It's Always Something

Relay for Life Tribute to Nancy

2011-06-27T13:25:00.000-04:00

Honoring My Sister…Nancy Tufts

Relay for Life 2011

My sister, Nancy Tufts, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer on May 23. 2005. Since that time, she underwent two major surgeries, numerous rounds of chemotherapy, and many hospitalizations. In spite of all of that, she was the most upbeat person I ever knew. She had a personality that was larger than life: she could tell a story like no one else and brought laughter to everyone who was lucky enough to meet her.

In 2006, Nancy asked me to go to Falmouth High School with her to see what “Relay for Life” was all about. She walked her first Survivor lap and felt empowered meeting so many other survivors and caregivers. The next year, she formed her own team, Tufts Teal Warriors, and became an enthusiastic volunteer for Relay. When the event moved to Windham High School, Nancy fought the side-effects of her chemo to work tirelessly with the planning committee to make the first Relay for Life of the Sebago Lakes Region a reality.

Last year, Nancy told her survivor story at Closing Ceremony. Those of you who were still awake at 6:00 a.m. may remember the skinny little survivor in the purple t-shirt and teal Crocs…what you may not have known was how sick she was. But Nancy wanted to tell her story… to offer hope, and…to encourage other women with the kinds of vague symptoms she had in 2004 to trust their guts and get checked. She wished she had not waited so long.

A few months after last year’s Relay…on November 14th, 2010…Nancy passed away.

Although Relay will never be the same without her leading our team, we know that she would not have wanted us to be sad tonight. She’d tell us to “get a grip”, “snap out of it”, and “start walking”!

Nancy’s favorite movie was “The Wizard of Oz”. She even had her own ruby slippers …well...glittery ruby flip-flops! After she passed away, we found pages of her favorite quotes on her laptop and, not surprisingly, many of them were from “The Wizard of Oz”...

You know the story. The characters traveled to Oz to meet the wizard hoping that he could solve their problems and give them what they needed…a way home, a heart, a brain, and courage. What the characters ultimately discovered is that the wizard was unable to give them anything more than what they had come to him with.

They had the ability, the strength, the heart, and the courage all along. It was inside each of them and they just had to discover it.

When Nancy was diagnosed with cancer, she started looking for answers. With the support of family, friends, and organizations like the American Cancer Society, she found the answers she needed…and the strength to persevere. She endured experiences that a few months before would have seemed unimaginable.

Like Dorothy and her friends, Nancy found that she already had the brains, the heart and the courage she needed to fight her cancer…it was there all along, right within her. We each have that strength deep within us. We are braver than we realize. I know that Nancy Tufts was.

So, in memory of Nancy and all cancer survivors, let’s walk that Yellow Brick Road together tonight, with faith that somewhere…over the rainbow…we will find a CURE. Let’s honor Nancy by laughing and hugging and sharing happy memories. Let’s click our heels together three times and repeat, as Nancy would if she were here… there’s no place like HOPE…there’s no place like HOPE, there’s no place like HOPE.

Thanks for the Memories

2010-11-24T09:47:00.006-05:00

This will be my last post on "It's Always Something". It's been so much fun doing this blog with Nancy for the past few years and I will leave it up so that we can come back to the posts here from time to time and relive the memories through her posts and photos.

All of us in Nancy's family want to thank you all for your kindness and expressions of sympathy at this difficult time. One thing I know for sure, though, is that Nancy would not want us to be sad. She would probably say, "OK you guys, get on with it, I'm fine". So, on that note, I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

On a personal note, I have found that writing is a way that helps me deal with difficult times and I have missed blogging about Nancy. So...I have started a new blog - very different from this one - but dedicated to Nancy. It is called "My Sister's Cottage" and can be found at http://mysisterscottage.blogspot.com/. I hope you'll visit me there from time to time.
Love,
Cheryl

a message from Nancy

2010-11-19T03:55:00.006-05:00

This is to all of you. It was found on Nancy's computer:

From Dark to Light

Today is a very special day
Not just for me but for all of my friends and family
It has been 5 years of success
Unfortunately, not all of it was filled with happiness.

There were days of darkness
And others filled with anger
Wondering why I was chosen
To be in this much danger.

I have cried and yelled and screamed
Wondering why God was doing this to me
What did I do, was I bad?
I was not sure and became very sad.

I was scared and felt helpless
Not many people my age had been through this
As I wondered how I was going to get by
I was blessed with angels who were always by my side.

As the days and months went on
I started getting strong
And as I learned to cope
I discovered the meaning of hope.

I am in a much better place today
Than I was 5 years ago
And I have my friends and family to thank for that
You are all my angels…and I just wanted you to know.
I love you all

Services for Nancy

2010-11-15T19:40:00.004-05:00

Visiting hours for Nancy will be held from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 17, at Conroy-Tully Crawford Funeral Home, 1024 Broadway, SouthPortland. A Celebration of Nancy’s Life will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 18, at East Point Christian Church, 58 City Line Drive, Portland. The church is located just behind Time-Warner near the Portland Jetport. Interment will be at Old Calvary Cemetery, South Portland.
There will be a reception at East Point Church Hall immediately following the service at the cemetary. All are welcome.
The full obituary will appear in Tuesday's Portland Press Herald (& the on-line edition) and in Thursday's York County Coast Star.

In a Better Place

2010-11-14T06:23:00.015-05:00

Nancy Ann Smith Tufts
September 20, 1952 - November 14, 2010

Nancy's journey ended at 5:00 a.m this morning, Sunday, November 14, 2010. She left us peacefully, surrounded by those who loved her, and is now in the loving hands of God. This quotation was found on Nancy's computer last night:

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me".

Nancy...you did...and no one you touched will ever be quite the same because of you. Love you forever...

A Tribute to Nancy

2010-11-13T21:39:00.003-05:00

This just arrived via e-mail:
Aaron,
I can not put into words how much I love Nancy. I am certain that there are countless others that feel exactly the same way. I know also that you love her dearly. I am so sorry that you all have had to endure a farewell such as this. It's not fair to Nancy or to any of you, pure and simple. Nancy was more than just someone that I worked with in the fight against cancer. She was a friend, an inspiration, and she was also a "teacher" on many levels. I will take with me many lessons I have learned from Nancy, and carry her strength into this fight for a cure. It was just a day after losing a cherished member of my family to cancer that I began this journey, and I will not ever stop fighting for a cure in his or Nancy's name. No one should have to go through this.
I am working to put together a resolution in Nancy's honor. This is something that the American Cancer Society does for it's most cherished volunteers. I would like to get it to you before her service. It is a personal proclamation that I know will be very meaningful to you and all of her family and friends. Traditionally it is read to, and then presented to a family by an ACS staff person. I would love to do this for you all in Nancy's honor. I could bring it to you any time next week, as it will take a few days to put together. I would also like to read it at the Relay in June.
Please let me know if there is ANYTHING that I can do for you all! If you would please share this email with Kit and Erin. I would like them to know how to get in touch with me as well.
I feel truly blessed that you would all allow me to come to see Nancy last night. I will not ever forget the feeling of her hand in mine. I could not say goodbye to her. I believe that there are some things in life that can never leave you. Nancy is one of those special things to me. I will carry her in my heart forever.
Sending you all love, and hope for peace,
Dawn Emery
American Cancer Society, Maine Chapter

Native American Poem
I give you this one thought to keep -
I am with you still -
I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not think of me as gone -
I am with you still - in each new dawn.

Share your love and memories with Nancy!

2010-11-13T17:31:00.004-05:00

Nancy is resting comfortably. Her whole family is with her. She is never alone now. We appreciate your thoughts and will read them to her. Thank you for all the love and prayers. Andi

A Goblin with Donkey Teeth?

2010-11-10T08:48:00.015-05:00

Stopped in to see Nancy early this morning on my way to work. When I got there at 6:30, Joanne, Kit, Erin and two nurses were in the room with Nancy....all red-faced from laughing. When I asked what I had missed, Erin said there was a "side issue". Apparently, after a pump or two of morphine, Nancy decided that one of the legs of her IV stand resembled a goblin with donkey teeth! She said it with such a straight face that there apparently were howls of laughter, with Nancy joining in as soon as she realized what she had said. As I was hearing the story about the goblin with donkey teeth, in came a resident with a picture of a goblin she had printed off of Google and Nancy said, "Ya...that looks like it but the teeth need to be bigger". Next thing we know, another nurse came in with a print-out of a very Shrek-like set of donkey teeth for Nancy's careful inspection. Once Nancy agreed that the teeth were correct, the whole Goblin got taped to Nancy's wall amid howls of laughter from Kit & Erin, stunning Smith sisters, and Gibson staff alike. It was so good to see Nancy laugh and to belly-laugh with her again. She has always been the one to bring laughter to our lives and continues to do so even now.

Nancy had a liter and a half of fluid drained from around her lungs yesterday so is more comfortable breathing today...that is a relief to see. Kit and Erin have been spending every night at the hospital with her and last night Joanne stayed as well. Tonight is my turn. The staff at Gibson have been so amazing and so kind to Nancy. Her night nurse, Addy, actually came in to hug her goodbye at shift change at 7:00 a.m.

Nancy's wall of cards and photos is growing every day and she really appreciates everyone's thoughts and prayers. Kit brought Mom in again yesterday and she spent a long time just being with with Nancy. Joanne brought Nancy a book about the cats who live on Mt. Washington and read it aloud to her last night...beautiful story and illustrations. Nancy is surrounded with love right now and she is still giving it right back to all of us.

A Good Night & A New Room

2010-11-09T07:58:00.017-05:00

Nancy had a good night last night and is resting comfortably this morning. Right now, she is visiting with two friends from her church, Donna and the pastor's wife, Beth. Nancy gave a big smile as soon as she saw them. I have found a quiet little reading room on the floor to sneak away to so that Nancy can have some private "visitor time". Kit is grabbing his first cup of coffee and some Tony's donuts, a perq of the MMC cafeteria, and Erin is making some phone calls.
Last night, Nancy moved to a NEW ROOM, #556. It is just to the right of the nurse's station in the section of Gibson she has been in all along. The new room is much larger and has a beautiful view of Portland looking to the west. Nancy's NEW PHONE # is 662-7698.
Nancy had a pretty comfortable day yesterday. Hank brought Mom in for a visit in the morning and, in the afternoon, Nancy saw Pastor Scott, Lisa from EastPoint Church, Betsy Seavey, Andi and, of course Aaron, Kit and Erin. I hope I haven't left anyone out. Her new room looks really cheerful and is full of flowers and cards. She received roses from Joanne and Mark and a big bouquet of balloons from Joanne Sizemore and Claudia Dalton that are floating right above her bed.
Nancy has always been a "night person" and last night was no exception. This morning, at about 1:00 a.m., Nancy decided that she wanted to go for a walk. She said she was "sick of being in the room" and wanted "out". So, with the help of Nancy's nurses, we packed up the IV pole and oxygen tank, loaded Nan into a wheelchair, and headed down the hall to surprise Kit (Nancy's idea:-) We "snuck" past the second nurses station (wink*wink*) and took a long walk. Nancy told the nurses at the last nurses station we passed to look for her IV pole along the side of the road:=) After our adventure in the wheelchair, the nurses offered Nancy the larger room so, at 2:00 a.m., she moved. After she was settled in 556, Nancy finally was ready to sleep and slept well until this morning.
I know that Nancy appreciates everyone's cards, visits, thoughts and prayers...she says so all the time...so I'll pass that on to all of you this morning on her behalf. Love you all...

