You cannot see wilderness from a road. What you see from a road is something different- a scene, a panorama, a picture; but you do not feel anything. Edward Abbey

Hiking is one of our favorite things to do.  The reason we moved to Alaska was to enjoy its beauty to the utmost, and when we first moved here, we hiked every weekend, regardless of the weather.  Now, it is limited to once a month, mostly depending on how Sam is feeling.  He puts forth an incredible effort, though, no matter what, even though like today, a couple miles is about all Sam can handle.  Today we walked the "Bird to Gird" bike path from the Girdwood side.  It is amazing how many landslides are still blocking the trail. Hopefully they will be cleared in the next week or so as tourist season officially starts Tuesday.

Resting along the Bird to Gird trail.

This past week Sam ventured out a couple times on the bus, managing to walk a mile or so in various parts of Anchorage.  He really enjoys doing that and at the same time, people watching, always coming home with stories of some sort or another.  He even got recognized by a friend who we rarely see and that gave Sam a good laugh.

Wednesday Sam met with his oncologist, Max Rabinowitz, and did tell him about the issues with his legs and the nausea.  CT scans of his abdomen, pelvis, hips and lower back are scheduled in two weeks as well as an MRI.  Rather than try to guess at what is causing the pain and the cold feeling in his legs and feet, Sam and the doctor agreed to do the tests.  In the meantime, Sam sits with a heating pad under his legs to stay warm. From the beginning the doctors told us that there is a good chance at some point in time that the cancer in his back would cause paralysis.  He fought it successfully last summer and fall with radiation but his body cannot handle anymore, so if that is what the issue is this time, I just do not know what will be done, if anything.  It might be that we start preparing ourselves for the next phase.  No matter what, we will make the most of it. Sam and I have talked at length about when, not if, he will need to be in a wheelchair so that we will be somewhat prepared when it happens.  I do not think anyone can be fully prepared for that sort of life changing event, regardless of what a person says.

Saturday Sam wanted to rest, so I took the opportunity and got in a 40 mile bike ride since the Clean Air Bike Challenge is in two weeks.  The ride was spectacular except for that darn headwind on the way back and the two semis who came blasting by me blowing sand everywhere.  There is a bike path which runs from Wasilla to north of Willow, so thankfully I was on that, but sand and gravel were everywhere and some parts are quite close to the road.  Of course, that was were the semis went by me, too.  Oh well, gave me a taste of what the ride is going to be like!

Ciao!

There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot. Steven Wright

A very fine line, if I do say so myself.  What an incredible weekend!  First Anchorage broke the all time record for snow.  I hit the "refresh" button on the NOAA website continually for 2 solid hours, I think, even though it stated clearly in black and white that the next update would be at 4pm.  However, there was another note which added "unless the record is broken before."  Well, the record was broken long before, but there was no update until 4:00.  No matter what, it was, and is, exciting and thankfully over. Now for the snow to melt and be gone.  This in-between stuff drives me bananas.  Sam and I worked on my bike, too, getting some "stuff" to make it better on top of the gear I picked up at REI with one of my team members, Violet, on Friday.  We are going to look good, if nothing else!

Sunday was beautiful and you will never guess what we did!  Our vacuum decided to take a break, so we ended up devoting a large portion of the day competing with each other in our attempts to make the darn thing work again.  Finally, we managed to combine our efforts and get it up and running, much to the chagrin of Rocky & Sweet Pea who run the second the closet door is opened because they are just certain the big green monster that lives in there is going to come out and get them!

In addition to all that fun and excitement, Sam took the opportunity on Sunday to inform me of another interesting thing which is happening to him. He told me that he experiences a pain "of sorts" in his left pelvic/thigh region.  Not quite sure what "of sorts" means, but it must be annoying enough for him to bring my attention to it.  He did call his doctor this morning and told his office about the nausea and everything else. They have put him on an anti-nausea pill for now.  Next week is his Xgeva treatment for the bone mets and an appointment with Dr. Rabinowitz, so we will know more at that time.

It has been several months since any change in Sam's cancer has occurred, so these new issues do not come as a surprise.  We just hoped it would be later rather than sooner before anything else changed.  Sam seems to think it is possible the doctor will suggest another Alimta (chemo) treatment.  Sam did 6 treatments last fall, 1x every 3 weeks for 6 treatments.  It wore him out and I do not know if Sam is really interested in doing that again.  We shall see.

Thank you again to all who have contributed to the Clean Air Challenge. I am really started to look forward to it.

Ciao!

To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction. Martin Luther King, Jr., The Purpose of Education

Civil Rights Memorial, Montgomery, Alabama

Forty-four years ago today, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated, April 4, 1968.  I was seven years old, in 2nd grade and we were living in Pineview, Georgia.  Dad was assigned to three small country Methodist churches and during the week, he commuted to Atlanta to attend seminary at Emory University.  Mom stayed home with the four of us while Dad was gone 3 days/2 nights every week.  My parents, to this day, when talking about Pineview, say that is the first place where they truly practiced missionary work.  Just let your imagination run wild and you might be able to come close to what my family experienced as Yankees living in the deep south, and not just Yankees, but a Yankee minister's family to boot.  Rev. King's life and death symbolize to my family the ideology my parents struggled to teach others and managed to deeply instill in my siblings and me, the ideology which to this day continues to resonate strongly with my family.  It is because of this that yesterday's election quagmire here in Anchorage has been so difficult for me to acknowledge let alone accept.  If you do not live in Anchorage, here is a link to explain (as best one can anyway) yesterday's election scenario:  http://www.adn.com/2012/04/04/2407382/municipality-aclu-investigate.html.  How it is possible to run out of ballots in so many different places is simply unbelievable. That Anchorage might still be a community which allows discrimination is extremely disappointing. This all goes against my soul and I will never stop fighting for the right to vote and equality for everyone.  Interesting thing is, those are things Martin Luther King, Jr., was also fighting for 44 years ago.  Maybe that is how many years this beautiful city and state is truly behind the rest of the United States.  I do not know.  However, I will now stop discussing the election for tonight, but believe me when I tell you, it will not be far from my mind for a long time to come.

