Thursday Jan 17, 2008

Battle Mountain, Hoback Canyon

taken by Judi

Greetings from Lynn's friends, Judi! I am posting Lynn's blog today.
Yesterday Lynn & I came up for her chemo.
Virginia, who lives in Jackson, came to visit. What a delightful person.
Lynn then told the nurse about the shortness of breath she has had since her 'port' was put in, a week ago Monday (when Gina came up with her).
An X-Ray was ordered.
Dr. Meno came in to tell Lynn that her left lung was 87% collapsed! (a nurse later told her she'd never seen more than a 20% collapse). They pricked her lung when they put in the port and it has slowly deflated.
After her Chemo session, Lynn went right in to have some kind of tube attached that will re-inflate that lung. Just like a balloon.
Last night Lynn looked great and was doing her deep breathing exercises. The nurse said her lungs sound very good.
I stayed at the Hitching Post last night. It is for hospital visitors. This morning I checked in with Lynn. She said she is feeling better. Then I had to get over to the Senior Center to get into her blog to post this. (The hospital computers have a block or something on signing in to post.)

SO! She is at St John's Hospital. 307-733-3636 (I'm going by memory. I hope that is right). She is in room 120. (Yesterday I told Kay the wrong room number).

For this procedure, they like to keep patients for 2 and maybe 3 nights. Lynn might get out tomorrow (Friday), but it is more likely she will not get home until Saturday.

Lynn said she is enjoying her "mini vacation" and is being royally pampered.
from Judi Myers

Tuesday January 15 2008

Sunrise at Boulder

Kay, Jo and Lynn taken by Judi

Mixed Media Lunch at Rendezvous Pointe

Up before 6, showered. Groan and whine. Joe got the car out for me and I left to meet Judi at Rendezvous Pointe shortly after 7 a.m. She had volunteered to go along with me to my chemo appointment this time.

All along the way I saw a lot of deer, and was surprised by a herd in the road as I dropped down to cross the East Fork. Lucky I didn't hit any of them - or skid on the bridge. Next there was a beautiful bald eagle, and later I saw two eagles doing that special flying acrobatics they do in pairs over a bluff above the River twirling and falling and grasping each others feet. At home it was about half clear, but looking north toward Jackson was very black. By the time I got to the airport it started snowing and visibility was bad. After several miles drove out of that and it wasn't bad going on in to Pinedale.

We both got there to meet at the same time and Judi got in my car. We were both wondering about the weather, as I had heard on the radio that there was no unnecessary travel around Teton Park and Rollie had checked it out the current conditions on the Internet and didn't really want Judi to go it was so bad, more like no unnecessary travel from Bondurant to Jackson. The wind was supposed to blow in some places up to 70 mph. I said let's see how it is at Daniel. We said we'd give it a try and see how far we got. So after dropping some letters off at the post office we headed north. It began to snow heavily almost right away. You couldn't see the edge of the road or the oncoming cars and we turned ourselves around at the Industrial Park turn off. Funny thing was that when we turned around with our tail to the wind we could see pretty good.

So we decided to have a cup of coffee together back at Rendezvous Pointe and visit for a while, and maybe see if the storm let up. I had my grocery list and would go to the store and then on home if it stayed nasty. The wind started blowing harder and turning into a ground blizzard but we were cozy in the Center. Judi made us some coffee out of the art room and we watched the weather change back and forth every 30 minutes from blizzard to clearing off, but very windy. We checked the weather on the computer there and the warning headline on pinedaleonline was that there had been an avalanche across the road in the Hoback Canyon. We called the hospital and said I wouldn't be there today, and they said they didn't expect me. They asked if I would like to come on Friday instead and I said that would be fine - I knew the weather until then is still supposed to be stormy, so Friday sounded good.

