New York City

Wow, the NYC experience is a wild one....we arrived on Friday afternoon on the Bolt Bus--we were dropped off at 34th and 8th Avenue. Our hotel was on 40th, so we grabbed a cab (could have walked, but we had our luggage). The cab situation in NYC is crazy...it seems as if there are 15 yellow cabs for every 1 car...and if the light is green...and you're a pedestrian---watch out! If you're a passenger, just hold on for dear life. Yikes...they fly though the lights like you wouldn't believe, trying to make it through while still green...and legal. On our very first cab ride, our driver hit the van in front of us--really quite a bump which caused bad words to come out of Peggy's mouth, but the van driver never even got out to check the damage....very interesting. Our hotel was on the 15th floor with a view of....another building. But it was a nice place, close to Times Square and in Mid-town, which is where we wanted to be.

On Friday night we traveled up to 79th street. The travel time in a cab going from 40th to 79th is about 2 minutes---they drive like maniacs, dropping their fares as fast as humanly possible to clear their cab for another fare...yikes. We ate at a totally vegan restaurant called Candle 79. It was really a lovely place and the food was terrific...we all enjoyed it.

On Saturday morning, we took a bus tour of Uptown. The tour guide was a friend of Mary's sister's, and he'd lived in the city for his whole life--his parents and grandparents had also---a true New Yorker. He has never owned a car, has never had a lawn or mowed a lawn. He thinks that crickets are annoyingly loud...he was hilarious. He really knew his stuff about the city and made it really fun. We saw the Dakata building, where John Lennon lived and was killed, Central Park, Harlem, the Apollo Theatre, lots of wonderful architecture, a church that is so big that the entire Statue of Liberty could fit inside of it without touching the top. He pointed out the buildings where famous people lived...it was a gorgeous day and a very fun and informative tour. After that, we walked to Rockefeller Center---and went to the "Top of the Rock", the observation tower overlooking the entire city. Wow, it was really great being able to see the Hudson and East Rivers, Central Park, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens....the views were spectacular. We had wanted to have lunch at The Boathouse in Central Park, but the wait was long, so we opted for Tavern on the Green...an expensive lunch that was not very good, but what the heck, it was Central Park/NYC, so it was fun, but I was wishing we'd opted to wait for a spot at The Boathouse. We took a walk around the park for awhile---very busy and loaded with bikers, roller-bladers, a german festival--very fun and festive goings-on. We then headed to Times Square to check out 1/2 price tickets for a broadway show. We got into a very l o n g line of people doing the same thing, and surprisingly enough--the line moved very quickly and we had ourselves 1/2 price tickets to "Hairspray" at 8pm. The show turned out to be great---it starred George Wendt (Cheers) as the mother--and he rocked! Very fun, great music, great seats.

On Sunday morning, we checked out of the hotel, but had them hold our bags, went to breakfast and shopped around Macy's (huge!) and a few other spots. Went back to get our luggage and headed out on the bus around 2:15. It took over an hour just to get out of the city. There were people everywhere and traffic was gridlocked. Made it back to Boston around 7:15pm and at South Station, found that Mary's car had a flat tire. Spent about 90 minutes waiting for AAA, and finally headed home.

It was a really fun weekend in New York. It's a great walking city, although a bit dirty. It's laid out on a grid, and every street and avenue is very well marked, so it was super easy to figure out where we were and where we needed to be. I wouldn't want to live there, but it sure was a fun place to hang out for a few days with great friends...just doesn't get any better than that!

Second round continues.....and off to NYC!

I went for the infusion on Tuesday, all went well. And today is Thursday and I didn't wake up with a fever, as I had last Thursday. I had trouble sleeping though on Tuesday and Wednesday nights....which means was a short day at the office today...my couch kept calling my name for a nap!

I'm going to NYC tomorrow morning with Peggy and Mary, coming home on Sunday afternoon. We are going to take the Bolt Bus, which is run by Greyhound, and is in competition with the FungWah bus....it's $35 round trip instead of $30 on the FungWah, well worth the extra $5, you actually arrive in NYC with your life intact! The horror stories about the FungWah trips to NYC are legendary around here. We're going to eat at a vegan restaurant on Friday night, called Candle 79...I just looked at their menu online and it looks really interesting and wonderful. On Saturday, we're going to do a "hop-on/hop-off" bus tour and try to have lunch at The Boathouse in Central Park. The rest we will play by ear....maybe see a play, maybe not, do some shopping, and just be in New York and soak up the fascinating culture than defines NY...

Round 2...

On Tuesday, I started round 2 of the chemo treatment. Peg and I went in to MGH and I had the infusion. I saw Dr. Michaelson very briefly, but my bloodwork was not back yet, so they didn't have anything to go on. I emailed Kara, the RNP, the next day and asked her about the results of my bloodwork, and she said that I was a rockstar, that it was top notch....nice to hear. Went to work the next day and felt fine. That night, while sleeping, I felt cold...odd, since there were no windows open...I finally made myself get up and pull up the quilt...I then started shivering violently under the quilt and ended up with a massive headache. I took some aspirin and went back to sleep, but felt pretty awful in the morning and didn't go to work. I took my temperature around noon and it was 102.5, which didn't seem too bad, but they had told me to call if I had a fever, so I did. They wanted me to go to MGH! Yikes...I really didn't want to do that. So, Kara told me to take 2 Tylenols, which I had just done, and to call her back in two hours. Two hours later, the fever was down. She told me to see what happened in 6 hrs....well, in 6 hrs the fever was back to 102.5, so I put cold compresses on my forehead, and went to bed around 9, after taking 2 Tylenols. All was well this morning, temperature has been pretty much normal, it went up a bit, but not too bad. I spoke with Kara today, and she said that the fever could be from the infusion, that the Gemcitabine can cause a fever, but they are more worried about infection, with my white blood cell count being lower now. She said that 100.5 is the point at which I need to get my blood checked and that I could go to Jordan Hospital to get it done. That was really good news, since it's just a mile or two down the street from where I live....I've been pretty wiped out today also, just no energy. Tody, I also spoke with my niece, Robin, who is a pedi nurse at Maine Medical, and she explained to me how serious fevers can be when one has cancer....it was a great heads-up, so, I will keep a watch on that.