Morning Update

2010-11-05T08:30:00.003-04:00

I know that everyone is wondering how Nancy is doing so thought I'd post a quick update this morning. She has had a rough few days since my last post.
Yesterday they scheduled her for a CT scan and she showed her typical sense of humor by asking Kit to put her "black cat" Halloween socks on her....she wanted to wear cat socks to the "cat" scan. Yup, that's Nancy!
Nancy got a beautiful flower arrangement yesterday from the "Gold Bond Girls" and Nancy Whitman from Wells Elementary School...just gorgeous! They are right on her bedside tray. I know she misses all of her WES and Gold Bond friends a lot. I heard that some of you would like to visit her and think she would like to see old friends when she feels up to it. I'd suggest you call her first at 662-7706 just to be sure she is up for visitors, or check in with Aaron at 775-7290.
Off to work...more later...

Halloween with Nancy

2010-10-31T18:38:00.012-04:00

Hank and I took Mom to see Nancy Sunday afternoon. Aaron was there too. Here are some photos.

Nancy has been busy: Yesterday morning, before we visited, she had her kidney stents replaced and today she had a procedure to drain the fluid (ascites) from her abdomen. She was still a little sore from that this afternoon when I stopped by but was glad to have the ascites gone. Nancy seems to be getting stronger and is now walking laps around Gibson with her IV pole three times a day. You go, Girl!

Saturday evening with Nancy

2010-10-30T20:17:00.007-04:00

Just got back from visiting Nancy and thought I would update everyone. She looked good tonight and was comfortable...still on the morphine drip she can control herself. Tomorrow morning she will have minor surgery to replace her kidney stents. They are also giving her medication through her IV to lower her Coumadin level. Once the level is low enough, hopefully on Monday, the doctors plan to drain Nancy's ascites again. Their theory now is that ascites is probably causing the bowel obstruction. So...lots going on.

I had my camera in my purse (had just been to Kristen's Halloween party) so here are a couple of photos from Nancy's room. And yes...that is Halloween candy she has on the bed. Her friend Betsy came in yesterday and decorated Nancy's room for Halloween. She left some "trick or treats" for the nurses...which Nancy and I decided to sample. Nancy was able to eat a little solid food today (she chose Cheerios!) but will have to stop again at midnight due to the surgery in the morning.

Long day so all for tonight.

Update on Nancy

2010-10-28T19:57:00.015-04:00

I just got back from the hospital and wanted to update everyone on how Nancy is doing. Aaron spent most of the day with her and her close friend, Betsy, and her daughter-in-law, Erin, were also in for awhile today. I didn't get there until about 5:00 today and when I arrived she was in quite a bit of pain. When I left at 7:00, she had been started on a morphone drip that she could control herself and was more comfortable. She was very tired from an uncomfortable day so I shut out the lights and she was hopeful that she could get some sleep with the pain under better control. She is getting wonderful nursing care so I know she is in the right place. I hope that tomorrow will be a better day.

Nancy has her laptop with her and I read her all of your comments on the blog...she was really moved that so many people were thinking of her and sending their prayers. Thanks to everyone. It is probably still best to limit the number of visitors and phone calls until she is feeling a little better.

Some people have asked about donating blood. You can't designate a recipient when you give blood (without paying a hefty fee and undergoing tons of red tape) so I would recommend that anyone who wants to donate give blood at their local Red Cross donor center to keep up the general blood supply. It will make you feel good and help insure that there is plenty of blood on hand for Nancy and other patients like her who may need it.

Tonight, Nancy had on some adorable Halloween socks that Erin had brought her...orange with ruffles and black cats with pom pom tails! Nancy's personality always shines through on even the darkest days.

p.s. Nancy's room is very nice but a little DULL. If you would like to send her a card, we'll hang it on the wall for her to look at. The address is Maine Medical Center, Rm. 562 Gibson, 22 Bramhall St., Portland, ME 04101.

Nancy admitted to MMC tonight

2010-10-26T21:56:00.017-04:00

Nancy has had a rough couple of weeks and I haven't really known what to write because on some days she was feeling O.K. and on others she was miserable. She has tried so hard to "not be sick anymore" as she puts it. Tonight, though, she was readmitted to MMC by her oncologist, Dr. Laurie Small, for a combination of anemia, pain,and a bowel obstruction. She is in a private room in the Gibson Unit, room 562. I'll try to bring you up to date since my last post on her condition.

If you've been following the blog, you know that Nancy came home from MMC on September 10th after 12 days. She was so happy to be out and, although still weak and suffering from some fatigue and nausea, managed to do a lot of things she was looking forward to: Uncle Ed's visit, her birthday dinner with the family, "Cousins' Weekend", her 40th KHS class reunion, a foliage trip to Jackson, N.H. with Aaron, and Kristen's annual birthday bash. In the meantime, on September 23rd, October 7th and October 14th she had more infusions of Topotecan as well as blood transfusions for the anemia. She was supposed to have her third Topotecan infusion in this cycle this week but today's blood work showed that she is too anemic for chemo right now.

Aaron brought Nancy to the doctors this morning and I joined them there as the Maine Women's Cancer Center is very close to my school. Aaron had insisted that she go as she has been in a lot of pain with vomiting and intense fatigue. Yesterday was especially difficult. She was going to try to wait to see Dr. Small until her regular appointment on Wednesday but I am so glad that Aaron stepped in and called for the appointment today instead. (Nancy is tough...we all know that...she would have waited). The doctor prescribed some medication but apparently, when this morning's blood work results came back, the doctor called Nancy and told her she needed to come to the hospital. Once Aaron brought her in, she received two more units of blood. So...as much as we all want to see Nancy at home, the hospital appears to be where she needs to be right now while she regains her strength.

Nancy continues to fight this thing so hard that sometimes it breaks my heart. She is the strongest, bravest person I know and the best sister in the world. I know that everyone reading this loves Nancy too so, Nancy, if you're reading this on your laptop at MMC, hang in there...we all love you and can't wait for you to get home!

2010-10-19T22:57:00.001-04:00

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Columbus Day Weekend

2010-10-13T21:33:00.020-04:00

We spent the long Columbus Day weekend camping in the new Casita with Rob, Taka and Toshi at Pawtuckaway State Park in Nottingham, NH. The weather was beautiful and we had a site right by the lake. Rob brought his tent so there was plenty of room for all five of us. Taka had camped with us last Columbus Day weekend, but this was Toshi's first camping experience and he got right into it! On Sunday, we took the boys to a pumpkin farm where they got to go on a hayride and choose their own pumpkins to take back to Brooklyn.

We were pretty hungry after all that Pumpkin-hunting, so in the afternoon it was back to camp for a "weiner" cook-out. Toshi was a fast learner!

After lunch, Grampy helped the boys carve their pumpkins. Taka thought the seeds were pretty gross...here they are:

And Toshi thought the pumpkin top made a pretty cool hat!

After a busy day, the jack-o-lanterns made perfect night lights while the boys slept soundly in Daddy's tent.

p.s. Our cousin, Lynn Armstrong surprised us with a visit to Pawtuckaway Saturday afternoon. It was great to spend some time with her and her adorable dog, Lily, around the campfire. (Yes...Lily is named after Grammy Boocock!)

Return of the Pumpkin People

2010-10-09T05:15:00.025-04:00

Yesterday Aaron had the day off as one of his last vacation days. Since it happened on such short notice, we decided to take a leaf-peeping ride to one of our favorite towns Jackson, N.H. If you've never been there, it's in the White Mountains, near North Conway (outlet malls!) and is just beautiful at any time of year. We went to see the pumpkin people. This is a great project held every October and sponsored by the Jackson Chamber of Commerce. Businesses, restaurants and inns around the Jackson area make these elaborate displays using pumpkins or gourds and the Chamber gives you a map and ballot to ride around looking at the pumpkin people and then you vote on your favorite. We discovered it last year when we spent a long weekend at the Christmas Farm Inn, a great B&B with our good friends Mickey and Debie Chabot. So much fun! Here are some pictures of some of our favorites!

Waldo, from the Where's Waldo children's book series. Notice the pumpkin head and "gourd" ears!

This Wizard of Oz scene (our personal favorite) was at the Inn at Jackson-it won the judges choice as they did last fall when they did the Blue Man Group...notice how detailed the painting of the faces is!

Next is Black Mountain Ski Area's person--it looks like Kit on a day he's working ski patrol only he carries around 40 pounds of supplies around his waist!

And finally, here are Aaron and I in Fred Flintstone's car (a golf cart) at the Eagle Mountain House-notice again the details--the gang's all here including Pebbles and Bam Bam and Dino, whose bright pink head is a gourd! Yubba Dubba Do!

Note to Joanne--one business even had a flock of pink flamingos--maybe you'd like to "borrow " this idea for fall camping trips in the Tab!

Enough of the Pumpkin People--here are some shots of the beautiful foliage in the Mountains and the Black Mountain Ski Area without snow!

And finally...here are some pictures of Kit's dream mountain get away cabin--it's for sale and he'd love it-it's walking distance to Black Mountain, babbling brook running behind the property--I think it's about $100,000-a steal right? Only a few problems--no heat,no electric, no plumbing--any ambitious family members or friends want to go in on a "fixer upper" with Kit? He'd love it!!

Cousins' Weekend 2010

2010-10-07T00:38:00.008-04:00

Uncle Ed's Visit

2010-09-27T21:25:00.014-04:00

Uncle Ed Smith, our Dad's younger brother, came up to Maine for a visit on Sunday. We all had a great afternoon together at Nancy's. Here are some photos...
Andrea, Cheryl, Uncle Ed, & Nancy

Off to the class reunion

2010-09-25T17:45:00.008-04:00

Nancy made it! She and Aaron are on their way to Kennebunk for Nancy's 40th class reunion. Here are some photos taken just before they left. Congratulations, Class of 1970!

I'm Going to Get You, My Pretty!

2010-09-23T21:21:00.011-04:00

That must be what Nancy's T.V. was thinking before it flung itself out of the wall cabinet Tuesday night and landed on Nancy! What next???

Seems Aaron had gone to bed and Nancy was staying up late watching TV on the couch. She got up to turn the TV a bit to see it better and - you got it - out it came - crashing to the floor and pinning her left leg. One trip to the E.R. later, Nancy is on crutches with rug burns on her face and broken glasses but, thank God, no broken leg. Could this have happened to anyone else???

This morning, Nancy hobbled into the Maine Women's Cancer center on her crutches for the second weekly infusion of her new chemo drug, Topotecan. Before the chemo could begin, the doctor decided that she needed a blood transfusion as yesterday's blood work indicated that she is anemic again. She finally got home late this afternoon and was resting when I left. Between the swollen left knee, the cockeyed glasses, and the chemo, I think Nancy is doing well to be hanging in there like she is.

Nancy's goal this week is to make it to her 40th Kennebunk High School reunion on Saturday. The class of 1970 would surely be disappointed if the head cheerleader didn't make it. Knowing Nancy, she'll rally and be the life of the party. "Give me a K...!!!"

Mom (Alice) Update

2010-09-20T20:33:00.009-04:00

Today Mom moved from Maine Medical Center to the Sam L. Cohen Rehab. Center at the Cedars on Ocean Avenue (almost across from Nancy's home at Summer Place) in Portland. She will be there for a few weeks to regain her strength before heading home to Chandler's Wharf to be with "Tabby". She has a lovely room there...much nicer than the hospital. She is in room 203B and her bedside phone # is 207-221-7206 if you'd like to give her a call. We're all glad that Mom is getting better and hope she will soon be strong enough to be where she really wants to be...in her own home!

p.s. If you would like to send Mom a note or card, her address is:

Rm. 203B

The Cedars

640 Ocean Ave.

Portland, ME 04103

Happy Birthday, Nancy!

