Fill'er up! - Week#4/Treatment #2

Monday, August 6:

It took 4 tries to find a vein that would accept the needle that would deliver the Juice of Deathy Life.  I am NOT a needle person and this needle is considerably larger than your average, "I Gave Blood" needle.  Once we settled on a hand vein we breifly discussed a medi-port – outpatient procedure that places a catheter into an artery and small port under my skin near the collarbone – and just as quickly abandoned the idea.  As much as I hate needles I hate being cut into even more…been there, removed that - enough is enough.

The IV treatment itself is unremarkable; oral Benadryl, IV steroid, JoDL #1, IV clean out, JoDL #2, IV clean out and back home again.  Monday’s consult also provided a remedy to my ‘Bone-Crushing Ache’ in the form of Gabapentin.  Once home we started packing for our trip to Colorado… Chacos-check,  Head Scarves-check, 30 day supply of Gabapentin-check!

This trip was planned long before I was diagnosed and as far as I was concerned – I can be sick in Iowa or sick in Colorado, the choice was a no brainer for me.  You see, I love, LOVE Colorado.  This is the place that fills up my cup, my being, my soul.  Colorado is the one place where I have always felt both at home and in awe of my surroundings.  It is also one of the few places that satisfies my need for Vistas and Theme Music.  On Wednesday The Wife, The Mother-In-Law and The Sister-in-Law all packed into the Subaru and headed West.

Thursday afternoon we arrive in Colorful Colorado and watch the mountains appear magically out of the western haze.  Immediately my spirit brightens.  Funny thing is, physically, I felt okay.  Based on my first treatment I shoulda been feeling pretty crappy today and had the Gaba’ at the ready.  Each day I waited for the ‘B-CA’ to sideline my good times…it didn’t.  Well, not quite.  My days were relatively pain free.  However, each night the pain would begin – increasing quickly between dinner and bed-time.  I would take the Gaba’ and the pain gradually decreased enough to allow me to fall asleep.  It wasn’t complete pain relief but it was enough to allow me to rest at night so I could enjoy each day.  I don’t know why the pain wasn’t there during the day but I’m glad I didn’t have to spend the entire trip drugged and struggling to stay awake on Gaba’.   (and, no, I didn’t spend the trip drugged on anything else.)  We ate at our favorite restaurants, saw our favorite artist at our favorite concert venue, visited other favorite places, got lost and found some new favorite places, sang some songs, bathed in a hot spring, observed a family of elk from just a few feet away, visited old friends and made a few new ones and saw some of the most beautiful views on the planet.

A view from our seats at Red Rocks Amphitheater.

The stage is being lit solely by the audiences' phone lights.

Denver is alight in the background by it's own awesomeness.

Our first morning we awoke to baby elk walking past our B&B patio as we sipped our coffee and huffed from our O2 tanks. 

We found these guys just outside of Kitteridge:
4 fawns, 2 does and a couple of male yearlings whose antlers had yet to erupt.

 

 

 

 

 Dippin' our toes in the sweet mountain water of the Vrain Creek along the Peak to Peak Highway.

We started our drive in Nederland, CO.  where we stopped for coffee from The Train Cars to sustain us along the route.  A bike tour made driving this route more than a  little tentative - especially for the bicyclists.

Our day ended with lunch in Boulder and a beer at the GBC in Golden.

 

Hoosier Pass is how you get to Alma, Colorado where they boast the highest town in North America.

Alma also boasts one of my favorite festivals (both as a participant and patron) Festival in the Clouds.

We'd just come up from Breckenridge where the ambient temperature was in the upper 80s.

It started snowing along the pass...

Today, we’re back in Iowa - home - with our cats and our bed and our life. 

This weekend I have a full tri-fecta of gigs – Chemo-Brain and all but I’m ready.  We will also be attending our favorite annual pops concert – which is always a lot of fun.  This year’s theme is the music of the Beach Boys’ album, Pet Sounds, as performed by the awesome Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra along the Mississippi River at the historic LeClaire Park Bandshell.

Here in the Quad Cities we have our own vistas and theme music.