But....I did have energy on Monday. Took myself and my roller blades to the beautiful Cape Cod Canal. I haven't been on them for 3-4 years, so it was with some trepidation that I put them on, waiting until there was no one looking (I'm so weird-like anyone would care), and off I went. I went almost all the way between the Sagamore and Bourne bridges and back. It was very fun and I was happy to be on them again, flying along with the sun on my face and the wind in my hair. I have to do it again...the canal is perfect because it is quite flat. Keith tells me that there's an obscure little bike trail up in Colchester, and Maia would be able to ride her bike along with us...now that will be fun.

a rainy Saturday...

I actually love a rainy Saturday...once in awhile anyway. It feels like a license to...have a lazy day and do odd stuff. It was a stay-at-home day for me and I worked on getting organized...I came upon 4 or 5 recipe books that are vegetarian/vegan--I didn't even know I had some of them. I spent some time looking through them...they are filled with wonderful sounding recipes. I'll have to get Keith to help me figure out how to get them on this blog thing. I also made a calendar/schedule for tracking the following: vitamin taking, doing my veggie drink, walking, weights and trampoline. These are the things that I need to be doing on a regular basis, and I can too easily get off track...well, I'm not even on-track yet, but I'm working on it...

All right, I'm off to walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes and jump on the trampoline for a bit. Gotta be able to check those off on my new schedule!

Labor Day musings.....

Wow, what a fabulous Labor Day weekend we experienced here in the East. Blue skies, sunshine and warm breezes were how we got to spend our days. Keith, Kristeen and Maia came down and we spent a day at the beach....what fun it was...the ocean was warm enough for swimming and they all went in and swam in the usually chilly Atlantic. We also made sand castles, of course, and walked the awesomely gorgeous Long Beach in Plymouth. We did back to school shopping, walked to the waterfront for ice cream (not me!), and saw the goings-on of the Iron Man Triathalon event, and just enjoyed each other and the last long summer weekend.

Since our meeting with Malynn, the holistic MD/oncologist in Connecticut, K & K have decided to make eating/cooking a priority in their lives, rather than looking at it as something to get through quickly, so they can get to other things. They arrived, armed with cookbooks, and they cooked some wonderful vegan menus....I can't tell you how helpful this was to me, to be eating new and delicious dishes, made right in my "challenged" kitchen, that they put together when I didn't even think there was time to think about cooking, etc. It was terrific....we had vegan chili, a dish with millet, fresh corn, pepper and cilantro--both yummy, especially served together! Also, broccoli with tempeh, crushed cilantro, cashews, limes, I'm not sure what else, but it was delish. And a quick and easy lunch of black beans, tomatoes, cilantro and avacado...really good. They left me with the leftovers...we so enjoyed them on Monday at Carole's house, while visiting with Katie, just back from Las Vegas. Even non-vegans thought it was great food....they got that right! It was a great lesson for me, watching them put these recipes together so easily....we ate on the porch and had fun enjoying all this food together. Maia ate everything we did and totally enjoyed it also...she is the best... At one point at the harbor, while walking by a small take-out place, she asked what they had there, and when I told her--hot dogs and hamburgers, she asked if they had things that are "healthy for our bodies". She's a rock star. K&K are going to send me the recipes they used and I will try to get them here on the website.

I am actually going to take my beach chair and my book and go to Long Beach later today and tomorrow---it's so easy, living on the coast, to take its beauty for granted. This is a most beautiful time of year here in the East...the light in the afternoon on the water is awesome. My boss is urging me to travel, see the world, and I so appreciate his generosity in allowing me to still work, but also urging me to play, while I'm still feeling good. I am planning a few short trips here and there to visit far-off friends, and a trip to NY city, and a bigger trip later, but I find it difficult to leave where I like it the best...my home, my environment, my everyday life. I've discovered through the years that I can be alone and at home and not be at all unhappy, in fact be quite happy and joyful...for this I am thankful. So instead of running away to see the world (although I'll do some of that), I'm going to, at long-last, do over my bedroom....it is a lovely room with 7 windows, 4 that give me a terrific view of the harbor and ocean...it's time to make it a really nice room with a real bed, instead of just a bedframe. I don't know what I've been waiting for--I've been in my house for 5 years now and haven't touched it....it's time, and I'm looking forward to it!

I have completed the 14 days of pills and 2 infusions (link to clinical trial details) and am on my "off" week now. I am feeling great, with no side effects...well, just a slight one--my tongue feels a little funny and it's making water taste funny, but that is disappearing now that I'm off the drugs for 7 days. So it is going well, I feel great....energized, happy, eating right, getting a little thinner....life is good.