2010-09-19T20:46:00.007-04:00

We Love You!

Home ...At Last!

2010-09-10T18:26:00.002-04:00

this is just a quick update to let everyone know that I got home from MMC at about 4:30 this afternoon!! So glad to be home and see my babies (the cats) again-although 1 is snubbing me right now! Aaron ran to the drug store to pick up the SIX new prescriptions now added to my morning routine--thank God for insurance but it still gets up there when you get so many at once. I'm exhausted, and plan to be flip side very soon under my favorite blanket napping--but I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone for their cards, phone calls,visits, flowers etc. The past 12 days were hard but I've got a great support system. Thanks again--it's good to be back among the land of the living!!

another test

2010-09-10T08:11:00.006-04:00

Nancy will be having an endoscopy this morning in a continuing effort to address her almost-constant nausea. She was supposed to have her fourth chemo. in this series yesterday at the hospital but Dr. Small postponed it until these tests could be completed. She may still receive the chemo in the next few days, either with the Doxil or a different drug. She is in amazingly good spirits considering all that she is going through and has appreciated all the cards and visits. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers and I'll continue to keep everyone posted as to how she's doing through the blog.

Nancy Update

2010-09-08T21:04:00.003-04:00

Nancy is still at MMC. Her kidneys have cleared up but she is still very nauseous. The doctors did a number of tests yesterday and today (chest X-ray, CT scan, Ultrasound) and Nancy is awaiting the results. Hopefully, they will pinpoint the cause of her discomfort so that it can be treated and she can come home soon.

We Made It!

2010-09-05T22:03:00.021-04:00

We made it home today with our new Casita in tow...picked it up in Rice, Texas, just south of Dallas, Thursday morning and drove 2000 miles back to Maine in four days. Here are a few photos from the road.

Hank at the Casita factory bright and early Thursday morning...after four months of waiting, it's finally our pick-up day!

On the road from Dallas to Little Rock...stopped in East Texas for lunch at "Mi Casita" Mexican restaurant... and parked our "Casita" in front.

Friday...dawn on the Arkansas river.

This is the view we woke up to!

Coffee Friday morning and a sneak peak at the inside of our new Casita. I'll need to get my sister Joanne up here soon to help with the interior decorating!

Returned to find out that Nancy is still feeling miserable...anxious to go see her at MMC in the morning. Please keep her in your prayers.
p.s. Nancy - you've got to get well so we can do some fall camping together...why do you think we got a new camper that sleeps THREE???

Mom's home

2010-09-04T16:35:00.000-04:00

All's well. Just need to spring Nancy now.
Andi

Hi from Virginia

2010-09-04T14:04:00.008-04:00

Hank and I have finally stopped at a place with WiFi...writing this from a Starbucks in Staunton, Virginia at lunchtime on Saturday. Good flight to Dallas on Wednesday; just made it in before they closed Love Field due to thunderstorms. Picked up our new Casita early Thursday morning and just LOVE IT! Drove from Dallas to Little Rock Thursday afternoon...stopped for real Mexican food on the way at a restaurant called, of all things, La Casita. Food was great...the real thing. Spent Thursday night at a beautiful campground, Maumelle Park, on the Arkansas River just outside of Little Rock. Passed the Clinton Presidential Library but did not have time to stop. Yesterday we left Little Rock and drove through Memphis and Nashville, spending the night in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant just east of Knoxville, Tennessee. Cracker Barrel welcomes RVers overnight so we were not the only ones. With the Casita, we were very comfy and had breakfast this morning right there (grits, bisquits and gravy, etc...). Today traffic is light so our goal is to make it to Pennsylvania before stopping for the night.
p.s. Hank says that there are so many Christian radio stations down here that if he continues listening, and is reborn on every station, he'll be 25 before he hits the Pennsylvania line.
p.s. #2 More from Hank: "Should anyone need directions to any Cracker Barrel from Maine to Texas, give me a call."
p.s.#3 and even more from Hank: "The reason for so many Christian stations is that every other exit has a XXX Adult video and gift store."

Hi Nancy, Hope you are feeling better today. See you soon!

Update on Mom

2010-09-03T15:48:00.000-04:00

She is in Room 701A and her phone is 207-662-7785

Mom also at MMC 9/3/2010

2010-09-03T15:32:00.002-04:00

Just left Mom in the ER where she is waiting for a bed. Guess she really wanted to visit Nancy today so she called the ambulance for a ride to the hospital. Mom had a severe chest pain this AM. She is now feeling fine and all her tests are Okay so far. She will stay the night for observation and more blood work. She's been there so much, she knew the phlebotomist, Rocky, by name.

Will try to keep you posted under Nancy's name as I can't log in myself.
Andi

A Nancy Update: Friday 9/3/2010

2010-09-03T09:34:00.001-04:00

A Nancy update
Nancy is still at MMC. Aaron has taken the week off to be with her as much as possible.

She has received several blood transfusions and is very fatigued. Nancy is scheduled to have both of her ureter stents replaced today in surgery. Hopefully this will make her feel better. Aaron has just reported to me that Nancy’ surgery is already over and was successful. The kidneys show no sign of tumors! Yeah!!!

For any of you who have not seen Nancy lately, she is also now a twig, with no meat on her bones. This is something the Stunning Smith Sisters would normally love, however, I now wish I could now give some of my extra poundage to Nancy. She has donated her "fat clothes" to me.

Nancy is trying to keep up her humor, despite a horrid roommate who will not share the bathroom and has Nancy going down the hall to shower and use the toilet.

Nancy needs our prayers to give her the strength to keep fighting and to stay strong. Please take a minute today to think of her.

She must be so tired of fighting this battle for 5 years. I know I couldn't handle this like she has. Guess we really can learn how to live from our "Little Sister". She is my hero.

Nancy will likely still be in the hospital through some of the weekend. Her number at MMC is 207-662-7701.

Nancy, you are my best friend, my childhood roommate and sparring partner, and I will love you forever. Keep fighting and eat!(as if Mom hasn't called to tell you to eat enough this week).

Andi

September is...

2010-08-31T06:31:00.041-04:00

OVARIAN CANCER MONTH!
Wear teal this month to support ovarian cancer awareness.
To show your support for Nancy, Aunt Doris and other women with ovarian cancer, you could...

... wear your ovarian cancer awareness bracelet... Don't have one? Click here https://co.clickandpledge.com/advanced/default.aspx?wid=34702

...or button.
Or you could...

...bake some teal cupcakes to share at work

...paint your house teal

...or wear some teal lipstick!

You might also consider...

...riding a teal bike

...or investing in some teal underwear

You might also want to ...

...dye your hair teal...or maybe paint your fingernails ...

(Color is called "Teal the Cows Come Home")

and... don't forget your teal toes! http://www.tealtoes.org/

Let's each do our part to help make other women aware of the early symptoms of ovarian cancer this month...they are listed on the right side of this blog page. GO TEAL!!!

It's Back to MMC for Nancy

2010-08-30T20:18:00.012-04:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that Nancy is back in Maine Medical Center. She was admitted yesterday through the ER with a multitude of symptoms and in quite a bit of pain which, stoic as she is, she had tried to live with since last Thursday. At first we thought that maybe one of her kidney stents had become dislodged but that is not the case. Seems she has a really bad urinary tract infection that may have spread to her blood; that will be ruled in or out after 48-72 hours. In the meantime, she is resting comfortably now (thanks to pain meds) and is receiving antibiotics through her port to kill off the infection. Both her oncologist, Dr. Small, and her urologst were in this morning and have assured her that this is not cancer related, so she is relieved. She doesn't want everyone to worry. She looks good, is comfortable and is resting in bed with her laptop and books. She'll need to take it easy and let the antibiotics do their work and then, hopefully, she'll be home again soon.

The doctors plan to replace her kidney stents, which is a routine procedure, but they will not do that until after the infection has completely cleared up...probably on an out-patient basis.

Nancy is in room 558A in the Gibson Paviliion; her bedside phone # is 297-662-7701.

On the Road to Texas

2010-08-29T13:18:00.011-04:00

As many of you know, Hank is on the road to Texas. He left Thursday, August 26, and, with stops, plans to be there in time to pick me up at the airport in Dallas on the evening of Wednesday, September 1st. The "big event" - the delivery of our new (and long-awaited) Casita camper - will be on Thursday September 2nd. Then, Hank and I will begin the long drive back to Maine with our new Casita (the word "Casita" in Spanish means "little house"). We can't wait!

Hank stopped the first night in Pennsylvania, the second on the Virginia/West Virginia line, and the third (last night) in Nashville, Tennessee. Today he is taking a day off from driving to enjoy Nashville; he'll get back on the road to Dallas tomorrow, stopping overnight tomorrow (Monday) night in Little Rock, Arkansas.Hank has already called twice this mornng to share his excitement about being in Nashville. For those of you who don't know Hank very well, I should explain that he has always loved country music and knows all the words to the old country songs. (He keeps this pretty quiet but has has a good voice for country music; I love to hear him sing!) So...getting a chance to spend all day in Nashville today means a lot to him. The first time Hank called, he was at the Elvis Exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame.He just called again to say that he spent three hours at the Hall of Fame and loved it. This time, he was calling from B.B. King's Blues Club on Music Row. He was having a cup of gumbo, listening to live blues, and, I think pinching himself to make sure he was really there!

I'll try to add more "posts from the road" as Hank continues his journey and, with my laptop, as we drive home together through Arkansas, Tennessee, the Virginias, Pennsylvania, New York, and finally New England.

Home from Japan

2010-08-28T08:07:00.007-04:00

I was so excited last night when the phone rang and a tired lttle voice said, "Hi, Nanny". It was Taka calling to tell us that he, Toshi, and Tomo had just gotten home from Japan. Taka was still confused about what time it was and whether he should go to bed or not...helping the boys adjust to the 11 hour time difference should make life interesting for Rob and Tomo for the next few days. Taka and Toshi spent the summer with their grandmother ("BaBa") Umeyo and their grandfather ("JiJi") Tokuhide in Wakayama, which is in southeastern Japan in the Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe area. And, they got back to Brooklyn just in time for "Dada's" birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROB!!!

Nancy

2010-08-26T22:03:00.006-04:00

Lots of short posts tonight. I know that many of you are wondering how Nancy is doing so thought I should update the blog. It has been two weeks since Nancy's last chemo and she is scheduled for her next one on September 9th, two weeks from now. The side effect that has been the most difficult for her is fatigue. She tries to do what she has to do in the morning because she is usually drained by afternoon and has to rest. It's amazing, though, how she manages to keep going through it all. She has visited Mom in the hospital almost every day and spends a lot of time after that reading and resting on the couch. She still holds her title as the family's best cook and manages to bake when she has the energy...this week she made Grammy Boocock's favorite cake recipe and brought it in to Mom. Nancy continues to make us laugh out loud with her stories...her resilience is amazing!

the Cat with 9 Lives

2010-08-26T21:41:00.005-04:00

Mom suggested the name for this post. She has been in the hospital for a week to have a cardiac catheterization and, yesterday, to have a stent placed in her heart. She is feeling much better after the procedure and, at 89, told me that she thinks of herself as the "cat with 9 lives". We're all very happy that this "cat" is feeling better and will be home soon. Way to go, Mom!

for Karen

2010-08-26T21:32:00.002-04:00

Posting this photo in response to Karen Chadbourne's comment on the 8/12 post about "Dinner With the Girls"...and we did remember where we were: Barnacle Billy's at Perkin's Cove in Ogunquit. Great day with Claudia and Karen at Wells Beach followed by dinner. The only thing we missed doing this time was singing at the piano bar at the Front Porch (next summer, right, Karen?).

