Pathway to peace at Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha

The weekend before the trip to Seattle found me at the local botanical gardens: https://www.omahabotanicalgardens.org/. For your viewing pleasure, and so you can download the image to your desktop and trick your overworked mind into thinking you too are walking along the path in Omaha, here is one of the photos from that visit. If you are ever in the Omaha area, stop by and check this site out - they have a wonderful garden train display that is outside in the warmer weather, and inside in winter.

Liquid salvation - yep, you read correctly.

The Assertive Cancer Patient blog author and I enjoyed shopping and eating at an Asian supermarket (calling it a store is not nearly descriptive enough for all the things it holds!): http://www.uwajimaya.com/. One of the things I saw on sale: Liquid Salvation. Sorry, I didn't buy any to bring home, but it is kind of comforting to know it is out there if we want it...

Fun in Seattle equals running around in a convertible.

Ah, the open sky and the cool weather (compared to Omaha weather in the summer, ANYWHERE can be considered cooler) - both best enjoyed with a friend in an open-topped car. Lucky for me, The Assertive Cancer Patient blog author has a 64 Corvair. This picture shows just the corner of the windshield as I was rubbernecking at the beautiful buildings in downtown Seattle. I bought a 'pashmina' (a knock-off, not the real thing) to wrap around my head to keep the sun off my left face and neck, and the wind out of my left ear - it worked great. Even now, walking from my car to work and around campus, it works well in Omaha - doesn't heat up even in direct sun.

I have finally met a fellow ACC fighter in person!

I was lucky enough last week while in Seattle to meet in person another ACC fighter, Dan. The picture shows us in a (probably endangered) Starbucks. We met to continue the work we had begun on some patient support information for the ACCRF site. No doubt he would argue this point, but I think he is a great model for handling what this disease throws at you over the years. Go Dan, go! I am glad to count myself in your team of supporters!

Still recovering from Seattle trip and experiences - adding posts soon

Sorry to keep you in suspense about what transpired in Seattle - lack of hours, limits of my own energy, and a computer that is now in another's bedroom has led to this unintended silence. For your reading enjoyment, here is a link to the Seattle PI newspaper article that highlighted our blogger reunion: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/372201_cancerbloggers25.html. More posts to come!

Leaving on a jet plane next week - to join bloggers in Seattle!

The Cancer Bloggers Reunion takes place next week in Seattle. Here is an announcement of one of the events we will participate in as a panel:

"Why We Blog": At Cancer Lifeline, July 25




Cancer Lifeline presents:

“Why We Blog”—A Panel Discussion
Friday, July 25, 1:00 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Cancer Lifeline’s Dorothy S. O'Brien Center at Greenlake

Cancer Lifeline will host a panel of cancer bloggers from around the country on July 25 at Cancer Lifeline’s Dorothy S. O'Brien Center, located in the Greenlake neighborhood, at 6522 Fremont Avenue North.

The bloggers include two women living with metastatic breast cancer: Deanna Kingston, who is an associate professor of anthropology at Oregon State University in Corvallis and an Oregonian of King Island Inupiaq Eskimo descent. Her blog is: Dee’s Updates. Also, Seattle blogger Jeanne Sather, who organized this event; her blog is The Assertive Cancer Patient.

The third is Teresa Hartman, who has a very rare cancer, adenoid cystic carcinoma. She is an associate professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where her primary area of research is health information literacy. She blogs as The Cheeky Librarian.

The fourth blogger is a leukemia survivor who is two years post-transplant, Debby Greer-Costello, of San Antonio, Texas. She blogs as Debutaunt.

The topic for the panel is “Why We Blog.” The discussion will include:

• Types of cancer blogs
• Reasons to blog when you have cancer
• What we gain: community, friends, answers to our questions
• Privacy and blogging
• Making money with a blog
• Men, women, cancer, sex, and blogging
• And more.

The presentation is free and open to the public. Go to Cancer Lifeline’s Web site to register: Cancer Lifeline.

Cancer Lifeline provides emotional support, classes and exercise programs in the Puget Sound Area. We serve all people living with cancer--patients, family members, and co-workers. All our programs and services are free of charge.

For more information visit our Web site, Cancer Lifeline.

Clinical trial using psilocybin is seeking volunteers

Johns Hopkins University researchers are calling for volunteers:
Scientific Study of Self-exploration and personal meaning
http://www.bpru.org/cancer/insight/

Here is a link to the collected stories on the research to date at Google:

http://news.google.com/?ned=us&ncl=1225281611&hl=en&topic=m

Hey, if it will help, go for it. I figure where I live, I will continue to use family and friend support to get through the anxiety in the daytime - at night, that is another matter altogether, but one deals with what one is dealt.