Hello From Sunny Arizona!

Hi! My younger sister (she-who-declines-to-be-named-in-my-blog) and her significant other very generously invited me to spend a couple weeks recovery time with them in Arizona. They had all sorts of sky miles saved up , so my tickets were free, and my sister had other business in New England so she came up and flew back with me. The difference in weather and terrain is so great as to make the initial experience seem a little surreal, but Arizona with its variety of succulents and flowers, mesquites and Palo Verdes, is rapidly becoming familiar as we drive around and I am able to take in the sights and sounds (and sometimes odors!) of this desert that is coming alive with its unfamiliar infestation of humanity. The above reference to odor is due to the moment I opened the car door and was hit full in the face with the scents of one (or many) of the stockyards that surround the Phoenix area. It smelled as though the desert had been both biologically and socially indiscreet, although that is not the way I initially phrased it to my traveling companions. So far that has been the only real negative to the experience, which has been very enjoyable thus far.

It is interesting to see the differences in approach to highway construction/landscaping/decoration here as opposed to the New England area. While in New England there is landscaping and areas set aside for fields of wild flowers, in Arizona there are entire areas of walls and embankment that have been decorated after the fashion of Native American-style art works. As you drive through the area there are the most intriguing pictographs of dragonflies and Gila monsters; geometric designs abound and designs clearly Native American in inspiration are placed so as to be visible from the air as well as from the ground, as I was able to tell upon my initial arrival at the Phoenix Airport.

I have so much enjoyed seeing all the different types of cactus that grow in the area, most of which appear to be native. The saguaros are really interesting and, as my sister explained that they do not branch until they reach an advanced age of fifty, or so, I have developed an increased appreciation and respect for the "branchier" members of this group of cacti. Many of the other cacti species are getting ready to bloom, there are buds everywhere, and I am hoping some of them will blossom while I am here. If not, I will ask my sister to email me some pictures of the coming events as they unfold. I have lost count of the number of varieties of cacti and other types of succulents that grow so readily here, but there are many of great beauty that I wish I could somehow safely transport back home with me to create a little oasis of desert in the middle of the austere New England winter as a souvenir of my visit here.

My sister and her boyfriend have a lovely home with a small pool out back, which I got to soak in yesterday. I don't think I have felt that relaxed in ages, floating under the Arizona sky with the gentle sun on my face, which did not scorch one inch of my pale and pasty New England complexion! It was wonderful just floating there and wishing I could go on floating there for a much longer time than I had to float in yesterday, so I may take some time to do so today although my sister will scold if I do so while no one else is home. (Sigh, sigh, sigh!)

In the meantime, I very much miss my boyfriend and kitties all suffering October in less temperate climes and will be glad to fly home, but will sigh for this weather for awhile after getting back. It really is lovely here.

Last night we went to a free concert at Phoenix College given by the Phoenix College Community Orchestra. It was in celebration of Halloween and all of the members of the orchestra were dressed in various costumes of their own choosing. The music, commentary, and some really bad jokes were all in keeping with the theme and it was a very enjoyable experience. The music was well played with few glitches (not that I am qualified to note an orchestral glitch should one occur) and the evening thoroughly fun with punch and cookies afterward.

This is my visit so far, aside from a visit to one of the local establishments to purchase replacement breasts (temporary) which my sister and a large number of others have been encouraging me to do since the initial surgeries last spring. I'll admit it has not been on the top of my priority list but more due to the chemo steamrolling everything else than to my not wanting to deal with it. There have also been some difficulties insurance-wise but mostly I have just been too pooped from the chemo.

So I will return to New England a little more "whole" than I left it, or at least with the appearance of being so, and will resume my life there but not without a brief sigh (or many) for the lovely weather and vistas I leave behind me in Arizona.

Blessings and peace to all.

Izzlebug

Finally, The Last Chemo!

Although it has been better than a week since my last chemotherapy, I can still feel the relief of having the four cycles completed. It will be good to rest up after all of that and try to get back to more normal things, like growing hair, again. Whatever else may not have changed the entire experience of the surgeries and chemo, as well as the treatment yet to come that will take place over the next five years, has given me an appreciation for life and good health I feel I had not fully developed before. It will also be good not to feel as tired and worn as this experience has left me thus far.

Of course, given my family's history, my last treatment had to go out with a bang and it ended up being delayed by a week while I took large doses of antibiotics to overcome a respiratory infection. Afterwards it turned out I was still sick, respiratory-wise as well as chemo-wise, and I was placed on another antibiotic for a week "just to make sure." I will finish that up in a couple of days and then, hopefully, will be fully recovered - or at least as fully recovered as I can be for the moment. Being sick is a royal pain.

Again, there is so much going on around me that I am not sure what to write about but, as it has been for the past several months, necessity has forced my attentions more to me than they otherwise would have been, and I feel as if I have lost track of so much!

One thing that has proven very interesting, as well as worrying, has been the spate of books and information coming out in regards to Iran and their nuclear weapons program. I sincerely hope compromises and agreements can be reached with a minimum of misunderstandings and anger in this very perilous and serious situation. I also wish I had a greater understanding of the situation but, if I did, I would likely still feel I did not know enough.

This morning a horrible crime was discovered in a small town not far from here. A mother and her young daughter were brutally attacked in their home. The mother was murdered and the little girl, though expected to survive, was seriously injured with massive quantities of bones broken. This is the news the husband must have received by now. He has been out of the country on business. The connection of my family to this town is very familiar in that Patty and her two children used to live there and may have known the child and her parents. Though I never made my home there, I still feel shock and grief at what has happened and sincerely hope and pray the murderers are tracked down and in custody very, very soon.

It is late and that is all I can recall off the top of my head, although I know there is, as always, much more news than that to be discussed, thought of, and concerned about.

I also hope anyone who may have been reading my blog at all will forgive me for my neglect - I have had to attend to other issues over the time that has elapsed but am hoping to start writing in my blog at more regular intervals again soon.

Blessings and peace,
Izzlebug