Good friends and the 4th of July diversion tactic 7/04/2010

First there was a movie on Friday evening and I immersed myself into my second viewing of Eclipse so Diane and Sandy could see it.

On Saturday morning, I worked from 11 to 2:30 at Hokey Pokey, saw quite a bit of the wonderful 4th of July parade that goes through downtown Whitehall to Montague across the causeway. In the evening I was headed to a friends house for dinner, cards and likely a few beverages that would keep me there instead of returning home in the evening.

The next morning I got up early to get home and let Foxy out of the house after the long night. It gave her an opportunity to run and chase her first BIG bunny rabbit! I hadn't seen one in the yard myself so it was a pleasant and fun surprise for us both.

I was invited back down for breakfast and a day at the beach with the three of them and I was glad I did. The weather was hot, the beach was white and clean, and the water was cool with waves to jump and a bright blue sky filled with sunlight. We talked, relaxed quietly, just enjoyed people watching and resting. I pulled out my notebook to write a few times and then would put it away to turn over and enjoy the warmth of the sun on another side coated with sunscreen.

I remembered that with chemo and/or radiation, sun exposure was limited. Whether I ended up having it or not, I didn't want to miss this great chance to enjoy the day and the warm sunshine.

Yesterday I had discovered an "Ask the Expert" section that was referred to on one of my cancer support sites. It is part of John Hopkins and you can ask for an opinion from a highly qualified nurse and two time cancer survivor. I briefly shared my story. She encouraged me to seek a second opinion, if not at John Hopkins, then she suggested the UofM since I had told her I was in Michigan. She also suggested I request a specific test that I had not had that might clarify whether or not my cells were aggressive enough to need chemo so there's another option.

The only cancer talk was about this when I asked to briefly share what I had found out. The rest of the time, I just tried to forget and think of other things and enjoy every minute I had on the beach...all five hours of it and LOTS of Vitamin D that I have been lacking.

What a great way to begin and progress through to the late afternoon on the 4th of July!