Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob

   This journal is about my journey with DCIS which began in January 2024. Ductal Carcinoma in Situ. A form of breast cancer. I didn't tell many people. Family, a handful of close friends. I didn't even tell my bosses at the museum where I teach. Somewhere along the line after much prodding and poking, I decided the My DCIS Journey was too boring so retitled the journal Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob.

The Poor, Little Boob has been cancer-free since June 0f 2024, and still has another year of taking hormone therapy and being monitored by an oncologist. My target date for ending the medication and this journey is June1, 2027

I had called Dana Farber and things seemed to be moving forward. While visiting Teague, she suggested I get a referral from my doctor even though Dana Farber said they didn't need a referral. It wouldn't hurt to cross the T and dot the i and might even be a bit of insurance.

T Stands for a Visit to Nana

Himself wanted to visit his Nana on her birthday, 15. August.  In the afternoon, we took a ride to St. Joseph Cemetery in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Nana would have been 125 years old.

Waze had given us different directions so we entered the cemetery from a different location. It took Himself a little bit of getting his bearings to find her grave. He remembered a large oak tree on the side of the road. On the opposite side was Nana's grave. Himself remembers as a kid his parents would pack Himself and his 4 siblings into the car. The kids would picnic in the car (food keeps everyone quiet and busy) so his mother could visit her parents.

He found the tree and the grave.

Nana's sister was also buried in the opposite side of the cemetery. So we made a loop or two looking for her grave.

When we visited in 2019, I told him I remembered Aunt K's grave was opposite a large monument with a German name.

Bingo! I am good.

Aunt K

Other relatives.

After the cemetery, Himself wanted to go out to early dinner and he wanted to go to the Texas Roadhouse in Worcester. Because it was a Saturday afternoon, we figured the place was going to be really busy. He called the restaurant and got on their wait list. 

It took us about an hour to get to the restaurant and because we were on the wait list, we didn't have to wait very long even though the place was hopping.

I had an Arnold Palmer

Himself ordered us Grilled Shrimp on Texas Toast for an appetizer

The Roadhouse has the most delicious, rolls.

Himself had picked out his own steak from a butcher case. I didn't feel like steak so ordered salmon instead. It's amazing that most steak houses prepare salmon well. Maybe salmon is Steak of the Lake or Ocean. Salmon, a jacket potato, seasoned corn.

As the drinks arrived, I had taken a peek at the dessert menu. Just in case. They had apple pie and I decided to have a slice.

The Roadhouse is a very lively and noisy restaurant. The food is very good., but it's not the place for an intimate dinner as you can barely hear a conversation. Our waitress was hopping busy. So when I told her I wanted pie and two forks, all she heard was two and brought us each a piece of pie. I had some of my pie and Himself took his home.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Monet and Miro

 

are admiring the folio cover I made from the Happy, Little, Time Waster tutorial posted on Saturday.

I was not going to have enough pages in the journal I made to take on the trip to Ogunquit. I didn't have time to make another, but I did have the mini-Composition notebooks.

Front covers

Back covers

The cover pages were taken from a travel brochure for the Lakes Region of New Hampshire where Two Old Ladies went on their latest adventure. 

The Sights Around Weirs Beach, New Hampshire

 Because The Two Old Ladies were away this past week, and decided to add an extra day to the trip, I wasn’t home to take pictures of the garden. Instead, I’ll show you some of the things I’ve taken pictures of. So in no particular order because Blogger doesn’t like the iPad I use when traveling 

Tuesday 8/25 Panicled Hydrangea around the pool

Morning Glories done for the day on the fence around the pool

Planter at the pool

The pool. I hung out by the stairs and rail soaking my knee in the cool water 

Zinnia by the pool

Earlier Tuesday morning Wearing my knee stabilizer and waiting to be discharged from Urgent Care

Monday 8/24 Sundaes for dinner at The Kellerhaus Candy House and Ice Cream

Amazing rainbow after a brief shower

It was actually a double rainbow over Lake Winnipesaukee

Owl thing to scare other things away at the pool

A view of the George Washington boat that offers excursions around Lake Winnipesaukee.

