Family, friends, fish and fennel

It has truly been a fabulous summer even with the recovery from the June 28th surgery. Below are some of the events and activities I've engaged in just recently:

Sunday 9/8 I co-hosted a baby shower with my sister-in-law Linda, for my daughter Jessica due in October with her first child, a baby girl. Many family members and old friends were in attendance. My mom and dad helped out so much; as usual. I had a blast! I'll post pictures. Jessica is so darling with her tummy.

Last Thursday through Saturday I attended a gathering in Sydney BC of the C-Brats, a group of folks who own the same type of boat Peter and I do; a C-Dory. Ours is named C-Dancer since we met romantically salsa dancing at Century Ballroom in Seattle. We have many friends that we meet up with and boat with in the group dating back 8 years from when we purchased the boat at the Seattle boat show. One of my favorite boat buddies, Sam, is a writer for the Waggoner's Guide for boaters and has a fantastic blog about his travels on his 22 foot C-Dory very similar to ours. We love Sydney BC.  If you haven't been, plan a trip there. The bookstores, restaurants, coffee shops, marina, shopping and people are great! We had good water conditions for our trip and the San Juan's were as usual breath takingly beautiful. The sun was out almost all week end and we missed the thunder and lightening rain part but got to see a little colorful lightening off in the distant mountains.

I've spent some fun time with my son Thaddeus and his family after delivering little Ayana in June. Kimani (3 and a half, he'll tell you when asked) started preschool a week ago at Madrona CDSA and loves it. His teachers Heather and Dora have been with CDSA for 20 years. I hired them in my first year. I get to pick him up once per week and have him over. He is a pure joy and blessing in my life. He has a beautiful disposition and is a happy and well loved child. His parents are doing such a good job. Thank you Lindsey and Thaddeus for sharing both your children with me, Grandma, so lovingly.

My husband Peter's dad (Peter Sr.) turned 83 and was/is here in Seattle for the celebration. Jackie (sister in law) had a very fun party for him at her house at the end of August. We luckily get a turn with him staying at our house for a little while. I've never met a more engaging, exciting, energetic and enthusiastic person in their 80's. Honestly, dad Jamero is so fun to have visit and to get to be around. We just found out he will soon be a great grandpa for the first time. Peter's sisters daughter is pregnant with a baby girl. Congratulations Jamero family!! I love reading the paper with him in the morning over coffee and talking politics. Yesterday he went to a party at the CDSA office with me and chatted up several employees. It was a going away party for our data specialist, David, a truly dedicated and brilliant friend. He's starting his doctoral program at UW. Dad fit right in talking with David and everyone else.

Not only have I started back in swimming laps but in addition to making way back up to 25 laps heading to 50, I started Aqua Zumba.

SCCA offers 2 free yoga classes per week I've been attending and Columbia Cities, Lotus Yoga offers a free class weekly for cancer patients and survivors. I've been enjoying them.

I got to visit my very good old friend Ed Carrier, an elder in the Suquamish tribe for the day at the end of August. He lives in Indianola on the beach and we spent the day eating, beach walking and looking at his baskets (he is a well known weaver) and his carvings. Next time I'll see if we can go out in the canoe he carved like we used to. He also brought me over to his horse farm a mile from his home. He and Lynn Ferguson, who runs the farm, have offered for me to come horse back riding when ever I want. I can't wait. Horse back riding was on my recently produced list of things I most enjoy doing and then it just appeared as an opportunity in my life. Many synchronistic and magical things like that have been happening, all contributing to my happiness.

I've been going to different farmers markets buying fresh local organic produce, duck eggs, meat and flowers; another favorite activity.

I attended the Sunset Supper at the Pike Place Market with my husband, where all the greatest chefs in Seattle, wineries and breweries have tastings of their wares. It is an all you can eat affair, walking around plate in hand, getting everything from salmon to home made ice cream and cupcakes with the view of the sound behind the market. Needless to say I did not diet that night but I did dress up in a great outfit.