Our Talented Niece

2010-08-25T09:35:00.010-04:00

from today's Portland Press Herald
August 25, 2010
For Scarborough Girl, A Dance of a Lifetime
By Beth Quimby, Staff Writer

Arianna Lawson, 16, of Scarborough has an invitation to study at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, the feeder school for the Bolshoi Ballet. She and her parents are scrambling financially to make it happen.
She is also trying to figure out how to make it to Moscow this fall, where she has been invited to study at the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet Academy, the feeder school for the Bolshoi Ballet. The Scarborough teen learned less than two weeks ago that she had been offered a spot – and now she and her family are scrambling to make it happen before the academy opens in October.
“I just want that push, that demand of excellence from the best teachers in the world,” said Lawson.
The offer came after Lawson danced for more than a month at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy Summer Intensive Program in New York City. The academy – formally known as the Moscow State Academy of Choreography – has been the training ground for many of Russia’s greatest dancers.
The New York program has been offered for the past two years through the Russian American Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes cultural relations between Russia and the United States. Lawson missed the original auditions for the program but managed to get accepted on the strength of a video she sent in.
The program serves as a six-week tryout. At the end, academy teachers offered a place to a few students at the Moscow academy, a fact that Arianna was unaware of until she received the letter.
“I was extremely surprised,” she said.
Arianna faces a grueling experience. Only a handful of Americans attend the 237-year-old institution, which trains students with a hands-on method of instruction in a style of dance called the Vaganova method. The academy enrolls about 700 students, with 10 percent coming from foreign countries.
There are no language interpreters and Lawson speaks only a handful of Russian words – most of them profanities picked up from her summer instructors, according to her mother.
She will dance beside the Russian students, who take a dim view of their American classmates, and will live in a drab dorm with unpalatable food. There are no academics.
“The Russians believe if you want to dance, that is all they want you to do,” said Michelle Lawson.
Arianna, who has traveled outside the country only once to visit Canada with her family, said she is up to the challenge.“I am tough enough to do this,” she said.
The Lawsons say their daughter’s talent seemed to spring out of nowhere. Neither of the parents has dance background, and their younger daughter, Micayla, 14, could not be less interested. But from the first class she took as a preschooler at Small Steps School of Dance in Scarborough, Arianna was enthralled.
Her friends and teachers at Portland School of Ballet say they are thrilled for her. Her acceptance by the Bolshoi reflects well on the whole school. Lawson has been part of the Portland Ballet’s CORPS program, training three hours daily. CORPS students may also take their academics at Portland High School, although Lawson has been largely home schooled.
“She is strong and flexible, a beautiful dancer who has all the qualities that you need to go to that top level” said Leslie Gibbons, director of development at Portland Ballet.
Nell Shipman, associate artistic director and resident choreographer at Portland Ballet, said Lawson is a dancer who continues to grow and improve.
Lawson danced the main character of Olivia in the Portland Ballet production of the Victorian Nutcracker a couple of years ago.
“Technically, she works really hard but is able to turn on the charm when she gets on stage,” said Shipman.
Her goal, if she goes, is to clinch a contract by the end of the year to dance with the Bolshoi Ballet.
“Then I would stay there for three years with the company,” said Lawson.
If the Bolshoi offer doesn’t work out, she will audition for other schools. She said she is certain what she will be doing five years from now.
“I want to do dance,” she said.

Arianna is the daughter of Hank's brother, Paul.

Got Fruit?

2010-08-23T23:13:00.007-04:00

We have so many peaches on our trees this year that the branches are literally breaking. Hank has propped them up with 2 x 4's until we can pick more of the fruit. The weather has been very warm and sunny this summer so the peaches are early...and abundant. If you stop by, bring some bags and plan to pick!

Hank has already canned almost 50 jars of peaches. They'll taste great when the snow is flying in January!

The apples are not far behind...they are really early this year too...almost ready!

Does anyone remember this?

2010-08-21T03:30:00.006-04:00

School bells ring and children sing,

"It's back to Robert Hall again."
Mother knows for better clothes,
It's back to Robert Hall again.
You'll save more on clothes for school.
Shop at Robert Hall.

Back to the Beach

2010-08-19T08:00:00.026-04:00

Hank and I walked Wells Beach yesterday...wanted to do that one more time before school starts... I thought everyone might enjoy this virtual beach walk along with us:

Looking down the beach from the center....but those of you who grew up on this beach already knew that, didn't you? So, just close your eyes and remember...the sounds of "Soldier Boy" are drifting down from the Casino, you smell popcorn and salt marsh, your feel the wet sand between your toes...are you there with us yet?

ice cream cones at Forbes...

This is our friend, Karen, who was busy getting ready to return to California from Wells Beach for another school year....she flies back today and we'll miss her!

Karen was busy cleaning the cottage and packing so she asked if I would put a list of books she loved on the blog for her (in response to the Aug. 7th blog post about books). Here is the list, with Karen's comments in red:

K. Stockett, The Help a must!

J. Walls, The Glass Castle awesome!

K. Hosseini, The Kite Runner 4 stars

J. Berendt, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil 4 stars

K. Edwards, The Memory Keeper's Daughter

S. Gruen, Water for Elephants

K. Follett, Pillars of the Earth 5 stars!!

W. Young, The Shack 4 stars

T. DeRosnay, Sarah's Key 4 stars

M Zusak, The Book Thief 4 stars

C. Cleave, Little Bee 4 stars

A. Diamant, The Red Tent Wow!!

Have a safe trip back, Karen...see you next summer!

Who needs a lawn...

2010-08-18T23:19:00.004-04:00

...when you can have a yard full of sunflowers?

This house is at the corner of Gray Rd.(Rt. 100) and Falmouth Rd. in West Falmouth. As I drove by it all summer, I thought the yard was full of weeds. And then they bloomed...into a whole yard of sunflowers! Beautiful...

Help with Comments

2010-08-17T15:40:00.014-04:00

Reminder: You have to complete the "word verification" step before your Comments will post on the blog. A large, brightly colored nonsense word will appear on your screen. Just retype that word in the box provided and hit "Post Comment". Hank was having trouble today but his comment went right through when he did this. I know that having to type a crazy "deformed" word into a little text box is a pain, but it does keep automated spam off the blog. Hope this helps because Nancy and I really enjoy reading the comments:-)

Wells Beach

2010-08-13T21:31:00.008-04:00

"She walked on, comforted by the surf, by that one perpetual moment of beach-time, the now-and-always of it." -William Gibson

Nancy

2010-08-13T10:12:00.003-04:00

Nancy looked so sick in yesterday's photos (she was really just half-asleep), that I wanted to post a better one of her this morning...so she doesn't kill me!!!

chemo today

2010-08-12T17:17:00.007-04:00

Nancy had chemo today...the fourth of six monthly infusions in this current round of treatment. She is home safely and feeling OK so far...just a little tired. These aren't very flattering photos (Nancy usually looks much healthier, and prettier, than this) but they are the only ones from today so will share them with Nancy's permission. Two more rounds of chemo to go and then...hopefully...remission.

Dinner with the Girls

2010-08-12T00:24:00.005-04:00

Dedicated to all "the girls"...you know who you are!

"A group of 40-year-old girlfriends discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed upon that they should meet at the Ocean View Restaurant because the waiters there had tight pants and nice buns.

Ten years later, at 50 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View Restaurant because the food there was very good and the wine selection was good also.

Ten years later, at 60 years of age, the girls once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View Restaurant because they could eat there in peace and quiet and the restaurant had a beautiful view of the ocean.

Ten years later, at the age of 70, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View Restaurant because the restaurant was wheelchair accessible and even had added an elevator.

Ten years later, the girls once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View Restaurant because they had never been there before."

~Anonymous

What Are You Reading?

2010-08-07T07:35:00.027-04:00

Here's a topic that I hope will encourage some responses...good books. Summer, especially for those of us who work in education, brings extra time to read and lots of sunshine to do it in. Like others. I seem to get in a rut and read the same authors over and over. I'd love to hear what you've read recently that you've loved and get some ideas for new authors or books to try.

For "beach reads", I usually grab a good thriller from one of the following authors: James Patterson, Tami Hoag, David Baldacci, Sandra Brown, Sue Grafton (love the main character, Kinsey Millhone), Tess Gerritsen, Robin Cook, Patricia Cornwell, et al. Any other good mass-market/paperback thrillers you've read lately and would like to recommend?

Lately, I've been wanting to read more historical fiction...any suggestions of good individual books or series would be appreciated. I spent an hour looking the other day at the library but wasn't sure what to choose without a recommendation. I did just pick up Diana Gabaldon's An Echo In the Bone, which I know will be good - love the time travel element in her stories. Her books are long and take forever to read (a good thing) so I think I'll save that one to read in the truck on the way to Texas and back (to pick up our new camper) later this month.

This week, I also bought the first two books of the Millenium trilogy by Steig Larsson: The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire. Nancy and I plan to share these... we'll buy the third one in the series, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, when we finish the first two.

So...book talk...bring it on! What are you reading right now? earlier this summer? What would you recommend? You can use the Comment button below to join the conversation!

p.s. I took the photo on our screened porch yesterday morning. Rob is re-reading Atlas Shrugged (God bless him for that!), Hank is reading the James Patterson novel, and The Girls from Ames was a recent read of mine.

Blogging for Dummies

2010-08-06T16:36:00.014-04:00

I was at the Falmouth Library yesterday looking for some good new summer reads. While there, I browsed through the "New Books" section and came across a shiny-new yellow and black copy of "Blogging for Dummies". I dragged it to a table in the reference room to see if I could find some tips to improve our blog. Among the tips to increase blog readership:

1. "Create a niche with your blog. "
"It's Always Something" is kind of a generic "keep in touch, family memories, what's-on-my-mind-today, stream of consciousness, internet therapy, Nancy's cancer" blog. How's that for a niche?

2. "Write 2-3 new Posts a day to keep your blog followers interested."
Are these people serious? I can hardly find the time to write 2-3 posts a week. ..and it's summer!

3. "Work to develop a 'voice' on your blog."
I think I've already got a voice, thank you...just ask Hank...sometimes he can't get me to shut up:-)

4. "Include images with your posts."
Excuse me, but who was up at 3:00 o'clock this morning taking digital photos of Oreo's on the kitchen table?

So, check back often for new posts in the next few weeks. Hopefully, I'll find both a niche and a voice by then!

These could be bad...

2010-08-06T03:04:00.012-04:00

OK...it's the middle of the night, 3:00 a.m. to be

exact, and I am awake thinking about these cookies. Actually I was thinking about them...now I am eating them. Found these little goodies in WalMart today and have now realized that they taste just like Girl Scout Cookie Mints...yum! This could be bad...

An Evening in the Wizard's Forest

2010-08-01T10:48:00.048-04:00

The only thing left to ask is, "What will our Gourmet Group think up next"??? Great time with great friends...enjoy the photos!

I'd Rather be Camping

2010-07-26T23:28:00.005-04:00

Sending this photo out for all the campers who follow the blog...stole it from Astrig's Facebook page...Astrig and her husband, Steve, own our favorite campground, Searsport Shores. This is site #13 and the water you see is Penobscot Bay. Hank helped Astrig's father build decks like this one at a few of the sites at last year's Spring Clean-Up weekend. Astrig...sorry to steal the photo but couldn't resist...we really miss Searsport when you post teasers like this. As soon as the new Casita gets to Maine, we are there!