About 9 we were surprised to see Ruth and Susie came in and I remembered this was the day they were having the Mixed Media meeting and lunch there. So I decided to wait and see everyone and have lunch with them and Judi joined us. There were about ten or twelve of us and as always it was a wonderful and enjoyable time being together and creating a little art. They set up quite a few different still lifes and some beautiful fresh flowers. I borrowed some of Melita's colored pencils and drew two pears in a lovely bowl. Lunch was salad bar with lasagna, garlic toast and broccoli cauliflower, and a peach cobbler. After leisurely lunch I got my stuff together and told everyone goodbye and went over to shop for the groceries. I had mentioned that Falers has sold recently and it was kind of in the throes of the changeover with the shelves rather messy. This was the first time I've been out for anything except going to Dr. checkup or chemo since I got home from the surgery.

Going home, even though the snow had stopped falling, the wind was awful and really blowing snow across the road. It almost made me dizzy it was swirling around so much, although it was mesmerizing as well. This lasted all the way home. I should have stopped and taken photos of a herd of cattle trailing through the wind. They were beautiful. Horses in the fields were without shelter and standing with their tails to the wintry blasts. I followed first one and then another snow plow for a while and that was awesome as the big plow would hit the drifts and the snow would just explode up into the air in huge clouds. The wind got just a little better after coming into our valley. Richie Road was in good shape with some tongues of the drifts growing across the track, then our lane in from the gate was beginning to fill in with drifts pretty good. It was 11 degrees when I left and 11 degrees when I got home.

Joe was out with the dogs bringing in fire wood when I got here. He put the car back away - he has his special way of backing it and his truck in the garage so they come out frontwards, and with mine in the back so I'm glad for him to do that.

I called Charm to see if she had gotten home alright because they are snowmachining now, and she has about 10 miles to go through the blizzard to where they park their vehicles. She had also come into town through the storm in the morning and I'm sure had quite a difficult ride both out and back home. Ruth and Susie also had an interesting drive over from Big Piney. I tried to call Virginia to let her know why we hadn't come for the appointment but her phone was busy. Then nurse Judy called and asked if I wanted to come up for my chemo tomorrow instead of Friday. I said I might, but it sounded like it is still going to be stormy and very windy, so maybe will see what it's like in the morning. Got groceries put away and made us a fresh burger patty with croissant, macaroni and cheese and salad for dinner.

This is a news note from pinedaleonline: "A fast-moving winter storm hit the Pinedale area early Tuesday morning creating white-out conditions and slippery roads. Just prior to the storm hitting, a snow slide closed Highway 191 through Hoback Canyon. WYDOT road crews were able to quickly clear the slide to reopen the road, however Mother Nature threw in a blizzard next to make it almost impossible to see the roads to drive for those who got caught in the open. About an hour later, the storm left as quickly as it came, without depositing significant new snow. The National Weather Service continues to warn of strong gusty winds and wintery road conditions for the day. Click link here for photos and article from Tuesday morning’s snow storm: Blizzard in Pinedale (8 photos) ".

Monday January 14 2008

Xavier

Colder again, guess we're going to have a spell of that. It was 20 below last night. Ice around the windows.......inside. I put another comforter on the bed. There was fog and frost again this morning but the sun is shining bright with blue skies above.

Yesterday I said there was nothing new, but yes, there was. Beverly's step son/Brent's son and his wife had a new baby boy a few days ago and she sent some pictures. He was tiny about 5 1/2 pounds, but both the mom and baby are doing really fine. His name is Xavier. So thought I'd put a picture of him in today. Beverly is adjusting to being a grandma. And what does that make me then?

Will get ready for going to chemo tomorrow. Judi will meet me in Pinedale and go along with me. It's predicted to be a little snowy and blustery. Figures. Virginia called last night and she will come over to the hospital to visit. This will probably be a good day for that. She and Calvin live just a few blocks from the hospital. It will be nice to see her.

Cousin Iris called this morning from her new apartment in Houston and said she is really liking it there so far. Remember she moved from Salt Lake recently to be near Michelle. She is in the midst of unpacking. I was glad to hear from her.

This afternoon I was able to go through the photos I've taken since I got the laptop and organize them all into folders and eliminate some of the duplicates. Now I can build on that system and not be so disorganized. I'll be able to then save to the external hard drive in the right order. Of course, THAT could use attention too, it's got too many duplicates.