Sam is doing quite well today, he enjoyed a couple hours at the shelter and then came home to work more on his Japanese lessons.  He is getting closer to being ready to converse with others and was very pleased with himself as he received an 81% on completing the first of three sections today.  Good for him!  Tomorrow he will probably rest most of the day.  Going to the shelter two days in a row is generally too much for him anymore.  Last night he told me he might start working with the cats instead of the dogs.  That made me really sad for Sam, yet very happy for the cats.  My only thought was...well there is one way to drive Sweet Pea nuts.  All those other cat smells on his clothes?  She will go bananas.  Might be kind of entertaining, actually.

Ciao!

Love the one you're with. Stephen Stills

Tonight in Anchorage emotions are all over the place.  A nasty mayoral election is on tap for tomorrow (we voted early!), the legislature is attempting to make some tough choices in the next couple weeks before session ends and the entire state is up in arms about the oil & gas tax issue, there are several issues on tomorrow's ballot which are potential life changers for many people, but the biggest issue tonight on everyone's mind is that Samantha Koenig, an 18 year old barrista who was kidnapped February 1, was found.  We have all held out hope she would be found alive, but it appears she died shortly after she was kidnapped from her job.  I can only imagine the nightmare her family has experienced since that night.  My heart breaks for all of them, especially her father.  I pray he is able to find some peace and comfort now that Samantha has been found.

As for us, Sam and I each enjoyed a good day.  Sam found lots to do at the animal shelter and then watched Kentucky beat Kansas.  He is one happy camper right now.  Tomorrow is his support group and he is considering staying for the oncology rehab (physical therapy).

My most important task tomorrow is to make sure our Nenana tickets get to Carrs and put in the right box (as I was just informed, anyway!)

Ciao!

Being thrown into the fire and getting the thing turned around in a hurry made it more difficult. Things have been done the hard way. I think you learn better when things are done the hard way. John Elway

What a wild and crazy week for my Broncos!  Peyton. Tebow.  Peyton. Tebow. Forget them, I am still mad that Jake Plummer got cut, but I love my Broncos no matter what.  Why in the world the Broncos even drafted Tebow is simply beyond me.  The only reason I can think of is that they truly believe another team would offer to trade up for him before the draft even ended.  It did not happen.  So then they were shocked when they actually had to put him in the lineup and even more shocked when the Broncos won games with him at quarterback.  Notice I did not give Tebow credit for those team wins.  As to Peyton, let's just hope he passes his physical.  If he does, we are good to go, if he doesn't, he should have retired this last year and gone out on top like Elway did. Hopefully this is not another hard lesson to learn.  Give Brady Quinn a chance.  Then again, look how well Kubiak did for himself as backup for Elway.  I have seriously digressed from the purpose of this blog, haven't I?  Moving on...


Sam's blood tests came back with great results.  His hemoglobin is at 14.3, highest the nurse has seen in a long time apparently.  He was really concerned that they were not going to be good and that he would not be able to get his Xgeva injection today.  The injection went well, needless to say.


Instead of going to the shelter, he decided to go downtown and vote early.  We have municipal elections on April 4 and early voting started this past Monday. He completed his civil duty and went in search of somewhere to get new glasses.  Not finding any place which met his criteria (good cheap and fast) he came home, took a nap and had dinner ready for me when I got home.  How great is that?!

Hiking in Seward a few weeks ago.

Oh yeah, he did deal with some more medical bills today.  Work he had done in August and we are just now getting billed for. Drives me nuts.  It is exhausting and extremely frustrating tracking things, making sure things are billed correctly, and then figuring out how we are going to pay the bills. In Anchorage it seems there is one major medical billing company because we deal with them on at least 5 different doctors/clinics/hospitals.  One day I was told that I must contact them before anyone else when Sam passes away.  Now how stupid do they think I am?  I almost started laughing because they will be the last place contacted and since Sam will have no estate for them to continue billing... C'est la vie!  Ok, I guess that was a little bit bitter.


Sam is feeling better today and we both think he has been dehydrated the past few days which added to his issues.  He drank a lot of 7up last night which seemed to really help (mind over matter?) and he definitely had more energy today.  His glands are still swollen, though.  That does concern me as I noted yesterday.  It has been about a year since they last removed cancerous lymph nodes which had moved and grown so much they were bothering him, so it just might be that is what we are facing again.  Then again, it could just be seasonal allergies and he has to suffer along just like the rest of us.

I am really rambling today.


As for me, I won a contest at work today (I never win anything!) and received a signed jersey from the Alaska Aces hockey team.  It is awesome.


Ciao!