Back Online!

2010-07-26T13:05:00.066-04:00

We're finally back from computer hell! The short version is that our computer and printer died slow and painful (for me) deaths over the past month and we've been unable to blog, e-mail, upload photos, or work online. After many failed attempts by techies from India to the Philippines to resuscitate our "old" hardware, we have acquired a new computer and printer and two new best friends, good old Mark and Dave, at the local Staples easytech desk. I have learned just enough about firmware, USB ports, media cards, et al, to know that the term "easytech" is definitely an oxymoron. I missed being able to write on the blog and read the comments...more than I thought I would...so it's good to be "back".

I know that everyone has been wondering how Nancy is doing so I'll start there. She had her third round of chemo on Thursday, the 15th, and, so far, has been able to head off the side effects with Zofran. Aside from some fatigue, she is doing pretty well this time.

It's been a beautiful summer in Maine this year; we have had "beach weather" just about every day. Unfortunately, this summer Hank and I are basically "camperless". We sold our little tab camper in April and ordered a slightly larger camper - a 17' Casita that sleeps three. The Casita is made to order and ours will not be ready until mid to late August so we're really into delayed gratification. We hope the Casita will be ready in time before school starts for me to go with Hank to Texas (yup...Texas!) to pick it up...we'd like to camp our way back through Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and the Virginias if there is time. Joanne and Mark have been camping in their tab just about every weekend; they really love it. I did try to organize a "Smith Girl Cousins Camping Reunion" for last weekend but it ended up a bust...some mixed feelings about camping out, no campers available to rent, no e-mail to communicate plans, and some conflicts with the date...it's never easy to get a group together. Hopefully, we can plan a weekend this fall that works for everyone!

Hank and I did get away for a week in the Finger Lakes region of New York State early in July. Nancy and I had been there on a "Sisters Roadtrip" in 2006 and really loved the area and I wanted to return with Hank. It took four years but we had a great time. We started off at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, which Hank loved. Cooperstown itself is a beautiful old town full of gorgeous historic homes right on the tip of a lake. From Cooperstown, we headed west on "old Route 20", past hundreds of old hotels, mineral springs and antique shops, to Skaneatelas, Seneca Falls (home of womens' suffrage), Auburn (home of Harriet Tubman), Ithaca, Geneva and Hammondsport, at the tip of Lake Keuka. We spent two days in Hammondsport relaxing and touring the wineries before heading home via Corning (the glass museum), Elmira (Mark Twain's study at Elmira College) and Vestal (to photograph our old house for Mom...we lived there from 1961-1963). It is a beautiful area with so much history...great getaway.

While we were on vacation, Mom was back in the hospital for a few days with difficulty breathing but she's back home and feeling better now.

So now we are home enjoying our new grandbaby, Anna, who is 11 days old today, and our grandsons, Robert and Brian. Brian is staying with us for a few days, hanging out with "Grampy" in the pool and "Wizard's Forest". Robert just started his first summer job at Toys R' Us at the Maine Mall, a great opportunity for him.

We're also really busy planning to have 18 people to dinner Saturday night for a "Wizard's Gourmet" reunion. We've invited all past, present and honorary members of our "Gourmet Group" to enjoy a romp through Hank's Wizard's Forest, followed by dinner. Hank and the boys have been working to add special effects, lighting and finishing touches to the forest before the big event and I've been making costumes...I'm getting pretty good at pointy hats and beards. If the thought of 18 middle aged people dressed as forest creatures, fairies and wizards romping through forest paths with wands and Margaritas sounds strange, you're right...it is. All I can say is that, after 30 years together, this group will try anything...I'll definitely be posting the pictures of this one!

p.s. When our computer crashed, we lost many of our e-mail contacts (addresses). I've been able to reconstruct some of them but, if you don't hear from us or receive the blog, please e-mail your email address to me at lawsonch@maine.rr.com. Thanks!

Baby Anna is here!!!

2010-07-15T08:18:00.004-04:00

Our newest grandchild is here...Anna Thomasina Lawson made her entrance at 12:56 this morning, July 15, 2010, at Mercy Hospital in Portland.
Proud parents are Rob and Wendy Lawson. Anna weighed in at 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was 19-1/4 inches long. There's a good chance she will be spoiled by her two big brothers, Robert and Brian...and by "Grampy Hank", who will have Anna working in his garden any day now. Anna's other grandparents are Ron and Joanne Burns of Westbrook....I can only imagine how proud they must be.

Leaving for Japan

2010-07-13T22:21:00.003-04:00

Tomo, Toshi & Taka on their way...July 4, 2010. The Uwasu's will be so happy to see the boys...they are too cute!

Taka & Kristen

2010-07-10T09:38:00.003-04:00

Rob just sent this photo from Taka and Toshi's visit to Maine last week. They met Kristen at Friendly's for lunch...hot dogs, of course.

Taka & Toshi's visit to Maine

2010-07-02T12:47:00.019-04:00

in the "Wizard's Forest" with Grampy...

Toshi (3) and Taka (6) in their new "Hobbit House"...

Welcome to the playhouse...any mail???

Toshi

Taka riding his John Deere tractor in his John Deere hat next to the John Deere repair truck...pretty exciting stuff!

Toshi's "John Deere"...

Ice cream at Toots in North Yarmouth. Taka chose orange pineapple and Toshi chose banana!

Taka is a long way from Brooklyn now...feeding the cows!

Toshi watching the fish at LL Bean ...those are Taka's legs...he is in the "bubble" that allows children to climb in and observe the fish close up.

Taka checking out the moose at LL Bean...

Toshi wants to make sure that Daddy doesn't forget to pack the Matchbox cars fror the trip back to Brooklyn this morning!

On Sunday, Taka,Toshi, and Tomomi are leaving for Osaka on Japan Air Lines to spend the summer with their grandparents, Umeyo and Tokuhide, in Wakayama. Tomo hasn't seen her family in almost three years so we are very happy that she and the boys will have the summer to enjoy with all of them.

Happy Anniversary Nancy and Aaron !

2010-06-29T12:47:00.001-04:00

Happy Anniversary and remembering Mom and Dad's Anniversary today, June 29th .

Today is a big Day !

2010-06-28T10:37:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to my sister Andrea ! Enjoy your special day !

We Did It!

2010-06-27T17:31:00.020-04:00

Here are some photos from last night's of Relay for Life.

Nancy's handprint on the Survivor banner...

Thanks to Kit, "Tufts Teal Warriors" roughed it in an RV...

the Survivor lap begins...

Nancy walks the Survivor lap with Aaron ...and Ruby, the therapy dog, who wore a teal scarf for the occasion.

Erin and Andi sell tickets for the 50/50 raffle sponsored by our team.

Leslie Colburn Brooks & Kit

Sandy Colburn, Dave and Andi

Luminaria bags along the track...

Nancy tells her "survivor story" at the closing ceremony.

This year's Relay of the Sebago Lakes Region raised over $22,000 for the American Cancer Society. Nancy was the top individual fundraiser and our team was third out of 29 teams in amount raised this year.

Thanks to everyone who came out and/or donated...we'll try to top our total next year!

Until then, we're all pretty tired so it will be to bed early tonight for the Tufts Teal Warriors!

Relay for Life: Do It for Nancy!

2010-06-23T13:07:00.021-04:00

Nancy won't tell you this because she's too modest, and too sick, so I will. She has quietly worked her butt off for this year's Relay for Life of the Sebago Lakes Region, which goes from 6:00 p.m. Saturday night (6/26) until 6:00 a.m. Sunday morning (6/27) at the Windham High School track in Windham, ME. Nancy has organized our team, "Tufts Teal Warriors", dragged herself to dozens of planning meetings, decorated at least 50 luminaria bags, and gotten the Falmouth Lion's Club involved...all while undergoing her chemo (last one was Thursday 6/17) and dealing with the nausea and side effects. She doesn't complain. She just keeps getting up and getting out there.
If Nancy can do it, so can we!
Here are some things you can do:
1. Send a donation to the "American Cancer Society" in Nancy's name through the link below.
2. Purchase a luminaria for a friend with cancer ("In Honor of...") or who we have lost from cancer ("In Memory of...".) The luminaria are $10.00 each...a donation to ACS.
3. Join our Relay team and walk with us Saturday evening.
4. Come out to the Windham H.S. track and cheer Nancy on as she walks in the Survivor lap at 6:15 p.m.
5. Come (with lots of tissues) to the Luminaria Ceremony at 9:00 p.m. and join us in remembering people with cancer.

One of the most moving parts of the event is the Luminaria Ceremony at 9:00 p.m., which is a celebration of hope. As the light dims over our campsites and team members complete laps, the night is brightened by the glow of lighted bags called luminaria, each of which has a special meaning.
Some luminaria celebrate the survivorship of people who have battled cancer and lived to tell the tale. Many commemorate the lives of those who have been lost to this disease. All represent a person who has been profoundly affected by cancer and the family and friends who continue to be touched by that experience.

You can click this link to go to Nancy's Relay page to donate or purchase a luminaria. Please, if you can, donate now. http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY10NE?px=3818519&pg=personal&fr_id=23404

If you prefer to mail your donation, please make your check out to "American Cancer Society" and mail to Nancy at 69 Summer Place, Portland, ME 04101. She will see that all donations get turned in.

And yes, we WILL walk all night- rain or shine- because, as Nancy says, "I have cancer at night and in the rain."

p.s. Nancy's side effects really kicked in yesterday and she is not feeling well. We know that she is fighting to feel better in time for Relay on Saturday. Hang in there, Nancy!

Comments?

2010-06-23T12:59:00.004-04:00

We'd love to read comments from blog readers! Directions for leaving comments are on the right side of this page (just scroll down a bit)...it's easy! Hearing from others makes maintaining the blog more fun...

Wendy's Baby Shower

2010-06-20T10:39:00.017-04:00

Hank and I have a new grandchild on the way; our daughter-in-law, Wendy, is due in mid-July with a baby girl.
Yesterday her Mom, Joanne, her sister, Rhonda, and I gave her a surprise baby shower. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, so we had the shower on my screened porch.
Wendy's sister is amazingly clever. She made these roses out of baby socks...with real rose leaves they looked like they had just been picked. She arrived with five large bouquets of them for the tables. Rhonda also made the "diaper cake" in the photo below...lots of work! Both Rhonda and Joanne are amazing cooks and the hors d'oeuvres were delicious. There was antipasto-on-a-stick (with pink pearls on the ends!), crab and shrimp stuffed phillo shells, cherry tomatos and mozarella, stuffed muchrooms, meatballs and so much more.
Everything was delicious.

For dessert, we had tiny pink-frosted cupcakes, mini-eclairs and creme puffs, and fresh fruit.

I was in charge of finding a recipe for pink punch and it was quite the event. You mix raspberry or cranberry flavored ginger ale with raspberry sherbet and just stand back while it explodes into something resembling a fizzy pink smoothy...a little scary to watch but really yummy.

Another one of Rhonda's ideas was hanging a clothesline on the porch with pastel "onesies" clipped to it...here she is getting it ready.

These are the last of our peonies for this year...at least they're pink!
Wendy opening gifts...

Nancy and Wendy...

Great-grandmother, Eleanor Lawson, Hanks' son, Rob (Dad-to-be) and Wendy.

