You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Flora’ category.
Nothing really new to report medically, other than a higher CEA number from my recent blood work at Kaiser. Without going into it too far, the CEA number measures a particular protein in the blood that can be a cancer indicator. It’s primarily used as a marker for colon cancer, but is sometimes used for lung cancer, although it is not considered a reliable indicator. Anything under 5 is considered normal. When I was first diagnosed, my CEA was in the 30s, but declined to less than 5 after about 4 months of chemo. Now the number is 49, the highest yet by far. The docs say not to worry since many things can influence the CEA measurement — such as dead cancer cells — and there is no information on how the criz might be effecting this aspect of my blood chemistry. Hope the experts are right!
PF-02341066 -- aka crizotinib
We’re just back from a week on Lopez, our first visit of the year. The yurt came through the winter unscathed and it was of course nice to be back. There are a dozen or so pregnant cows grazing in the meadow, the pond is full and overflowing, eagles are everywhere, and daffodils and stinging nettles are blooming all over the island. Turns out you can eat the latter (according to our local friend Randal they are ‘especially good for women’), so Leslie picked a bunch and fried them up in a curry one night (we still don’t really know what they taste like). Who’d have known?
Spring was in the air at the yurt.
Our new high-tech kitchen tarp (thanks Robin & Vicki!) performed well in the rain.
Cows are grazing in the meadow.
Steve and Rob on a rainy day hike.
Calypso orchids were beginning to bloom in the woods.
We sighted many bald eagles -- here, an adult...
...and a juvenile.
It’s ‘mud season’ up there: it rained almost every day and was around 40 degrees at night – but we were quite toasty inside the yurt. In fact, reading a book by the fire with a cup of tea in hand was made even more delightful by the rain pounding down on the roof. Newlyweds Jason and Katie, along with their dog Tabitha, came to visit from Vancouver over the weekend, so we checked out all our favorite beaches and trails together. Katie particularly enjoyed ‘shopping’ for free stuff at the Exchange, which is the fancy name for the Lopez transfer station. A lot of our yurt furnishings have come from there, too.
Rob, Katie, Tabitha, and Jason at Spencer's Spit.
It’s finally spring in Marin County, so we’ve been going on longer hikes lately. We haven’t been sailing for a few weeks, but Leslie did go out to watch Hank’s return to the local Etchells fleet after a 10-year hiatus this weekend. Sailing with boat owner Lawrence Pulgram (bow) and ‘Bio Bill’ Barton (middle), Hank won the season opener by a point in a 10-boat fleet, taking three bullets in the five-race series. Hurrah for Hank!
Hank, Bill, and Laurence.
Not much new from the cancer-fighting trenches. Rob’s cough is persisting, which is worrisome, and he has been taking daily naps, but otherwise he is holding up well. The Neulasta shot – which was shockingly expensive (nearly $6,000 for one shot — thankfully insurance covered it!) – caused Rob’s bones and joints to ache for a few days, but that seems to be over. We are mostly working on getting the condo ready to rent (paint, carpet, etc.), reading books and watching Netflix movies, and staying warm and dry. We’re also avoiding crowds and germs as Rob approaches the nadir of his 21-day chemo cycle – he didn’t enjoy his recent hospital stay enough to repeat it anytime soon.
It’s great to be home for awhile, but our thoughts keep drifting back to Lopez. We were on the island six times this year, once a month starting back in May. Rob spent a total of 82 days there, and I was there slightly less – it was a wonderful summer.
Looking south at the Olympic Mountains.
The last trip — which now seems like light years ago — was a quick one in the first week of November, mostly to close up the yurt for the season. It was damp most days, and mushrooms were blooming everywhere! It was also somewhat chilly at night, and the days were short, but Lawrence Elk proved up to the task of heating the yurt to a comfortable 70+ degrees in all weather. A nice highlight was a visit from our friend Jason, formerly of the Bitter End YC, the Aleenta Resort in Thailand and now working in Vancouver, BC. Jason brought along Tabitha, his well-traveled Thai beach dog, but his fiancée Katie couldn’t make it – she was delivering a Swan 100 from Maine to the Virgin Islands. Nice!
Jason, Rob, and Tabitha at the end of Spencer Spit.
In between rain showers, there were some gorgeous days for kayaking and hiking. We enjoyed the slower pace of the island, which seemed empty compared to the summer months. It was a pleasure to walk to the end of Spencer Spit, a popular state park that is closed for the winter, and not see anyone! The three of us also were the only clients in the Love Dog Café, our current favorite Lopez restaurant, on a Friday night during what should have been ‘rush hour’– the island is a ghost town now.
Rob got in as much kayaking as possible during this trip.
Rob and Jason (I was in the front of Steve's double).
A beautiful little cove where we stopped for lunch and hot tea.
Hiking with Kathryn, Steve and Rob.
Mushrooms were everywhere! Shaggy ones...
Tiny ones...
Strange ones...
Lopez is a wonderful, calm, healing place, but for now the days are too short and cold to enjoy living in the yurt. Sure, we could make fires, drink tea, read books, and go for short walks – but those are all things we can do just as easily in Mill Valley. We’ll get back up there again starting in March or April, but in the meantime, if we go anywhere, it will be someplace warm and sunny!
No electricity, no water, but it's warm and cozy!