Here are some photos of the mountains in the winter from pinedaleonline. http://www.pinedaleonline.com/photogallery/davebell/home.htm

Sunday January 13 2008

Sir Edmund Hillary in the Wind Rivers

He's on the right.

Yesterday I heard that Sir Edmund Hillary died. I always admired him and all his accomplishments very much. Have followed what he did in his life and read his books and other books about him. I just wanted to tell you a kind of short version of this happening.

While running Big Sandy Lodge I like to say "I" packed Hillary with their group of 15 into the Wind Rivers. Of course our whole outfit worked to do this trip, but I made sure I went along on this one. Their purpose was to fish for golden trout. And they were all promoting and testing Sears camping gear, tents and stoves, clothing and sleeping bags etc. It was about 1975. I'd have to look through bunches of papers to figure out exactly the year, so this is close enough. I have a nice write up about the trip and their stay with us. They went in another time too. I have pictures of me with the group, but think I just gave Debbie the photo albums to take home, so don't have those to show. I also have some slides.

I can remember when I was in high school they announced over the PA system that Hillary and Tenseng Norgay had reached the summit of Mt. Everest. It was about as amazing an event as walking on the moon was years later.

Today was bright and beautiful. I worked more on my photos. I didn't expect to spend as much time as I did, but guess I was enjoying it. Otherwise it was pretty boring so no other news.

Saturday January 12 2008

Foggy Morning Sunrise

Quiet boring day. It was foggy and frosty this morning. No news to even write about. I felt some better thankfully. Had a nearly sleepless night, but that never hurts much. Joe's doing o.k. He commented on how fast the time is going by. The dogs and I went for a short walk down the road this afternoon. It was a mood lifter to go out, and the day was pretty. It was fun seeing the dogs bounding through the deep drifts. There were LOTS of coyote tracks in the road, and coming right up to the yard.

I spent a lot of the time today working on my photographs. Even though the files I like best are in the broken computer, I have most everything saved on an external hard drive, so was able to go there and work, and as usual learned more about the intricacies of that. I seem to have everything saved 3 or 4 or more? times. I would like to get it organized with no duplicates.........if I knew how. Isn't there a way to ask "it" not to save something if its already in there?

Tonight dinner was even easy, and I stuck a pizza that Ruth brought over a couple of months ago. That was pretty tasty with some salad. Thank you again for the pizza, Ruthie.

Friday January 11 2008

Fog Bank Rolling in from the River

Another day like yesterday, quiet. Was lovely, cheerful, and sunny. There was an interesting fog bank that came in this morning, but soon the wind was blowing and by evening was strong enough to be moving the snow.

Together we did a little bit of business on the phone, as I help Joe that way because he doesn't hear on the phone very well. And then typed up the notes for him. Gradually I did some other chores, nothing strenuous for sure. Still having trouble with the breathing, but went all day long with no pain pill at all and did fine - the best yet. This afternoon I gave myself a facial and did that feel good. I have not done one thing for my face since I got sick but wash it. It sure looked better too.

When the willow bends at the first hint of troubled breezes,

our friends come running to see how they can help.

Sometimes friends know when they are needed

even before we realize it ourselves,

because we are accustomed to letting them in on

the happenings of our lives.

Lois Wyse

In Praise and Celebration of Friendship

a book given in friendship from Melita

Thursday January 10 2008

Jackrabbit Outside the Studio Window

Today was relaxed and quiet, just about like yesterday, not much to write about. Our snow depth has already settled down several inches. This morning I watched a herd of about 18 deer next to our field. There were at least three big bucks and one was huge. There haven't been as many deer around this winter so it was fun to see them. They were beautiful in the wintry landscape.

Everything is fine here. My chest is still sore. The breathing problem is gradually getting better, but still uncomfortable. So I probably won't find out what that is all about until we go back to chemo on next Tuesday - as I've been hoping this did not get bad enough not to have to get a doctor appointment to check it out - they changed my chemo day because Mondays are busier. I don't mind since all the days are the same to me. They had said to wait two days before I showered, so did that today. Had some nice phone calls. Tonight I made Mexican food and it was kind of an effort, but it turned out good and there's some for leftovers.