Breast Cancer, The Journey Continued

Breast Cancer, The Journey Continued

Thursday Afternoon March, 17 2011 (second post in this series).

Yesterday Kelly and Damon went to the surgeon recommended by her doctor. They were very impressed with her approach to the situation. Based on the tests done to date, she (the surgeon) believes that the tumor was caught in the early stages. There is some concern that there might be more spots and Kelly is having some additional tests today. Based on those tests, there will be a decision as to whether another biopsy is required.

The surgeon indicated that some level of surgery will be required. The best option would be a lumpectomy. Unless they detect a spread of the cancer, she does not believe that chemotherapy will be required.

So, the first opinion suggests that the early detection offers Kelly some options.

One of the contributions to the overall trauma of the situation is the fact that Damon's mom died of breast cancer. She died about 5 weeks before her first granddaughter (Madison) was born. She was a jewel of a person and we all miss her very much.

I have posted a photo of Kelly and her family. From left to right: Madison (7), Kelly, Damon, and Molly (5).

Breast Cancer, The Journey

Breast Cancer, The Journey

Wednesday Morning March, 16 2011 (First post in this series).

Those that are familiar with our blog know that it was created to document our travels. For the foreseeable future, our travels are on hold and we will change the format of this blog. As you read this blog, the reason for this format change will become obvious.

On Friday (3/11/11), our 42 year old daughter, Kelly, was diagnosed with breast cancer!!! She is healthy, eats properly, exercises regularly, is not overweight, has never smoked, etc. We do not have a family history of cancer.

In late February she had her yearly mammogram. The results suggested that a second mammogram was needed. Both tests revealed a growth that needed to be biopsied. On Thursday (3/10/11) she had the biopsy. The next day we got the bad news.

Before I start the documentation of this journey, I need to discuss something that has been very troubling to me. About a year ago, the medical community suggested new guidelines for scheduling these tests. The preliminary recommendation suggested that women under the age of 50, with no family history of cancer, did not need to schedule a mammogram. That was very troubling to me at the time, as Pat and I have three daughters under the age of 50.

Fortunately, the National Cancer Institute still recommends 40 years as the base age for scheduled mammograms:

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/detection/mammograms

I need to say this loud and clear: ladies please schedule your yearly mammograms NOW!!!

Now back to our situation. We are very strong family (three daughters, three wonderful SILs, and eight great grandkids). We will all support Kelly, her husband, and their two precious daughters (5 and 7) as they proceed through this journey.

We are fortunate that Lisa, our oldest daughter, is a clinical dietitian at University Hospital here in Denver and she has arranged for Kelly's case to be reviewed by the well regarded team at the Breast Center.

As I write this today, we really do not have a lot of details on Kelly's condition. Since last Friday, she has had several additional tests and is scheduled for a few more. These include MRIs, another mammogram (post biopsy), ultrasound, etc. The preliminary indication is that the cancer was detected early and we have confidence that her journey will be successful.

Today she is scheduled to see a surgeon that was recommended by her doctor. She will use the recommendation of this surgeon as one of at least two opinions.

I will try to update the story of this journey as time permits. For the new readers, I always recommend that you sign up for the email notification link on this blog. That way you will be notified when I do post.

We have been contacted by a huge number of friends and acquaintances who have been so supportive and kind. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers.

Hello from Gunnison, CO

Hello from Gunnison, CO

Friday night   February, 24 2011   (First travelogue of this trip).

Hi folks.  As has been the case too much lately, we have not posted to this blog very often.  With rare exception we limit our posts to travel-related dialogue and we have not traveled much in the last few years months.  In a few weeks, our bus travel will begin and then our posting will be more frequent.

This is a very special trip.  I am with my daughter Judy, grandson Thomas and his friend Austin.  Judy refers to Austin as her third son.  Fortunately, they have taken Austin under their wing and will become his legal guardian in the near future.  This trip was to visit two colleges that Thomas has been accepted to. 

Pat is helping with daughter Kelly and the kids while Damon is on a business trip.

We left the Bailey, CO area Thursday morning and traveled to Alamosa to visit Adams State College.  This was mainly a quick visit to get a feeling about the facilities and their program.  It seems like a good school, but it is not Thomas' first choice.

We left Alamosa late in the afternoon and took a short cut route (CO 114) over to Gunnison.  It turned out to be a very scenic drive and the weather was great, albeit cold.  We would not attempt that route in one of the frequent snow storms, but it worked out great for this trip.

