Peggy's surgery: one year ago this week

Peg was diagnosed June 12 last year. Major surgery on June 23. Our friend Bruce Patt, who was good company in the waiting room that day, took this photo last night after dinner on our back deck.

We met with Peg's oncologist just before our Colorado trip two weeks ago, and learned that Peg's numbers were slightly elevated. Below 20 is considered normal, and Peg tested at 30. She had been as low as 5. (For comparison, when she was so ill last summer the number was close to 300).

For now, it's just a number. We see Dr. B. on July 14 and we'll see if it's trending up or staying steady. We're not freaking out, and we don't want you to, either.

We had a wonderful (but really brief) Colorado visit with Peg's (almost 90 year-old) mom and family. We wish we had more time to visit friends. Got up into the Rockies and did a little hiking around Silverthorne, just north of Breckenridge.

Peg so loves the Rockies. It was great to be back. We had to cancel attending our niece's wedding last summer, so we hadn't been there for a year and a half. Plus, according to my wife, I don't snore at that altitude.

We had great fun seeing our niece's new baby and reconnecting with everyone, but Sacramento is really our home. We've been here for 22 years and in our house for 21 years. Oh, and as long as we're counting, on August 15 it'll be the 24th anniversary of when I met Peg at our friends Kent and Diane's backyard barbecue in Denver.

I swear on my Captain Underpants secret decoder ring to be better about posting more frequently!

Beets me!

Pulled our first set o' beets out of the garden today. Peg made a killer salad with freshly plucked garden yummies and spinach. Unbelievably good. The fresh broccoli is out of this world, but soon to make way for summer crops.

Today I dug out the side of the hill with a little pathway to harvest future goodies: watermelon (2 kinds), cantaloupe (2 kinds) and pumpkin. Peg helped to dig the holes and mix in the good soil. The hill contains the crappy, clay-infested soil we replaced with organic soil a year ago and dumped into the yard. We're going to let the new crop just spread out over the hill. Probably keep a close watch on the pumpkins lest they end up rolling down to the bottom to be gobbled up by whatever critters happen to find them.

Happy Mother's Day!

Can't believe it's been a month since I last posted. Things are going well. Today was a great Mother's Day on many levels: Peg's here and healthy; the weather was cool, cloudy and perfect for gardening; and we got a great hike in at the end of the day. Zoë and I are going to give Peg a hot foot soak and leg/footie massage in a bit.

Here's Peg's video greeting to y'all and a photo from the hike, on the bluffs above Lake Natoma near Folsom at sunset.

Peg sails out of port--actually port sails out of Peg

Last week Peg's chemo port was removed. It's the lil' gizmo that was placed just under the skin near her clavicle in June. Every three weeks, from July until October, we'd trek to the infusion center where a nurse would insert a needle into the port and put Peg on a four-hour chemo drip.

We were all surprised to see this cool-looking purple anodized aluminum thing emerge from Peg's chest. The tube had been directly inside a vein that went to her heart. The three small bumps on the silicone part helped the infusion nurse find the center.

As soon as we went out to the front yard to take these photos Peg noticed how closely the color matches the lavender petals.

Peg's going to incorporate it into some cool sculpture. For now it lives on the kitchen counter where we all play with it.

More beach photos

As promised, more photos from our beach trip (courtesy of Chris Andre). Peg found a live sand dollar, which we've never seen in our 22 years of living in California. I think that says a lot.

'Twas a delight to see Zoë, Camille and Marie thoroughly enjoying the beach. Our two families also had a great time hanging out at the campsite. Because the weather cooperated, we never had the chance to hole up in the Andre's pop-up tent trailer and play cards, so tonight we went to their house to play Pinochle. Peg won. She's on a roll... first cancer, then Pinochle... I think she's headed next for world peace.

Life's a beach

Spent three days at Sunset State Beach, just south of Santa Cruz, with our dear friends the Andre family (Paul, Chris, daughters Camille, age almost 15, and Marie, 11). Same folks we camped with at the same spot a year ago, just before our roller coaster ride.

We all felt that this was a momentous trip. Completing a cycle. Getting back to a point where a camping trip is normal, fun and doable after our "lost summer."

Chris took some great pictures, which I'll post over the next few days. But for now, here are a few glimpses. Watching the sunset from the hill above the beach... Zoë, Marie and Camille in the giant hole they dug at the beach... Zoë at the bottom of the hole, almost six feet down. Those girls were relentless.

Our spot was at the edge of strawberry fields, at the bottom of a hill and protected from the wind. After an entire year, we really enjoyed getting the cab-over out of mothballs and back on the truck. More to come... stay tuned.

Peggy, the silver fox

Spent a little time in the garden today with Peg. Winter vegetables are finally starting to take off-- broccoli, kale, beets and onions (or "unnuns" as we call them at our house). Cabbage, not so much.

But the flowers... wow. It's been in the 70's and sunny every day and they're as happy as we are. We have a hot date this afternoon... actually a threesome. Our partner is John Deere. Yep, that John Deere. They make tractors, but more importantly, all kinds of tubing, emitters and sprinklers. Getting the yard geared up for new planting before it gets too hot.

Speaking of things growing... here's the long-awaited photo of my sweet wife with her soft, minty-fresh hair! We're going camping next week with our friends the Andre's, the same folks we were with when the photo at the top of the blog was taken. Same place, Sunset State Beach, and same time of year. We're so used to seeing Peg with no hair, or short hair, it's hard to remember that last year she had so much hair.

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. Zoë just finished Science Olympiad, which has kept her incredibly busy on top of swim team practices and meets. I've been wrapping up some major design projects I thought were close to completion last time I posted. Peg's been meditating every day and attending a small dance/movement group for cancer survivors every Tuesday evening.

She gets in a good long walk every day but still has to pace herself. Saturday she saw Zoë compete in two Olympiad events at Sac State, so she was on her feet for over two hours plus an hour roundtrip drive. She was pretty woofed after that.

Not much else to report. We're changing our diets... gradually. Peg's leading the charge. More fresh fruits and vegetables, more organic produce, less animal fat. Stopped microwaving food in plastic containers. Even Meat Boy just has a steak once a month or so. We're looking forward to getting a lot of our food directly from the garden, and inundating our friends with tomatoes!