I hardly know where to begin…

I’ve been to Bastyr twice now, once with the nutritionist and then we were fortunate to get right in with their naturopath who works primarily with people who have cancer. Her name is Dr. Leanna Standish and Mike has declared her my new best friend. She was a force and she is awesome.

With Kelly the nutritionist, I learned about the chemo and protein and that was very helpful and makes complete sense.She also talked to us about what to do and what precautions to take if my white blood count dips below certain numbers. She was awesome and very helpful. And, she was fairly adamant that we go see Dr. Standish. As it turns out there was a cancellation so we were able to get right in.

Dr. Standish has worked with oncologists around the city and has an ongoing relationship with Fred Hutchison…so, it was great going into it knowing that she works with oncologists and not just doing woo-woo medicine on the side.

Like everyone else we’ve met she couldn’t believe that I have stomach cancer…it is just too weird, as I am otherwise so healthy and had no symptoms. She is the first person to look at me and say “You are going to get through this.” She said it a couple of times in a couple of different ways, and sounded rather convincing. No other medical professional has made this statement. She was easy to talk to, extremely knowledgable, confident and had strategies.

I’ll be taking some supplements for now, ones that actually protect my stomach and work with the chemo to kill the cancer.  Then I go back to see her after my scan in 5 weeks, sooner if there are any issues/side effects I need to see her about. But, she said the real work with her will be after the chemo. At that point she’ll put me on a broth cleanse and then I’ll take herbs and goodies to protect myself from cancer. 

For those who want to know, she has me on turkey tail mushrooms 2x a day and melatonin before bed each night (it not only helps with sleep it is an immune booster …who knew?). She said I can do anything topical (go ahead with the frankincense) but she knows that all of you are telling me crazy remedies and said that I should just say, “Thanks, I’ll ask my doctor about that.”

I am so happy to have Dr. Standish be one of my health care providers. I feel like she and Kelly, the nutritionist will provide answers to all the questions that Dr. Kaplan really does not want to/maybe can't answer. It feels positive and proactive.

Now…the Elwha…it was magical and fantastic!
Last fall, at the beginning of the school year, one of my former students, Owen, brought me a brochure from Olympic National Park about the Elwha River along with a note he had written. I saved it in my: "must go see" pile for a year and finally we went! You can see a picture of his sweet note below. So thoughtful, kids on summer vacation thinking of their former teacher and knowing what I'd be interested in doing and seeing! I love that!

What a beautiful day for a trip to the peninsula! We packed a picnic, hopped on the ferry to Bainbridge and headed on over. We stopped for a  picnic at Sequim Bay State Park and enjoyed plenty of protein; smoked salmon, boiled egg, cheese along with crackers, tomatoes and basil…it was all yum! 

From there we went to Patti (former Pathfinderite) and Paul’s brand new house past and up from Port Angeles. Gorgeous new home, beautiful. It was fun to visit and get a tour. Patti and Paul then drove their car and led us down to the beach where the Elwha spits out. We said our goodbyes, they, headed back home and we went exploring up and down the beach and then back up the trail and through to another part of the river. It was magnificent. This is a powerful river and we’d read a bit about how quickly it is restoring itself to its pre dam beauty and diversity. When the dams were built there was a federal law mandating fish passage, but it did not happen. Already, the salmon are returning and feeding the ecosystems up and down the river. Quite inspiring! 

As we walked down one trail there was a spot filled with damselflies (i think that is what they were). They were fluttering on either side of the trail and leading our way down the trail. We found one golden one. I’m attaching a picture on the blog to show you this beautiful creature. Roz, it was like one of your fairies and I thought of you.

The 2 days prior to this I had been so fatigued and I was worried this day would be no different. But, I was completely energized, and felt great all day.  I shall give mother nature the credit for that. Dee had just given me an article about the power of getting out into nature and in it they said, they don’t call it the great outdoors for nothing…agreed! It was a great day outdoors!

But that’s not all. We left the mouth of the Elwha and the trail that led up river a bit to go find a little more. We passed a road Lower Dam Road I think and Mike said that Paul had mentioned that road, so we turned around and went back. We parked and walked up a fairly short ADA accessible path filled with salmon berries (yum…gotta have my berries!).

We stopped at the oversight there for a bit and noticed another path, less accessible and decided to check it out. We stepped into a magical kingdom of fern and cedar. So gorgeous with that woodland scent that is so rejuvenating. We followed the trail up and down and around and not too far to the end and another lookout. There was an elderly (even more than us) couple with their 2 dogs and we chatted for a bit then they headed out. Mike stepped over to where they had stood to check out the telescope thing and called my attention with a start. Taped to the pole of the telescope was an envelope, on that envelope was written: “Important, Janet Osborn, July 30, 2014.” What the hell! We were dumb struck. We so easily might not have made it down this path, might easily not have noticed that envelope, but there it was. I swear. It was very old-school Pathfinder stuff…you know ancient forest speaking to the kids! Notes from Mary Ann Boren Denny! That kind of thing…so sweet. Our theory is that it had to be Patti…but she has neither confirmed nor denied! Anyway, I’m going to try to post a picture of the letter. It was awesome! Thanks Elwha salmon! It was great to visit you, too!

I continue to feel good and strong even in the face of the daily chemo pills. I feel fortunate to be tolerating them so well. I’m getting exercise in one form or another every day, because I have to. I don’t want to. oh well. I’m eating very healthy, back to a better diet filled with protein. I continue to be blessed with visits and goodies (thanks Maryann and Debbie for the quiche, thanks Brenden for the warm socks) and cards in the mail. The kid cards are starting to arrive and they are so dear! 

So…there we are. Better, way better, than I imagined I’d be one week into chemo, one month since diagnosis. I thank you all for helping me get here.
I'm not planning to write everyday at this point, but I will keep you updated.

Love to you all

Janet