind.  Of course, when problems arose, I visited doctors and did what needed to be done to stabilize my health again but I definitely have not been pro-active in pursuing my own healthcare problems while we were handling Sheila's cancer.  There was only so much we were able to handle and, to be honest, we're both pretty sick and tired of spending so much time in hospitals but now it is my turn. So, yesterday, we headed up to the University of Vermont Medical Center and spent the entire afternoon at the hospital...  again in the Oncology department but visiting a new doctor.  My illness is classified as a myeloproliferative disorder so oncology/hematology is the place to be at this point.   Unfortunately, since we were back in oncology, we didn't even get a change in scenery!  Actually, what was really weird was that when we left our examinin

After a very busy day of traveling to San Francisco from Sacramento, checking into our inn, walking to lunch, hiking up Inspiration Point and watching the sunset on Crissy Field, we spent a quiet evening back at the inn.   After a long and busy day, dinner was clearly going to be later than we wanted.  We relaxed in our suite, had a few drinks, and talked while we waited for the food to arrive...  this downtime made it difficult to keep our eyes open at this point after a long, busy, active day... We ordered an assorted barbeque dinner for six and had it delivered to our suite.  When it arrived, we brought the food down to the dining room to eat.  The dining was comfortable and the food was delicious!  We ordered from The Pub in Ghirardelli Square (yes, the chocolate people) opposite the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.  The food really was delicious but it was far more food than we could eat! After dinner, we spent a little time out back at the firepit...

After our short hike to Inspiration Point from behind our inn at The Presidio, we hopped on a shuttle bus to take the winding, circuitous route overlooking the Pacific Ocean all the way down to Crissy Field.  Crissy Field is on the opposite side of The Presidio from Inspiration Point and it was getting late so there was no time to walk back down the trail and then walk to Crissy Field.  Besides, at this point in our cross-country journey, I'm not sure any of us had the energy to do so anyway.   I wanted to spend some time here at Crissy Field for two reasons.  First, this is an old Army airfield that is now a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and I'm always interested in visiting airfields.  And second, this field is a beach on the shores of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the Golden Gate Bridge where the sun would be setting in the west over the Pacific Ocean.  I definitely wanted some photographs as the sun was setting behind the Golden Gate Bridge.  Before we