Now we all just need to sit back and wait for baby girl Lawson to make her appearance!

School's Out!

2010-06-18T21:35:00.012-04:00

Yesterday: Today:

No more pencils

No more books

No more teacher's dirty looks

Out for summer

Out till fall

We might not go back at all!

Great family camping trip !!!

2010-06-18T00:23:00.002-04:00

The BAD CASE of Browntail Moth Catipiller reaction was the worse part of the camp out !!! Other than that we all had a great time !!!

An Update...Finally!!

2010-06-10T10:48:00.035-04:00

Hi All-
First I want to take a moment to thank everyone for their support, kind words, e-mails, phone messages, visits etc. etc. during my recent setbacks and hospitalization! I am feeling much better now and am glad to being back in the "land of the living". The chemo is tough, but it is just something I have to deal with and hope for it to work. I have my next infusion on June 17th. It hopefully will get a little easier each time. The side effects are nausea and mostly fatigue. It takes about two weeks to feel fully human after each treatment, so now that I'm feeling good again it must be time for the next treatment!
We did have a fun filled camping Memorial Day weekend recently at Recompence Shores Campground in Freeport. Aaron and I have never been campers-I have gone on a few road trip camp outs with Cheryl in the T@b, but that's the extent of my experience. So Aaron decided we needed to try this while I was in the hospital, planned it with Kit, and we did it! Of course, we weren't exactly "roughing it!" Kit came to the rescue with his business Destinations RV Rentals. He went to the campground and set up a 37 foot and 32 foot RV on three beautiful sites right on the ocean. Oh yeah....camping with queen sized beds, full kitchen, microwave etc.-the only thing missing were the flat screen TVs! He even made the campfire and stacked the wood for us! Good thing, too! The first to arrive were the 3 "least likely to succeed" campers, Aaron, Andi and I--we struggled just to get the fire to start-we ended up burning junk mail from our car! This campground is gorgeous--a beautiful farm in the middle of the woods right next to the ocean--who could ask for more! And just 20 minutes from home--if we couldn't handle it!
We invited the whole family--Joey and Mark took the third site and brought up their T@b so we were all together in a line. Cheryl and Hank weren't able to come, because they had both been attacked by some kind of "bug" and were home throwing up-we missed them, but none of us needed that! The rest of us were able to go-in our RV it was Aaron and I and Andi and her husband Dave. In the next camper it was Kit and Erin and their sister-in-law, Cara Shaw and for one day Eddie Bolz, who works for Kit. We arrived Friday and left Monday. The weather was beautiful each day-a little windy, but no rain!
On Sunday we were joined by Erin's parents, Dale and Carolyn Shaw and Toughy , the poodle, with Erin's Nana and Gram (Dale and Carolyn's Moms). These two tough ladies came down from Aroostock County by bus to the Shaw's house in Corinth (near Bangor). Then they all drove down to Freeport for the day. Erin's Nana shares the same birthday with Mom, right down to the same year! One was born in Bradford, England, the other in Aroostock County, Maine, and they are now also connected through Kit and Erin's marriage! (By the way, Happy Birthday to both Mom and Nana today as I write this!) We had hoped to get Mom up so they could all have a visit, but Mom wasn't up to it. We had a great BBQ together although due to the wind we had to keep playing musical chairs around the campfire, to get away from the smoke.

There was only one problem...brown moth caterpillars! They exist in May and early June in the area of Casco Bay, and their fine hairs blow in the wind (remember I said how windy it was?) and can cause a rash like poison ivy! All the campers except the visitors from Northern Maine, came home with varying degrees of

rash--the worst were Joanne and Kit who both needed to get medication for theirs, and are scratching still!! But in spite of it-we agreed we had a great time! Here's hoping next week's chemo won't be so rough and the updates will return more frequently!
Take care everyone! Nancy

2010-05-23T11:58:00.001-04:00

Nancy, Congratulations on your 5 year battle, keep up the fight ! We Love You !

Sunday visit with Nancy

2010-05-17T13:03:00.002-04:00

On a bit lighter note, Mark and I had a a nice visit with Nancy who is very glad to be resting at home. I must add that she felt well enough to determine the placement of the fantasy football trophy Mark won as a hood ornament on my car !

Nancy is home

2010-05-16T09:25:00.003-04:00

Nancy was released from MMC late yesterday afternoon to continue her recovery at home. She will have visiting nurses checking in on her and giving her any medication she needs. She says she is feeling OK right now and just intends to take it easy and rest. I think she really wanted to get home so I'm glad the doctors were able to make that happen. If all goes well, she will have her second infusion of Doxil in Scarborough this coming Thursday, the 20th.

Good News

2010-05-15T12:49:00.005-04:00

According to Erin, who spent last night with Nancy at the hospital, Nancy's x-ray and CT scan results both came back normal and Nancy was able to eat last night. All good news!

2010-05-15T11:22:00.002-04:00

Love, strength and hope to my sister Nancy ... Rest assured we are from hearty stock ( except for the Gene ) ! Daddy was surrounded by strong women. Aunt Marion, Hope you ar back on your feet soon ! Thinking of you. Joanne

Images from room 574

2010-05-14T23:33:00.016-04:00

Nancy and Ruby, the therapy dog, visit on Thursday...

Mom visited Nancy on Thursday. (Mom is recovering from a fall and will not be thrilled that I posted her photos with her bruises...sorry, Mom!)

sleeping like a baby (a baby with a Tab...)

sign on the wall of the Gibson Unit at MMC...

flowers from John Mullen, Rob & Tomo, Mom and the LaJoies...

Teal roses from Aaron and "Hope" from Andi...

I came home from MMC late this afternoon to get a shower and some sleep; Nancy's daughter-in-law, Erin, is staying with Nancy tonight. (I must have been tired because I just woke up from my "nap" and am posting this at midnight. The circadian rhythm sure does get messed up when you're on hospital time.)

Nancy started off Friday strong but by late morning was having the nausea and headaches again so Dr. Small came in at about noon to check on her. The good news is that Dr. Small reports that Nancy's kidney function is now back to normal. The less good news is that some fluid may be returning to Nancy's abdomen and she still can't keep food down. Dr. Small ordered an x-ray of Nancy's abdomen, which happened this afternoon, and a CT scan of her head to try to determine the cause of the headaches. (Nancy said the doctor is really just trying to see if she has a brain and proceeded to entertain Andi and I with a complete rendition -every verse- of "If I Only Had a Brain" from her favorite movie, the Wizard of Oz.) Dr. Small also told Nancy that she would be staying in the hospital for awhile - it's clearly where she needs to be right now.

I'll post an update after I check in with Erin in the morning.

a good morning

2010-05-14T10:04:00.004-04:00

Greetings from room 574. Just want to let everyone know that Nancy slept well last night and is feeling better this morning. She was able to eat a little breakfast....the first food I have seen her eat all week...and has kept it down...no nausea so far. She checked her e-mail from her bed, watched the morning news and is now napping. Keep sending all those positive thoughts...they seem to be helping!!!

Update from MMC

2010-05-13T20:28:00.011-04:00

Writing from Nancy's room...Aaron brought her laptop to the hospital. It's almost 9:00 p.m., Survivor is on, and Kit and Erin are here. Nancy has had a rough day...she has been struggling with nausea, her shoulder is still sore from the insertion of the port yesterday, and she had to have a transfusion today due to her anemia. I feel terrible that she's so uncomfortable right now.
Nancy did have a lot of visitors today and that has helped keep her cheered up. Erin brought Mom in this afternoon and they stayed for a couple of hours. Sherrill Weisman and Barbara Stirk, teacher friends from Wells Elementary School, were in this afternoon. A highlight for Nancy was when some of Aaron's Falmouth Lions Club friends, the LaJoie's, brought their therapy dog, a golden retriever named Ruby, to see Nancy. Ruby jumped right up on Nancy's bed and cuddled with her. This evening, Mark and Lisa Atkinson from EastPoint Church came to visit and, while they were here. roses were delivered from Rob, Tomo, Taka and Toshi. I know Nancy appreciates everyone's thoughtfulness.
Nancy has dozed off ... hope she can finally get some sleep. If you'd like to leave a Comment, I'll be sure that Nancy sees it in the morning.
Please keep Nancy in your prayers tonight...

Nancy - Wednesday update

2010-05-13T08:38:00.010-04:00

I didn't get to the hospital until late afternoon Wednesday - worked first. When I arrived, Nancy was still a little groggy from the anesthesia they had used a few hours earlier when they surgically placed a port in her upper chest for delivery of chemo. Once fully awake, she had some pain at the incision site but appeared much more comfortable than the previous two days.
As always, Nancy had a funny story to tell: It seems that the Nordex man was in at 3:00 a.m. to draw some blood and noticed the three books on her bedside table. He asked, "Who brought you these?" and she replied, "My sister". He said something to the effect of, "Hmmm....interesting choices" . Nancy, telling the story and laughing, showed me the titles I had unwittingly chosen for her (hey, she loves a good mystery!): "Terminal" by Robin Cook, followed by "Likely To Die" and "The Dark Road Home". Fine selections for some light reading in the Gibson Unit! Maybe you'd have to have a sister yourself to understand how such an innocent, but stupid, book choice could throw us into unbridled fits of laughter...but it did. Nancy's daughter-in-law, Erin, had just arrived and laughed so hard she insisted I take a picture. So here they are, Nancy and her books. It was great to see her laugh after all she has been through.

Erin and Nancy...still laughing!

Dr. Small, Nancy's oncologist, came in while Erin and I were there. She said that Nancy's kidney numbers are already starting to improve and verified that the kidney problem is related to the cancer; apparently there is a tumor that is pressing against Nancy's kidneys. It is small and Dr. Small is still hopeful that the Doxil can and will kill it over the next few months so that Nancy can enjoy another remission. Nancy is still anemic but Dr. Small has not decided to do a transfusion yet; she'll wait and see if Nancy's hemoglobin count improves over the next few days to decide. The anemia probably partially explains why Nancy has been so tired over the past few weeks. Dr. Small said that Nancy "is not going home anytime soon"; she wants to keep her until she is able to eat and drink on her own and has gotten strong enough for her second infusion of Doxil, probably late next week.

I am heading off to MMC now to be with Nancy today and will try to update the blog tonight. Thanks to everyone who has checked in and offered support.

Nancy on Mothers' Day

2010-05-11T21:57:00.011-04:00

I wanted to post these photos of Nancy (and her "Groupie", Kristen) on Sunday...maybe it was the Beatles Guitar Hero that wore her out!

Aaron called this evening to say that Nancy's oncologist, Dr. Laurie Small, was in after I left today and feels very hopeful about getting Nancy back into remission. They will be doing minor surgery tomorrow to place the port in Nancy's upper chest. Ending the day on a much happier note than yesterday!

Nancy's room

2010-05-11T19:35:00.002-04:00

For those who have asked...Nancy is in room 574 in the Gibson Unit. You take the LL Bean elevators, walk past the big fish tank, and her room is the second on the left:-)

Nancy resting comfortably

2010-05-11T15:41:00.010-04:00

Nancy is resting comfortably after two procedures at MMC today. Early this morning (7:20 a.m.) she had surgery to place stents in her ureters. The first is to open a passage from her left kidney, which was blocked; the second is to prevent a similar blockage of the right kidney. This is the procedure that was originally scheduled for Thursday. Because Nancy's creatinine level (a measure of kidney fnction) was so high yesterday, her doctors chose to do the surgery sooner.