I went to a wedding reception at the market as well in a beautiful new loft space that was really fancy (rents for $1500 a night) and went to a Birthday party for one of Peter's band mates in the Peter Jamero Project. I also attended an event on the roof top deck at the Inn at the Market and saw a great sunset.

On August 18th I went to a family reunion at my cousins home on Mason Lake. Ken and Julie are the best hosts and we enjoyed boating and eating with family immensely all day.

Peter and I stayed at the Monico Hotel in Portland the night before seeing Dr. Pommier. I highly recommend this 5 star Kimpton property. We had breakfast with our good friend Kurt an emergency room doctor in Portland who was present at my surgery.

I've been out on the boat fishing with Peter twice. The last we limited with 8 fish; 4 Coho and 4 pinks. Peter used his smoker to smoke the pinks and made the best smoked salmon I have ever tasted and I've tasted a lot. We have been treating others to it where ever we go. Tonight he is making another batch because we're all out and addicted to it. Besides family members are starting to put in orders for it. :-)

Our trip to Westport for Peter to fish gave me an opportunity to walk on the beach another favorite activity.

I have visited my CDSA family and found it to be heartwarming. Rhonda (HR) and Maile, my Executive Assistant and the board liaison have been amazingly supportive and helpful in the transition now underway.

I've discovered fennel tea helps to reduce the number of night sweats and hot flashes produced by the hormone emitting tumors. I love fennel.

And that is just the recent fun stuff I can remember. Have a wonderful day. I'm going to Qigong and then to walk Green Lake with a friend. I get to pick Kimani up from preschool today! :-)

Retirement planned/medical update

As many of you know the news of my transition out of the Executive Director position at CDSA is now public. I gave a talk to the majority of our 75+ staff last week at a professional development day and then was able to be there for the remainder of the lunch break to talk individually with many. We have staff at CDSA that I hired 20, 15 and 10 years ago that are still excited about working for the agency. We sent emails internally and externally to the larger community with the news and I have received many thoughtful letters of support.   We are giving internal candidates a chance to apply before considering opening it up to the outside.  Obviously this is a time of big change, opportunity and growth not just for the agency but for me personally. (I'll write more about all the fun things I'm doing right now later). I know CDSA will do well moving forward and I am at peace with my performance over the years and the good shape I'm leaving the agency in for the next ED. I do know that my work has helped thousands of kids to be more happy and successful in school and life. We have assisted many parents and SPS teachers in countless ways. I am thankful for the important things I have learned from so many wonderful people in the field and from extraordinary co-workers and leaders at CDSA over the years. I'm looking forward to continuing to learn and grow in future endeavors but will never forget the things I was taught by all sorts of special people along the way over these 21 years.

I know that this transition is the right thing to do for me to remain healthy and recover. I want to return to and stay in top shape for the recovery from the 1 surgery I've had and the two that I'll need to remove the tumors. My oncologist, Dr. Back, with Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) stated clearly that I should not be working. Dr. Back was especially adamant about rest and stress reduction. Both doctors (also surgical oncologist Dr. Pommier at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) asked me to try not to worry about where else the cancer might be in my body right now. Easier said than done but I'm doing pretty well with not worrying. All in all I've been having lots of fun and feeling really good but I'll detail that in a second blog post.

I had an excellent meeting a few weeks ago with my surgeon Dr. Pommier in Portland who said I was recovering well. The next surgery on November 8th to remove part of the pancreas, the spleen and lymph nodes will not be as difficult as the first surgery on the liver and gallbladder. It will be less recovery time in ICU and the hospital. My recovery could be under 2 months instead of 3. I made an appointment with a thyroid specialist, Dr. Mira Milas, in surgical oncology at OHSU for later in the month. I met her while I was in the hospital recovering in July and we really hit it off. She'll decide whether another biopsy is necessary to determine what type of cancer is in the thyroid and whether to remove it. The tissue that Group Health collected in a fine needle aspiration was found by 2 labs to be inconclusive about type of cancer. I'm not that worried about the thyroid issue. It is a relatively small operation to remove it and I don't need it to survive. :-) I do feel pain and soreness in my left hip frequently and don't yet know if it is a result of the bone metastases there. We do still know from comparing MRI's from over a 6 month period that the tumors we are monitoring are not growing due to the injection every 28 days of Octreotide. The primary cancer in the pancreas should also not be able to send cancer out anywhere else at this point so metastases most likely all occurred before we started Octreotide in October 2012. In the Octreotide scan (different from a MRI) in March 2013 several other areas lit up as possible metastases (spots of cancer) including the thyroid and hip bone. It is still difficult not to worry where else it might be and what else we should/could be doing to stop it. After the second surgery we will do a new assessment of which tumors to monitor since we will have removed all those we were monitoring in the liver for rate of growth. We'll need new measurements and a new schedule of frequency to scan and to check the labs. It is hard for me to believe that it has been a year since my malignant diagnosis.