We are staying 2 nights in the Super 8 in Gunnison.  If any of you followed our non-bus travels, you know I really do not care for Super 8 motels.  Their idea of a “Super Starter” breakfast is Fruit Loops and toast.  Well, my usual choice of Holiday Inn Express was over $160 and we were not going to pay that kind of money.  As it turns out, this Super 8 seems to be the exception to the rule.  The rooms are the typical lower level affair, but clean.  But the real surprise was that they had a very good hot breakfast!!  Not even a Fruit Loop in the place {grin}.

Today we went to a formal “Preview Day” at Western State College (http://www.western.edu/).  Both Thomas and Austin have been accepted here and it was the school that they were interested in.  All of the attendees today had preregistered for the all day event.

Thomas, Judy and Austin

The day started with a tour, followed by a general presentation by the staff.  Then the parents and students split up.  The parents were treated to some more great informational presentations followed by a question and answer period.

Tour of the campus in the snow

The students rejoined the parents and then the big group split up into academic interest groups.  Our first stop was Natural and Environmental department which includes the Geology curriculum that Thomas is interested in.  It was very informational.  The next session we went to was the athletic department session.  Austin is very good at football and track.  It looks like he might be interested in trying out for the track team.

We were then treated to a great lunch in the student cafeteria.  It is a fantastic buffet offering almost any kind of food that a person would want.  They can eat all the want for that meal.  And it was very tasty food.

The afternoon had more presentations and all of the clubs and societies had booths to show the students what activities are available.

I think I will ring off here and fill in some additional details tomorrow.

Pat is back in Evergreen, CO

Pat is back in Evergreen, CO

Wednesday evening January 19, 2011 (third travelogue of this trip).

Thought I would summarize Pat's trip.

The convention was very hectic for her. They normally schedule 3 days, but a booking problem forced them to condense everything into two long days. The convention ended late Friday. Pat stayed over Saturday and flew home in the evening. I picked her up about 7:30 PM. She was one tuckered lady.

There were 1000 attendees (limited by the hotel booking). 600 Managers attended the Manager's dinner at the Wildhorse Saloon (they booked the whole facility).

As is always the case, Pat comes home enthusiastic about building her business. This time was no exception. She has started her Stampin Lady blog (here). In addition, she has subscribed to a great email marketing service that makes sending professional newsletters much easier.

We hope that you will visit her blog and sign up for her newsletter.

That is all for now.

Hello from Nashville, TN – Number 2

Hello from Nashville, TN – Number 2

Thursday morning January 13, 2011 (Second travelogue of this trip).

Hey, this is kind of fun. Pat has been sending me some photos from her phone and I will include a few of them. We have not been able to talk much, but I am gathering from the photos that she is having a wonderful time – as usual.

My wonderful wife of 47 years!

First, she has described the Gaylord hotel as “unbelievable”. It must be spectacular and very luxurious. I asked her if there was any signs of the flood damage from this the terrible floods this spring and she said that she did not see any. 

Pat at the hotel

A view of the hotel

For those of you who do not know much about Pat's association with Stampin' Up!, I need to give you some background. First of all, the Stampin' Up website will tell you a bit about the company (click here). Pat has been a demonstrator for them for over 11 years. She maintains the executive level and has almost 80 other demonstrators in her organization. She has earned eight wonderful cruises/trips. The last one was in 2009 to Hawaii (documented in our blog starting here). She has a website that ultimately links with her page on the SU website (here).

Stampin' Up! is a wonderful company with fantastic products. But, more importantly, they truly appreciate their demonstrators and treat them very well. I often say that it would be difficult to earn a large income with the company, but the experience is unmatched. It is wonderful to attend one of the conventions, or go on one of their cruises, and see how much positive impact that the company has on these demonstrators.

I mentioned the fact in the last blog that Pat was invited (as were some of her downline who have achieved the manager level) to the Manager's dinner  last night. Stampin' Up! always makes this a “big deal”. They do not tell the managers where the dinner will be held until they board the buses. Last night's dinner was at the Wildhorse Saloon (link). I have not talked to her since that dinner, but one of the photos suggests that they had a lot of fun {grin}.

I probably need to clarify “fun”. When we attend the functions, it is interesting to note that there is almost no drinking (indeed, Pat can not drink alcohol because or her Rheumatoid Arthritis medications). We often laugh at the fact that when SU charters a large ship for the cruises, the ship companies must cringe – the bar charges must be almost nonexistent.