Nancy arrived back to her room in the Gibson Unit at about 10:15 a.m. She had not yet transferred back to her bed when they sent for her for the second procedure, paracentesis to drain the fluid (ascites) that had collected in her abdomen. This fluid was pressing on her internal organs and making her nauseous and weak. With the help of ultrasound, four liters of fluid was drained from Nancy's abdomen. (For those who are having trouble picturing how much that is, think of two full two-liter bottles of Coke!). As soon as the paracentesis was done, Nancy felt relief and was much more comfortable. While she was waiting to be transported back to her room, she got a visit (and flowers!) from her neighbor and friend, John Mullen. John works in the radiology department at MMC so he knew right where to find Nancy!

When I left the hospital this afternoon, Nancy was resting and looking forward to getting some sleep. Her old friend, Betsy Seavey was there with her, and Andrea was on her way in so it seemed like a good time for me to slip out. The goal of her treatment now is to get her strong enough for another course of Doxil (chemo) later this month. I'll continue to keep everyone posted through this blog.

Nancy is at MMC

2010-05-10T22:11:00.002-04:00

Nancy took a turn for the worse today and has been admitted to Maine Medical Center for cancer treatment. Tomorrow morning she will have surgery to place stents in her kidneys to improve kidney function. Hopefully, the doctors will be able to perform paracentesis (draining the ascites fluid from Nancy's abdomen) tomorrow as well. She had a rough day today...please keep her in your prayers.

How's Nancy?

2010-05-09T23:52:00.010-04:00

In a recent Comment, one of our blog followers, Ann from Australia, asked how Nancy is. It reminded me that I've been remiss in letting everyone know how Nancy is doing. Here's an update as I understand it - I'm sure Nancy will jump in if there is more she wants to add.

Most of last week, Nancy was pretty nauseous and fatigued from the Doxil but, thankfully, she did not get the skin side effects she was warned about. Today, Mother's Day, she seemed to be feeling much better and back to her old self. The one problem she is having at this time is the ascites (fluid collecting in the abdomen). This has become very uncomfortable and she said that the plan is for the doctors to do an ultrasound and then drain the ascites either Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. They do this on an out-patient basis by tapping into the abdomen to drain the fluid.

This Thursday, May 13th, Nancy is scheduled for day surgery at Maine Medical Center to determine whether she has a blockage in her urethra and, if so, to relieve it. Her surgery is scheduled for 9:15 and I have taken a medical day to be with her for that.

She will barely have time to rest up before another day surgery next Tuesday, May 18th to place a port in her upper chest area so that she can receive chemo directly rather than through an IV. Aaron plans to be with her that day.

And then, on or about Thursday, the 20th, Nancy is scheduled for her second infusion of Doxil. Not exactly a fun-packed couple of weeks!

In spite of all of this, Nancy was well enough to sing the vocals today on Beatle's "Guitar Hero"...she's amazing! I'll post some photos of our Mother's Day silliness later in the week (when I get my camera back..left it at the party, of course:-)

Nancy will be a 5-year Cancer Survivor on the 23rd of this month!!!

Snorkeling in Bermuda, 9/09

2010-05-05T23:49:00.002-04:00

Trying my skills at posting on the Blog and just finally found these photos I took with my digital under water camera !

Arizona Trip

2010-05-05T21:32:00.004-04:00

Here are some of my favorite photos of the trip Mark and I took to Tucson, Sedona and Carefree, Arizona in March.

the Hobbit House

2010-04-25T08:08:00.032-04:00

Yesterday was a big day in the "Wizard's Forest"...the Hobbit House was delivered. Our enchanted forest already has a troll bridge and a fishing hole but we decided it needed a forest playhouse. We have to paint and decorate it, of course, but, when it is done, we can't wait for Taka and Toshi to come to Maine and try it out! Our old friend, Jean ("Gino"), built the house for us and brought it to Winn Farm on a big flatbed truck. Here are some pictures of Jean and Hank setting up the house.

We named the playhouse "Hobbit House" and positioned it facing the troll bridge!

View of Hobbit House from the troll's bridge...

View of Hobbit House from Taka' fishing hole... "Nanny" is already coming up with a list of furnishings for the house...chairs, a mailbox, a door..."Grampy" will have a lot to do before Taka and Toshi come to Maine again! Robert and Brian were a big help getting the woodchips down and the forest ready for the delivery of the playhouse. We think their little sister, who is due in July, will like playing in the house someday too. So, Taka and Toshi...if you are reading this...hope you like your new house!

I may have gotten a little carried away with our Wizard's Forest theme...added a little "faerie house" too! (The sign says, "Please don't step on the faeries".)

Just after Jean left yesterday, Andi and Dave came to the door. It was Andi's first "outing" since her surgery two weeks ago. Dave said that Andi was bored after two weeks in bed and, since it was a nice day, he took her out for a ride. She is still sore but is hanging in there. It was nice to see her out.
About as half hour after Andi and Dave arrived, Joanne and Mark were at the door! They had come up to see Mom and deliver our last two trees from New Hampshire for the Wizard's forest.
Hank and I don't often get visitors...maybe because our house is off the main road...so we were really excited to see everyone. Our daughter-in-law, Wendy dropped in shortly after Joanne and Mark so it turned into an unexpected party. The only one missing was Nancy who is resting after chemo on Thursday...just talked with her...no major side effects so far other than fatigue...so far, so good.

Time to end this before the "Wizard" gets home from his tennis match...lots more work to do on "Hobbit House" while the weather is nice...

Joanne's House

2010-04-23T21:13:00.015-04:00

Hank and I took a quick trip to New Hampshire this week to buy some trees for our yard and spent the night with Joanne and Mark. Thought you might enjoy seeing their house...it's in a very private setting in the woods in Londonderry. They planted this tree in front and now it is gorgeous...in full bloom when we were there.

Our trees are loaded thanks to Hank and Mark...two nice Blue Spruce (the other two are still in NH...we underestimated the size of Hank's truck!)

I loved the signpost Joanne painted for the backyard...the signs point to all of their favorite places: K'Port, Bermuda, Peak's Island, Bretton Woods. Mexico, Sanat Fe, Tuscon, Boston, The Old Port, and Santa Fe. (I liked this so much that I'm planning one for our yard...imitation being the greatest form of flattery and all that!)

Joanne collects all things southwestern, especially Mexican folk art pieces. This is her little Mexican altar; she collects the feathers and places them there in honor of people who have passed away.

Joanne definitely inherited Mom's artistic/home decorating gene. Here is her growing collection of handmade Mexican crosses. I love how the display just keeps going...

Hope you enjoyed the tour as much as we enjoyed getting away for a night. My favorite part?

Scorpian Bowls and Limoncello at the San Francisco Kitchen. Thanks, Jo & Mark!

Disney Fun Then Back to Reality

2010-04-23T19:36:00.015-04:00

Last week, Aaron and I spent a gorgeous week in Florida at Disney World. We hadn't been in 20 years and decided to spend my last week before chemo again for my recurrence having fun. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort in the village of Martinique, and the weather was super! Every day was in the high seventies or low eighties and sunny. We spent most days at a park in the morning and then returned to the resort for some pool time, and back to another park for the evening. We walked miles and miles, but it was great. At Epcot the month of April is also the Epcot flower and garden show and if you know how Disney does nothing on a small scale, you can only imagine how gorgeous it was. It's taken a while to find which pictures to put with this post--Aaron loves to document every moment of our trips, so we came home with over 900 pictures to go through!
Here are a few favorites...

And now to the not so much fun part--Thursday I began my new course of chemo called Doxil. It's a new one for me, but so far so good. The biggest side effect beside the usual fatigue and nausea is hand and foot syndrome. This causes blisters and the peeling of the skin from your palms and soles of your feet most commonly, but can occur anywhere on the body, even the inside of your mouth. Sounds like fun huh? So far nothing-so keep your fingers crossed. In order to help prevent it, they tie ice packs around during the chemo--talk about cold! The blood work up also showed that I'm anemic again, and I returned from Florida looking about 5 months pregnant! They sent me for an ultrasound this morning, and it appears to be something called ascities, which is a large collection of fluid that collects in the abdomen--of course my oncologist is on vacation until Monday, so I'm not sure how they will deal with all this new news, but I think all in all Disney was better than home! Maybe I should have stayed! Enjoy your weekend! Love, Nancy

My Brave Sister

2010-04-22T21:01:00.009-04:00

Nancy started her chemotherapy today with her first infusion of Doxil. (This is the last time she will have to put up with the nurses poking around for veins...next time she will have her port.) She did well except for freezing on the way home from all the ice packs she had to have on her hands and feet during the chemo. Hopefully the side effects of this new drug will be brief.

I love this photo of Nancy. It was taken at Disney World last week when Nancy and Aaron went on their "we deserve a trip before another round of chemo begins" vacation to Florida. Hang in there, Nancy...we all love you!

p.s. Did I mention how proud I am to be your sister?

More AZ PICS

2010-04-20T21:42:00.002-04:00

Uncle Marker !

AZ PICTURES

2010-04-20T21:08:00.007-04:00

Mark laPlante, James and Kevin Cagney

Kelly Cagney, Mark and Joanne La Plante

James Cagney - Andi's Grandson

Taka's Chess Tournament

2010-04-19T10:35:00.008-04:00

Taka's first chess tournament...he won another trophy this past Saturday. He says he is going to bring his tropies to Maine and to Japan to show everyone. They look pretty heavy, Taka!

We're Carrying On

2010-04-17T17:24:00.026-04:00

"Keep Calm and Carry On"...my new motto. It's the beginning of the long-awaited Spring school vacation week and I have promised myself that I will be "cheerful". After the past few months of cancer scares and cancer losses, I'm thinking of taking a week off from cancer...I only wish Andi and Nancy could do the same.

It's been a week of quiet grieving since hearing of Diana Pillas' death from breast cancer. I first met Diana in 1983 when I joined the board of the Epilepsy Foundation of America. She, Jeanne Cahill from Atlanta, and I were among the few women on the board at that time and we immediately became fast friends. In every city we traveled to, we chose to be "roomies". It was like being back in college; after busy days full of "very important meetings", the three of us would hang out in our room for hours just talking, laughing, and sharing our lives. Diana was always larger than life to me; she was outgoing, loved everyone she met and wanted to help every child with epilepsy. In her work at Johns Hopkins, as counselor in the Pediatric Epilepsy Clinic, she got to do that. Her work on the ketogenic diet with colleagues Patty Vining and John Freeman not only led to a book but was featured in the movie "First, Do No Harm" with Meryl Streep (1997), on Dateline NBC (2003), and in six episodes of the television series, "Hopkins". And when I brought Kristen to Hopkins to see Dr. Freeman many years ago, Diana was there for us too. Her death was a huge loss, especially to all of "her" kids.

Which brings me to my very brave sister, Andi, who is now a little over a week out from her double mastectomy (she said I could talk about this:-) As readers of this blog know, the four "Stunning Smith Sisters" all had genetic counseling in November and were tested for the BRCA 2 gene, which causes hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Andi and Nancy came out positive for the mutation. What that meant for Andi was a very high probability that she would get breast cancer within the next ten years. After extensive genetic counseling, Andi and her doctors chose a preventative mastectomy. I feel so bad to see Andi in so much pain but know that, in the long run, this means that she will not become another breast cancer statistic, like Diana. Andi has a really positive attitude about all this and is beginning to be able to move around a bit so I know, given time, she will be feeling better. And her nurse (Dave:-) is doing a really good job of keeping her comfortable.