I am now working with the staff and board of CDSA about 8 hours per week to help with the transition. This amount of work was approved by the doctors and the CDSA insurance company, UNUM. I am on a short term disability leave through October 3. It was a relief last week when my long term disability (ltd) claim was approved to begin October 4. This type of ltd coverage can extend to age 65 and has a higher reimbursement rate than the 90 day short term disability I'm on now.  If I want to work part time later, I can without loosing the ltd. It helps financially that I have a supportive husband working full time and that our finances are in good shape. It is fun to think of the endless possibilities that await me. For now I will happily help CDSA transition through the end of the year, see my family, grandchildren, friends and take care of myself. The new ED could be selected as early as October 1st, giving me time before the November 8th surgery to do some orientation with the successful candidate and to transition from short to long term disability. Thank you again to CDSA for having wonderful benefits and insurance. When I started at CDSA there were no benefits. As soon as we could afford to I added benefits to all part time and full time staff including medical, dental, matched retirement, vacation/sick leave, short and long term disability, childcare benefit and our birthday off and paid.  It has certainly been valuable to me although I never imagined I'd be the one using the disability insurance. If you'd like a copy of the letter that was sent out about my transition let me know and I'll forward it. It was a nice letter. We may have an appreciation party for me toward the end of October sponsored by board and staff.

My health these days is still challenging even though I feel almost fully recovered from the surgery. I still am fatigued easier than before the surgery and unable to do everything I did before physically. I'm working on getting my strength back but not exercising for almost 3 months takes a toll on your body when you're my age. It will take a while to build back up strength and stamina. I am determined to get in good shape again prior to the Nov 8th surgery. I started back in lap swimming and hope to make it back to 50 laps by the end of October. I'm already at 25 crawl stroke laps without stopping. I'm walking all the way around the Seward Park Loop (2.5 miles) again and my daughter Jessica is coming over at 6 today to walk with me. I really enjoy walking with others so anyone who wants to give me a call and set up a walking date is welcome to.

The other biggest difficulty is that my digestion has not normalized since the surgery. On the one hand I'm gaining weight due to the low level of exercise and the high level of eating good food and on the other I'm trying to regain exercise routines and eat right. :-) My doctors told me to eat everything and not to loose weight. They thought I would loose during the surgical recovery but I did not. The stomach cramps, bloating, pain and diarrhea have worsened and follow almost every meal and snack. The symptoms mimic Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) which I never had before. While at yoga at SCCA yesterday I bought a book on IBS in the Smile gift shop. It has foods to avoid and foods to prioritize to alleviate the problems. Several people have told me that after having their Gall Bladder out it took a year for their digestion to stabilize and that they now have to take pro-biotic and digestive enzymes. My diet with this ordeal has changed several times. I'm constantly tweaking it and then periodically just saying ok never mind all that, I'm having ice cream and hot fudge sauce (among other yummy things). I guess it is after all a balance and all things in moderation. One friend told me eat 80% good and 20% bad and you should be ok. :-) I am trying not to have a deprived mentality but a positive one about eating and everything else. I live in an abundant life, not an overly restricted one. In fact there have been so many great things occurring that I'm writing the next blog entry on "my amazingly fun and wonderful summer."