Friday, February 29, 2008

Here comes the sun

No worries today.

The procedure went just fine yesterday. What a great team of professionals at the Brainerd Lakes one-day surgery center. Special thanks to a great nurse, Theresa, who kept me in stitches. Well, she had me laughing a lot and I hope the sutures stick!

Of course, special thanks to my surgeon, the docs. And all the rest of the team, too.

The anesthesiologist came in and gave me a little squirt of happy juice and I don’t remember anything until the nurse asked if I wanted to see what they took out of my arm. So, as far as I know, everything went smoothly.

The nurse showed me what it was. It was pretty cool, but kind of gross in a way, to see a chunk of my flesh in a jar. It was weird, now that I think about it more rationally. Since they went from the top surface of the skin, all the way down to the muscle and just took that piece out, like a puzzle.

I now have a divot in my arm and an incision about 2 to 2-1/2 inches long. But the body is an amazing thing and it will heal itself and fill in that divot soon enough with healthy cells I all the right layers.

As for my cool looking scar, I haven’t taken the bandages off completely, yet. I am not suppose to for 48 hours. I just took a little peek. (I couldn’t resist!) But I think the doc just made a straight-line incision. Nothing fancy.

I will follow up with a visit to an oncologist next week and am anticipating a glowing report.

For now, I am not suppose to do any heavy lifting – nothing over 9 pound – with my right arm for 10 days to make sure the incision heals. So I cleaned out my purse and got it down to about 7-1/2 pounds. If I don’t save 1,000 receipts and 10 bucks in coins, I should be good for the next 10 days.

Thanks to my sister and her husband who brought me dinner and lots of love last night. One word of caution, wine and happy juice don’t mix too well. Or they do. It is a matter of how you look at it.

So, keep the positive energy flowing my way. Thanks to all.

Here comes the sun! I’ll keep you posted.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Clear blue sky ahead

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear – or not.

There are times when clouds cover the sky and things seem a little dark. But
with a gentle breeze the clouds are gone and the world is bright again.

I saw the doctor on Tuesday afternoon. He said that little cancerous
growth on my arm is very “superficial” and in the second lowest level
of an early stage of melanoma.

So, he will do a small surgical procedure today to remove all of the bad skin going all the way down to the muscle. We are praying for clear margins and then I will see an oncologist next week.

There maybe some scarring, he said. So I asked if he could make it a cool looking scar. “I have been thinking of getting a tattoo, so maybe you could just make a sun, or a moon or something and then I won’t need a tattoo,” I said to him. Hedidn’t quite know how to answer that, except he said he would see what he could do.

I am looking to the positive in this situation and in life in general.
There is a lot to be said about the power of positive energy vs.
negative energy. So for now I am concentrating on the power of the
positive and the power of the Light.

I took a deep breath and did some meditating. OK, a lot of deep breaths and a lot of meditating. I have such good friends who are sending angels, prayers and positive
energy my way, and I truly, truly appreciate that and love you all more
than ever. Thank you.

There is a lesson in this. I haven’t figured it all out, but I know it is there. Right now I am thinking it is a wake-up call. Apparently there is something in my life I am not paying attention to, or the wrong kind of attention. And this was a little smack on the head (like an “I could have had a V8) to get me to pay attention and make some changes in my life.

I love the sun! I refuse to hide from it. There is nothing better than lying on the dock or on a boat and feeling the warmth of the sun on my bare skin.

I guess I will use sunscreen this year.

There is a clear blue sky ahead. I’ll keep you posted.

Monday, February 25, 2008

I still love the sun

Today was a beautiful day outside. The sun was shining and the weather guy on the radio said this week, we will see an increase of 13 minutes of daylight. That means 13 more minutes of sun — that wonderful yellow ball of warmth and light and happiness.

I love the sun.

So, about a week and a half ago I wrote about my lifestyle changes, working out and going to the doctor. Well, the test results are back from the labs.

The good news is my (mostly) healthy eating habits and working out are paying off. My weight is down. My cholesterol is down and up - meaning the bad is down and the good is up. I forget what the numbers are, because to me they are just numbers. And as I said before, my blood pressure is wonderful and I have a healthy heart and strong muscles, according to my doctor.

And now, here it is Monday — deadline day at the paper. I am in a good mood, for the most part. Why not? I mean the sun is shining and it is 23 degrees ABOVE zero. And I am having a good hair day. What could be better? Well, apparently one of the doctor’s at the clinic has been trying to get a hold of me for a few days. I was out of town to attend my uncle’s funeral service. So this morning I returned his call.

That is when the shadow fell on my sunshine. The nurse told me the mole on my arm is “malignant melanoma.” She followed up by saying it is a very aggressive and the most serious skin cancer a person can get.