Hydrangeas and

Hosta around the pool.

Wednesday 8/26 clouds over the lake

The George Washington coming back to port

Waxing Gibbous Moon

Thursday 8/28 a stop at the Meredith Trading Post for souvenirs 

I thought the big bear would look cool in my front yard

A lone loon enjoying a swim at the beach

Dump Ducks aka Sea Gulls

The Tiki Boat returning to port

Cloudy skies so we had the beach to ourselves

I love puns

Downtown illuminated beach sign

Before the lunar eclipse. Clouds moved in so we couldn’t see the actual event

Friday 8/29 Sasquatches on our way to Gunstock Mountain Resort

Our cabana because we know how to beach

This little duck was wandering the beach all week. He came right up to me hoping I would have a treat for him. Sorry, Duckie

Full Moon Rising

Having a slice of pizza for dinner downtown across the street from the boardwalk

A Dump Duck having a bath in the lake

A sand castle 

Late afternoon, and we had the beach all to ourselves again

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

USEFUL RECYCLE HACK! Cute Mini Composition Book Idea! Recycled Folio!

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week

1. Two old ladies on the road checked in at the Half Moon Motel and Cottages. We got our favorite cabin #6. Because weather for Friday sounded iffy, Teague asked if we could add an extra day. The answer was YES.

2. Over the weekend I had done something to my knee. Getting up out of a chair or climbing stairs it made a click or a snap. By Tuesday it was very swollen. Teague took me to Urgent Care. I wasn’t in pain. I had X-rays which only showed arthritis. The doctor prescribed short term dose of Prednisone for the inflammation, put me in a knee stabilizer, and sent me on my merry way.

3. I was told to start the medication the next morning. I have reactions to several medications and I was worried about taking this one and having a reaction.

4. I took the Prednisone after breakfast and had a little nausea, a very common side-effect. The nausea wore off by noon. I did not spoil Summer vacation.

5. We went to the beach at Lake Winnipesaukee. With the brace, I was able to walk to the water and wade up to my ankles so the brace wouldn’t get wet. Did I mention I did not ruin Summer vacation?

How was your week?

TBT Reprints from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

    In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by.

Friday, November 30, 2007

One Car Funeral - Parte Deux

After we dropped the Weebles off after the dress rehearsal for the funeral, Himself looked at me and said, "What did we learn from this?"

"Never to trust directions from Mapquest?"

"And?"

"Never to trust appointments made by the Weebles. If I don't personally make the appointment, I am to call and check the appointment with a person of authority, not a Weeble."

The morning of the funeral was a bit more hectic than the morning of the dress rehearsal. I wrote out a few more Christmas cards for my client, and then went to pull the Young One out of school. I couldn't ask Red to go pick the Young One up, so the girl had the afternoon off from school. She didn't seem too upset.

While the Young One had lunch, I made a phone call.

"Good morning, Sacred Heart Church, may I help you?"

"Yes, I would like to check the date and time for a funeral Mass for the Uncle?"

"Father Salducci will say the Mass today at 3 o'clock."

"Thank you."

The dress rehearsal certainly helped as Himself negotiated the streets without getting lost. The old woman must have been watching out for us because there was a parking space right in front of the church.

One eerie thing happened. We were introducing ourselves to Fr. Salducci so he would understand the Theory of Relativity. Ma introduced me as her sister, J, gone six years. I corrected the introduction.

The roof didn't fall in when I entered the church. Fr. Salducci said a beautiful service and was very attentive to Ma. She liked being treated like La Signora, The Lady.

After the funeral, we went back to Uncle Salvatore's for coffee and the old woman made sure we got a space right in front of the house. As we were removing coats, Ma told me when she looked at me when we were being introduced to the priest, she said she saw her sister instead of me. It didn't surprise me as Ma and her sister were very close. Ma seemed happy and comforted that her sister dropped by.

I performed a tech support service for Uncle Salvatore. The display on his phone was in Spanish. By pressing the menu button, I was able to select English for the display. Uncle was thrilled he could now read and understand the display on his phone. Maybe I've discovered a new career for myself. Weeble Tech Support. Could I handle the stress? Where's my Mahta-Cro?