An update on me...

[Michelle_P]

I'm back from a few days off, spent at Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park with a dear friend.  That helped.

The park itself is pretty neat, and quite uncrowded on weekdays.  We took my friend's new-to-her RV up there for a shakedown cruise.  The Lil' KitKat did well, purring along nicely.

I did some iPhone photography, and my friend snapped a few shots of me in my unnatural element of the wild...

A few of my better images...




My friend at work...


And me trying to be Wilderness Girl, squeaking by with tinted sunblock, a little bronzer and highlighter, and basic lip gloss.  You know, roughing it...







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[Cindy]

Fantastic!

I have a thing for volcanoes and have tried to visit  quite a few around the globe. I doubt that I shall visit many more but you never know.

As for the depression hit. Yes we are quite dependent upon our HRT and it is worth noting. I know that there is quite a discussion on going off HRT for surgery and I was highly amused that when I had my laryngectomy I warned my surgeon that I was on oestrogen.
He couldn't see any reason to go off it, after all he only (intentionally) severed my jugular and re-routed it, warned me of the danger of nipping the carotid and removed a large portion of my thigh (for a graft) next to my femoral artery and generally mucked around in my neck for half a day exploring the ins and outs of what was there.
He had never heard of any reason to go off oestrogen.

I was looking at your pic eating a lovely lunch and reading Laurie's reminisce of hiking as a scout and thinking - that is when you need a boy scout; to massage your feet while you have a nice meal and maybe a cold glass of chardonnay after a good hike.

Ahh what a lovely idea!

[Michelle_P]

Cindy, we were really roughing it. That's just a mini-winnibego after all.

After the first day's hike we returned to prepare a simple campers dinner:

Heirloom tomato, basil, and ricotta salad
Roasted delicata squash, lightly seasoned
8 oz filet mignon steaks
Bogle 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon
Brownies and ice cream for dessert.

Perhaps I'll write about the mushroom Gorgonzola scramble from breakfast sometime.

This whole "roughing it" thing can be fun when properly equipped and provisioned.

[emoji75]



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[Michelle_P]

Somehow, Cindy, I suspect the oestrogen risk in your procedure was in the noise.

"Doctor, you removed her HEAD to get better access to the larynx?"

Yow!  Slightly invasive procedure...




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[Dena]

You can live quite well in a motor home and accumulated time, I have probably spent over a year in one with the longest period being several weeks. All the comforts of home except for space. Not a problem if you are careful about picking up after yourself but my roommate wasn't always. You usually found out about it when you took off down the road and a crash came from behind you when something that should have been stowed wasn't. Probable the worst was a large pie that decided to exit a refrigerator that should have been latched. Yes, it landed up side down.

[p]

I have never been much of a camping girl, but I now see that my version was missing the filets mignons, ice cream and mini-Winnie!

[Anne Blake]

Michelle,

The last time that I was camping in the Lassen area it was a four day backpacking event for four of us. I remember my pack was in the forty to fifty pound range......no filet mignon or Chardonnay but every bite that we ate tasted all the better after hauling it in. Though, at my age, a motor home does sound good! Great photos by the way.

[Michelle_P]

Michelle,

The last time that I was camping in the Lassen area it was a four day backpacking event for four of us. I remember my pack was in the forty to fifty pound range......no filet mignon or Chardonnay but every bite that we ate tasted all the better after hauling it in. Though, at my age, a motor home does sound good! Great photos by the way.

Oh dear, that sounds ever so cumbersome...  [emoji6]

I've done backpacking a long time ago, and it was fun.  Alas, now I seem to be more sensitive to cold and have grown accustomed to my creature comforts.

I still enjoyed the time we spent there.

I did one really fun little thing.  I still packed a daypack, with some emergency basics for trail use, and my FT-60 handheld radio.  That little thing worked remarkably well.

Near the Bumpass Hell Trailhead, I managed to connect to W6CX on 2 meters, the repeater system on top of Mount Diablo 181 miles south of me.  Then, through the repeater, I connected to a small plane about 100 miles south of me and at the same altitude.  The airborne ham and I switched to simplex (direct communications without a repeater), and we had a mountaintop to aircraft conversation using a 4 watt handheld radio with 19" whip antenna at my end!

That was a remarkable, if highly nerdy experience.  My companion thought it was pretty funny, particularly that I was so happy about it!  Nerds...   [emoji6]


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[SadieBlake]

Nerd out Michelle! Sounds like a great time and I'm glad you had a get away time before your surgery :-).

I'm also usually in the minimalist camp. My most recent big trips we're a while back, both to the Mt Conness area staying at a national forest walk-in campground. I spent 2 weeks there, 10,000' altitude, me my gear a bicycle and an 18 ft² tent, cooking on my trusty msr kerosene stove. My daughter happened to be in the same area and she and her bf joined me there for a couple of nights, she was surprised how much can be done in a single pot with wild rice, feta cheese, and tomatillos :-).

Hugs, wishing you smooth sailing.

[Michelle_P]

I had my pre-op exam today.  Green light!

Last therapist visit before surgery was yesterday.  I spent the time mostly double checking preparations and looking for anything I had missed.  Looks good to go.

Supplies are staged. 
100 Chux.  Check
Case of Surgilube.  Check
Donut.  Check
Pads. Check
Flushable wipes.  check
Hydrogen Peroxide spray bottle.  Check
Hand mirror.  Check
A&D Ointment.  Check
Reusable cold packs. Check
Bed tray.  Check.
Extra Pillows.  Check
Freezer full of milestone and pea soup.  Check
Gavilyte prescription in.  check
...
So it goes.

Chugging gavilyte starts at 8 AM next Wednesday, as does the clear liquid diet.  Booooring...


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[Anne Blake]

Michelle, congratulations on getting to this point, you have come so far so quickly. Good luck getting through the next few days then get ready for the glacial pace of healing. All the best to you! Tia Anne

[Megan.]

Good luck for everything.  Xxx

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[SadieBlake]

Psyched for you Michelle!! Do you have someone on your support team who can post here for you post-op?

Big hugs

[Devlyn]

Off you go! "Milestone and pea soup" love that!

Hugs, Devlyn

[Kendra]

Countdown!  Best wishes.

[Michelle_P]

Off you go! "Milestone and pea soup" love that!

Hugs, Devlyn

Stupid spellcheckers...  Minestrone...

Although it is a milestone...


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[Devlyn]

Milestone is much better! 

"Waiter, milestone soup for everybody!"

Hugs, Devlyn

[Jessica Lynne]

Congratulations and all the best of luck for a perfect outcome, Michelle. If you can earn this thing, gawd knows you qualified.

[Michelle_P]

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[Michelle_P]

Psyched for you Michelle!! Do you have someone on your support team who can post here for you post-op?

Big hugs

I think so. I'll poke a few folks.

I have a support team set up using the lotsahelpinghands.com web site, and I think the initial word will go out on that.

I'll post once I'm functional, of course. The odds are quite good that y'all will still have to put up with me, and the flood of Wiki articles I am planning. [emoji56]


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