The ladies at the Wildhorse Saloon

I mentioned in the last post that the ladies love to swap cards. The photo below shows that activity, but not the frenzied level that I have witnessed {grin}

Swapping cards

I had intended this post to be a simple introduction to some photos that Pat sent me, but I have rambled on – as usual.

That is all for now.

Hello from Nashville, TN

Hello from Nashville, TN

Wednesday morning   January 12, 2011   (First travelogue of this trip).

Well, this will be a strange travelogue.  You see, I am writing this from Evergreen, CO, but Pat is in Nashville for a Stampin' Up! Leadership Convention. 

Yesterday, I drove her to the airport so that she could attempt to get to Nashville.  I use the word “attempt” advisedly, as that part of the country is having terrible weather and Nashville was basically shut down Monday and the airport was closed.  It turns out that her flight was only delayed about an hour.

The snow and ice have played havoc with the area.  Several of the demonstrators came in early with the intent of doing some sightseeing on Monday.  With the weather conditions, that did not happen.

Pat is staying at the Gaylord Hotel (link) in the Opryland complex (map).  Actually she spent last night at a different hotel, as the Gaylord was booked up for another convention.  She is getting ready to move today.

Apparently, the hotel adjoins the conference center so the demonstrators will not have to brave the elements.  That said, she will be attending the Manager's Dinner tonight and that is off premises.  I think she said that they will have buses.

I have only experienced these kinds of gatherings a few times.  Obviously, there was a lot of similar activities on the cruises.  I did go with Pat to a Stampin' Up! Convention in Salt Lake city a couple of years ago.  I can not begin to describe to you the energy that is involved with these events.  There are hundreds of demonstrators, all having a huge amount of fun and learning all kinds of neat stuff.

One activity that really defies description is what they call swapping.  The demonstrators make up items with the Stampin' Up! products  and then swap with each other to get new ideas.  Pat typically does 100-200 cards and or decorative items (this year, a neat candy holder).  I witnessed one swapping session that was nothing short of a fish feeding frenzy.  That is not a great picture, but I think you get the idea {grin}.

She is usually very busy and only has a few minutes to talk on the phone.  I will try to pass on some details as I get them.

That is all for now.

Hello from Dillon, CO

Hello from Dillon, CO

Wednesday morning    December 29, 2010  

We are at our daughter and her family's great townhouse in Dillon, CO (map).  They bought this townhouse as an investment/get away.  The townhouse is currently leased by a company to house one of the working families.  They are between families and Kelly and Damon have been able to enjoy their town house for the holiday season. 

Their town house is wonderfully decorated and very comfortable.  We are so glad that they invited us to stay with them.  We came up Monday afternoon and will leave for home today.  We would like to stay longer, but things have been quite hectic for the past few weeks and we have quite a few things that need to get done in the next couple of days.

Yesterday morning we just plain vegged out.  That was good for all of us.  Our daughter and her family are always on the go and they need to relax a bit.  In the afternoon, we did a bit of driving around and then Kelly and Damon and the two girls went sledding while Pat and I watched from the top of the hill.  They had a ball.  After that we went snowshoeing into the campground where we will have our family vacation around the fourth of July.  We scouted out the campsites that we have reserved and they look great.

The granddaughters (5 and 7) are great at snowshoeing.  The day was beautiful, and the snow was great.  They have had a lot of snow in the area and we were in “virgin” snow.  I was glad that I could keep up with them.

This area has been devastated by the pine bark beetle.  This beetle attacks the lodgepole pine trees.  I was happy to see that there were pine species that have survived and there are also some aspen in the area.

Today we may try to get in a quick snowshoe session and then we will head home this afternoon.  We will take the scenic route home.  That will take us from Dillon to Breckenridge, then to Fairplay and home via US 285.

As our readers have noted, we have not posted in quite some time.  We created this blog as a travelogue and we have not done much traveling lately.  Our travel plans for next year are up in the air.  We have canceled our trip to Quartzsite in January.   We have made the decision that we will not be attending trade shows for the foreseeable future.  The RV market is in the toilet and the trade show attendance is way down.  It just does not make any sense to speed a lot of money getting to the shows and then not selling enough to pay for the trip. 

Instead, we have a few great personal trips lined up.  The first tentative trip is to the California and Nevada area in March to attend a couple of races and “veg out” in our favorite remote area south of Death Valley:  Shoshone

As I have noted in the past, if you want to follow our travels, it might be best to sign up for email notification so that you will know when we post.

That is all for this trip