Speaking of sisters...Aaron took Nancy on a week-long trip to Disney World as a surprise before she begins her next round of chemotherapy. Hank and I picked them up at the airport last night and it sounds as if they had a great time. They arrived looking tan and happy and carrying a fresh box of Krispy Kremes! I'm sure that Nancy will be posting photos to this blog as soon as she catches her breath. I'm so glad that Nancy got this break before having to deal with cancer treatments again. She has two out-patient surgeries scheduled in May and, before then, will be receiving her first of six monthly infusions of Doxil to get her ovarian cancer back into remission. (It seems that every time the weather starts to get warm here in Maine, Nancy starts chemo again...What's up with that, Nanc???)

In other news:

Mom was in the hospital for two days last week but is home now and feeling better. She had been having difficulty with shortness of breath.
Joanne and Mark are back from a vacation in Arizona and, I hope, will share some photos.
Takanori has learned how to dial "Nanny and Grampy's" phone number all by himself so Hank and I are having frequent conversations with him now:-) His latest news is that he just won two trophies for chess tournaments he was in...pretty good for six years old! He, Tomo and Toshi will be spending this summer with their grandparents, Umeyo and Tokuhide, in Japan. (Taka told us that he will have to speak Japanese there:-)
Kristen and I had a special "girls day" together yesterday...we went out to lunch and shopped at LL Bean; finished the day with Kristen's favorite, "hazelnut decaf", in the 1912 cafe.

Thought I'd end this blog entry with a vintage photo that made me laugh. I decided that, in the spirit of "keeping calm and carrying on", I will pretend that it's my sisters and I heading off on a "cheerful", cancer-free vacation (obviously, one of us already fell out of the car!)

OK Andi, Nancy, and Joanne...your turn to blog now...

Remembering Diana

2010-04-12T19:09:00.033-04:00

In memory of our dear friend, Diana Pillas

June 16, 1940 - February 6, 2010

Baltimore, Maryland

Cheryl & Diana...at Diana's house in Lutherville, MD...April 2008. Hank and I drove down to visit Diana after hearing that she had breast cancer. We went out to dinner and spent the night at Diana's...our last visit.

Diana at Chandler's Wharf with Jeanne Cahill & Cheryl...1994

at Bruno's after our wedding...Portland, ME, 1988

Diana was an amazing woman...here is a link to a tribute to her from Johns Hopkins where she worked in the Pediatric Epilepsy Center for 40 years...

http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=8044

"I am like a falling star who has finally found her place next to another in a lovely constellation, where we will sparkle in the heavens forever." ~Amy Tan

Happy Easter to All!

2010-04-04T23:08:00.021-04:00

We had Easter dinner at my house this year as Cheryl and Hank were invited for dinner at Wendy and Robby Lawson's. It was a gorgeous day here in Maine--in the 70's and sunny-beautiful. Our guests were Andi and Dave Donnelly, Kit and Erin Doty, Aaron and I and happily Mom, who was feeling and looking great and in great spirits!
Kit and Erin picked her up in Kit's new work truck-which is about 5 feet off the ground with her oxygen tank and bunny ears on!

We had the traditional ham, cheesy potatoes, veggies, pecan rolls and butter rolls, and pineapple upside down cake and lemon lush for dessert. Somehow at the end of dinner the discussion turned to chili recipes-probably because Cheryl gave Andi a great slow cooker cookbook. This led to Mom saying she'd heard chili powder goes "buggy" and should be replaced often. Since whatever chili pepper I've bought has been around for Years (I'm not fond of chili), Mom and Erin needed to check it out for bugs--with a magnifying glass. Mom said she thought she saw some movement in one can, and was sure the other was loaded with the dead carcasses of the critters! Both went in the garbage-how to these things come up in the middle of an Easter dinner?? Don't ask me--

Some random extra shots...

Andi was busy downloading pictures of her adorable grandson, James, who Joanne visited with when she was just out in Arizona...

Kit is sure no one can see him as he sneaks in a pecan roll before dinner!

Aaron and Erin (notice how thin she's gotten) she's working out like a crazy person!

Dave and Mom enjoy some appetizers!

All in all we had a great time, and hope you and your families did too!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T03:02:00.000-04:00

The Mutant Club Expands

2010-03-27T10:06:00.004-04:00

In support of Nancy's fight with Cancer and for all of us affected by cancer, I wanted to share a bit of my story about HBOC- or Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer.

After our Smith family had genetic testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, we discovered that two of the four stunning Smith sisters had inherited the mutant gene from the Boococks and two hadn't. I, Andi, am the other mutant sister in what Nancy and I call "The Mutant Club." Mom and Grammy Boocock are also members of long standing. Yesterday, one of my children was identified as the newest mutant club member.

After my genetic testing, I found I had inherited the same deleterious mutant gene on chromosome 13 as my mother, grandmother and Nancy. Now, we know at least one of my 3 kids also has this mutation. We all are Braca 2 positive. We have inherited a high risk for breast and ovarian cancer.

Nancy's plea for support has inspired me to share this information.

Yesterday, while my child, and I were discussing the positive genetic results with a genetic counsellor and oncologist, we opined that in years to come there may be simple blood test to proactively detect cancer. I was then told of a current research study at Maine Medical to study a protein they think may be just such a marker for proactive identification of breast cancer or ovarian cancer "carriers". Being Braca 2 positive, I was eligible to participate in this study, so I had a blood draw for this research study after our meeting.

This message is my round about way of saying how I second Nancy's plea for support of the Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society. In the future research may stop this disease from being inherited and passed on, or may identify it by a routine blood test before it can harm anyone.

I think knowledge is power. Knowing we are Braca 2 positive, My child and I can now be proactive in our fight against cancer. My child was told they can now even do genetic testing on embryos to determine if they have inherited the Braca 2 gene.

I had to weigh my risks and received great counselling in deciding how I would be proactive about my inherited cancer risk. In January 2010, at age 59, I had my first surgery. I had a laparasopic bilateral salpingo oopherectomy (BSO), or the removal of my ovaries and tubes. It was a cinch. They were benign and now my chance of getting ovarian cancer is drastically reduced. The BSO is a "no brainer" proactive surgery recommended by all the MDs talked to as the best preventative measure for Braca 2 positive people who have already had their children.

On April 9, 2010, I am having a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction. Being Braca 2 positive, my risk of getting breast cancer by age 70 is up to 87%. I have seen first hand the suffering of Nancy and others with Cancer and hope to not share that horrible fight. I'm a chicken, so I would rather loose my famous "Boocock Boobs". On the positive side, at 60, I will have the breasts of a 19 year old.

So my request is twofold: Support Nancy's fight and the American Cancer Society; and, Boococks; get HBOC testing! Knowledge is power.

An Appeal to All Who Read This Blog

2010-03-23T19:41:00.006-04:00

In light of the recent passing of Cheryl and Hank's dear friend, Bob Dalton, and "our own" dear Hilda, as well as the countless others whose live has been touched by the terrible disease of cancer, I ask you all to consider supporting me in this year's Relay for Life.

My Reason to Relay

I relay for:

* Myself

* For my dear friend Deb Reid who fought so bravely

* For Mom-Alice Smith and my Dad Frederick Smith

* For Dale Shaw

* For Lillian Boocock

* For Grampa Smith

* For Uncle Arthur Smith

* For Louise Doty

* For Bob Dalton

*For my cousin, Lynne

* For Hilda Richie

* For all those who have had their life or that of a loved one affected by this evil disease

I Relay because I want to see an end to cancer during my lifetime. Relay gives me the unique opportunity to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and support the American Cancer Society’s lifesaving mission by fighting back against a disease that has already taken too much.

Please support my efforts to fight back against cancer by making a donation or joining my Relay For Life® team. We will relay Saturday June 26-27 from 6 pm until 6 am at Windham High School, in the brand new Relay for Life of the Sebago Lakes region!

Your efforts will help the American Cancer Society fund groundbreaking cancer research, provide up-to-date cancer information, advocate for all people to have access to screening and treatment, and offer free programs and services to improve the quality of life for people facing cancer. By being a part of Relay, we are joining a worldwide movement to help defeat cancer for future generation

Please join me in my fight against cancer!

Nancy

My Page:
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/NancyTufts

Remembering a friend

2010-03-19T21:26:00.013-04:00

In Memory of Bob Dalton

March 11, 1948 - March 19, 2010

Kennebunk, Maine

The Gourmet Group will never be the same without you, Bob...
Kampai!

The Beast is Back

2010-03-12T15:09:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I had my monthly checkup to go over my CT scan results with my oncologist, Laurie Small. There is no fun way to share the results--it appears that there are some spots of cancer which appeared on this scan, Tuesday. My CA125 has also risen to 65 (anything below 35 is considered normal). So, I am now officially off the drug trial that I was on, and will be going back into treatment for this recurrence. I will be going on Doxil for my chemo. This will mean monthly infusions, and is supposed to be a relatively well tolerated drug. There should be no more hair loss (good thing, I only have about 10 left) and the other side effects are the typical--nausea and fatigue. The worst side effect is skin rashes on the trunk and arms and legs, and something called PPE, which is a severe rash and skin peeling (like a bad sunburn) which occurs on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. This does not mean that I will get all the side effects, but those are the most common ones. Before I begin treatment, she is referring me to a gynecological urologist. The Dr. who read the CT scan also found what he thought was scar tissue on my urethra (I know that is misspelled--it is the tube from the kidney to the bladder). Since this is not her specialty, she wants me to see a specialist so that if there is any treatment needed for that, it can be done before the chemo begins. IF there is significant scar tissue, they might decide to put a stent in the tube to prevent any further blockage. Currently there are not problems with my kidney function numbers, but she just feels this should be checked out before the Doxil, so that if there is surgery needed, it will happen before the chemo. She would also like me to consider having a port surgically implanted to make accessing a vein easier for chemo and blood draws. This is a catheter place directly into an artery below the collarbone, so there is always a place to access for chemo infusions or blood work. About half of the patients have them. So--all in all not the greatest news, lots to digest and learn about. I have had a good run of remission, and Laurie feels that I will be able to achieve another remission with this treatment. I just wanted everyone who reads this to have the information as I received it. I'm not sure that anyone but Cheryl even reads this anymore, and Cheryl already knows because she stopped by right after I got home from my appointment. Wish I could think of some cute picture to post with this or some clever retort to end this with, but right now I can't--so I'll just leave it with cancer sucks--please support the American Cancer Society and Relay for Life--Nancy

Black Mountain 2010

2010-02-21T13:58:00.027-05:00

What a great February vacation! Hank and I spent the week skiing and relaxing at Whitney's Inn on Black Mountain, NH with Rob and Taka, Robert and Brian, and Kit and Erin. Taka had never skiied before and by the end of the week he was going up the lift by himself and skiing down. Robert and Brian started skiing at Black two years ago and have gotten really good...black diamond good. On Saturday, Robert even entered a ski race and did really well. Nancy's son, Kit is on the ski patrol at Black. He has worked very hard to become certified as a member of the US ski patrol and we're all very proud of him. Kit learned to ski with us at Black, too, when we had our camp...lots of great memories at this mountain!

Taka just turned 6...is he cute or what?

"Grampy" loved skiing with his grandsons...

Rob & Taka in the lodge...

Taka and his ski instructor, Elizabeth...

Elizabeth takes Taka up on the Platter Pull ("Platypus") lift...his first time up...

After a few times with Elizabeth, Taka went up all by himself!

Cheryl, Hank, Brian, Robert, Rob & Taka...

Kit, Robert & Brian at the triple chair...

Robert, Erin, Kit and Brian...

Kit working ski patrol at Black...