Ok, now hearing those words, “you have cancer” is a bit overwhelming — especially on a Monday — deadline day. Pretty much, after I heard those words, I didn’t hear much else. And it was quite difficult to concentrate for most of the day. It was almost as though I was transported to another time and place where everything was simply altogether unimportant.

It didn’t matter to me if the photos I took over the weekend went into the paper or not. It didn’t matter if I wrote anything anybody wanted to read. It just didn’t matter. That nurse told me I had cancer.

It’s not that I feel sorry for myself, because I don’t. I just don’t know what is going to happen next. That nurse, whose name is Jan and she really is a lovely person, by-the-way, made an appointment for me right away tomorrow. In the mean time, I did a quick google search, and found that most websites agree, it is a serious form of skin cancer. But the sites also say it is nearly 100 percent curable if caught in the early stages.

When I see the doctor tomorrow I will hopefully ask the questions I could not ask today. Like what stage is this cancer in, how advanced is it, treatment options, chances of recovery and re-occurrence, and so on.

For now, today, I am on an emotional hyperdrive. I wouldn’t call it a roller coaster, because quite truthfully, there haven’t been many highs to the day. But I know it will get better.

After all, the sun will come up again tomorrow and I still love the sun.

I’ll keep you posted.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

E-flowers

Happy Valentines Day!

I got an email card from a friend today, one of my girlfriend's from the Cities. Just one of those “forward this on to 10 people and you will have good luck for a day” or something like that. I didn’t forward it, I usually never do. maybe that is why without bad luck, I would have no luck at all.

Honestly, I hardly ever even open the emails that, in the subject line before the actual subject are those dreaded little letters: FW. But, since it is Valentines day and the subject was Valentine Flowers, I figured my only chance at seeing any, let alone getting any flowers, was this email. So I opened it.

It was cute. Nice e-flowers. All roses. And the following message:

May you always have:
One Rose for Unconditional Love
One Rose for Financial Wealth
One for Everlasting Happiness
One for Success
One for Knowledge
One for Beauty, inner and outer
One for Family
One for Honesty
And the last one for a long and healthy life

Those are all very nice. I don’t mean to complain, but that is only nine. What happened to the last three? I am going from memory here, but shouldn't there be a dozen?

So, if I wrote the ending, the last three would be:

One Rose for friendships, both near and far
One for laughter
and the last one for perseverance and strength, both physical and emotional.

I guess I could think of at least five more, but we will stop there.

Now here are my favorite little “love” sayings I found on the inside wrappers of those luscious Dove dark chocolate hearts we have been savoring, one a day, for the last month:

Make someone melt today.
Savor small romantic moments.
A gentle touch speaks volumes.
Discover how much your heart can hold.
Watch the sun come up.
Share a sunset.

And my favorite: Laugh until your heart overflows.

Happy Valentines Day!

And p.s. Those cute little electronic Valentine roses were the only roses, or any other Valentine flowers I will get, so thanks, Gail, for thinking of me.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Arctic Blast wrap up in smoke

Well, to sum up the Vikings Arctic Blast weekend, let's just say it was cold.

the celebrity poker tournament Friday night at the Casino was warm, freindly and fun. Each poker player paid $110 to get $4,000 in chips and tried to win the pot. there was one celebrity at each table with a bounty on their head. Whomever knocked them off the table won an additional $100 cash. The big winner of the tournament stood a good chance of winning over $50,000 real cash. I will have to check with my friend Sara at the casino to find out the exact total, because quite frankly, I lost my notes. Along with a bunch of photos — I'll get to that later.

But really, that amount is not what is important. What is important is the money that is collected for charity.

So, Saturday morning the weather was about 18 degrees, but the bottom dropped out of that quickly. by 1 p.m. the thermometer in my Jeep read minus 6 and the windchill made it about minus 30.

That's where the lost photos and notes came in. Somewhere along the line, through the blowing snow and frigid temperatures, my camera froze and damaged my memory card. Long story short, frostbite on two fingers, photos gone. As for the notes, I think they are blowing around in the middle of Wisconsin by now.

So the smoke comes in during an interesting turn of events at Barnacles Resort in Malmo.

Watch my video. And then read my story on www.millelacsmessenger.com or in the print version of the paper available on news stands everywhere. Please feel free to comment.

--- Well, I can't get the video to load into this page. Please go to www.millelacsmessenger.com to view the video.

Thanks again!

Thanks!

A little sunshine goes a long way

So I mentioned a while back that I have decided to make lifestyle changes. I refuse to use the word diet, but inevitably, whenever I turn down a cookie or albeit rarely I turndown a peanut M&M, people always say, “Oh, you are dieting. That’s right.”

Because I will eat pizza when I want to and eat chocolate when I want to. And still feel comfortable with my lifestyle changes.

I have decided that anything can be justified. Pizza is actually healthy. There is cheese for dairy, tomato sauce for lycopene, and meat for protein. Sounds healthy to me.

Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is loaded with antioxidents, so they say. Okay, maybe loaded is not a good word, but there are some in there. Not to mention that chocolate can release those pleasure endorphins we all need. Sounds healthy to me.

The key is to enjoy in moderation.

As for my working out, I think that is working out very well. I have been going to the IREC four days a week. Two days every week I am in a class. Julann, our trainer calls, it the dumb bell class, or power bar class, or some other names. Truth is, it is a fun fitness class that includes aerobics, strength training, pilates and yoga moves.

The fun comes from our group. Julann is an amazing trainer. Her enthusiasm for fitness is unsurpassed and her encouragement is contagious. She celebrates our success and offers new insight for when we are not so successful. (We don’t use the word failure.)

The gals in our class are wonderful, echoing the spirit of Julann as best as we can.

But the best part is the fun. I look forward to those two class days more than I look forward to sleeping in on a Saturdays. (A rare opportunity, but it does happen once in a while.)

We laugh a lot. And laughing is good for the overall well being of a persons mind, body and spirit.

Now I can’t tell you what we talk about, that wouldn’t be fair. Because, well, it is a lot of girl talk. And while it is ok to talk girl talk within a girl circle, it is not ok to share it outside the circle. Does that make sense?

There was one guy, Ernie, in our class last session, but I think we scared him away. too much girl talk.

We still see Ernie on weigh training days, the off days from the fitness class, so we keep in touch that way.

Apparently, the fitness training is paying off. I went to the doctor last week for a physical. My doctor is wonderful. Sidebar: She is Chinese and believes in the benefits of both Eastern and Western medicine. She is very blunt. I like that in a doctor. In most people, actually.

So, she says to me, “Oh you have very healthy heart. Heart of an athlete.”
And said my muscles were getting “very big.”

My weight is down and my blood pressure is 110/64. (I think that is good. That’s what the nurse told me anyway.)

Then she looked at a mole on my right arm.

“Oh, no need to worry, but that look like melanoma to me. You see surgeon right way.”

My answer: “So I guess I should cancel my appointment at the tanning salon later today.”

“Oh, you don’t go there!” She said sternly. “You want sun, you go south.”

Well, I saw the surgeon yesterday. He was not as worried. That is a good sign — I think.

The only part that hurt was the lazer beam that cauterized the incision area. I had flash back to my childhood when my brothers made an electric chair and invited me to sit in it. Which I did. And i have had an eversion to electricity ever since.

We will have the results of the biopsy in a few days. Good thing it is colder than a well digger's, um, well, you know, other wise I would be out in the sun right now.

I guess I will just use sunscreen from now on.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Cabin fever? Not a chance!

Tomorrow is Ground Hogs day! I am not sure why this day is not really more of a national holiday, but that’s the way it goes. If the ground hog sees his shadow or not, face if folks, there is a lot of winter left.

The entire month of February is back-to-back good times in Garrison. Starting tomorrow -- Ground Hogs Day. With the recent cold snap over and a brief warming trend heading our way for the weekend, the temps are expected to be in the mid-to upper 20s. That is going to feel like spring around here! And the perfect weekend to visit Garrison.

The action will be hot in Garrison Bay Saturday and Sunday Feb. 2 and 3 with the pros taking to the ice at over 100 mph for snowmobile racing. Added to the action is pro 4-wheeler races and motorcycle races.

Feb. 9 is the Arctic Blast with the Blue Goose as one of the check points. One of my favorite events of the Arctic Blast is the fireworks display that Saturday night. They are shot off from the ice in the middle of Garrison Bay and is one of the best winter displays I have seen. Stand outside and the ice rumbles under your feet as fire lights the sky. Seriously, check that one out!

Feb. 16 and 17 Garrison will be sponsoring another action packed weekend with the first leg of the Triple Crown snowmobile races. The Milled Lacs 300 CC sponsored by SledHead 24/7. You have not seen a cross country race until you have seen this one. But don’t keep your eyes planted solidly on the ground. Look up and (weather permitting) you will find the sky adorned with hot air balloons.

But wait! There’s more! The Minnesota Balloon Pilots group will be performing a Moon Glow that Saturday evening in front of the Blue Goose. You wont want to miss that. Meet the pilots and crew and get up close and personal to the hot air balloons glowing in the night. Also a great photo opportunity for all the shutter bugs out there!

The action just keeps going in Garrison. I will be out there wandering around with a camera or two and shooting a few videos for our website. Stop on out and if you can’t make it there, check out the website for the videos, photo galleries and my blog.

This is no time for cabin fever to set in. And no reason to utter those three dreaded words, “I am bored.” If you are bored any weekend in February, then you haven’t been to Garrison! My favorite catchphrase of the season, "Get out there!"

See you on the ice!