San Diego, CA

This has been a difficult week. Ann is recovering very nicely from her lumpectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy. She has very little discomfort and the wounds are healing well.The staff at Eisenhower Medical Centre were all excellent as expected.
We have  the pathology reports most of which are favourable. and suggest good prognosis. The big question is the need for adjuvent chemotherapy and we are going to see the chief of breast oncology at UCSD on Friday to get an expert opinion on this. One further genetic test, Oncotype DX,  is cooking as we speak but we will not get the result for another  two weeks from now.
We certainly hope that chemotherapy will not be necessary for obvious reasons but will have to wait and see.

Rancho Mirage, California

Some good news and some bad news

We have had an eventful week. We left Sun Valley a day early due to the massive Beaver Creek wild fire that destroyed more than a hundred square miles to the south and west of Sun Valley and Ketchum. Up to 2300 homes were evacuated and we were next on the list. The smoke was so thick it reminded me of the London fogs I remember from the late 50's and early 60's. Most activities were cancelled including the famous Sun Valley Symphony and the writer's conference.

There didn't seem to be much point waiting for a mandatory evacuation order so we left a bit early. Even so, the only route out of town, highway 75 was jammed solid and it took almost two hours to go eleven miles to get south of Hailey. This usually takes about twenty minutes. We saw the smoke and flames in the distance and the fire camp where more than a thousand firemen were assembled to fight the fire.

We are pleased that their efforts were successful and no significant fire damage happened in Sun Valley and Ketchum. Tourism, however, suffered greatly.

And now for the bad news. Ann has noted some skin tethering over the right breast for the past two months and despite having had normal screening mammograms for the past ten years, we thought it would be best to have some further testing done.

A diagnostic mammogram, ultrasound and a core needle biopsy done on a suspicious area on the right side on Monday was positive for breast cancer.

Fortunately, an MRI scan did not show any spread to lymph nodes but confirmed the mass on the right side.

We are currently back in Rancho Mirage and tomorrow Ann will undergo lumpectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy with one of my former associates.

We expect to return to San Diego on Saturday to await the results of the biopsy, the various tumour markers and the lymph node status which should be available by Tuesday. We should then have a better handle on prognosis and be able to make some decisions about adjuvant treatment. We hope that Ann will not need chemo but we will have to wait and see.

We had planned to leave for London on September 10 and go back to SE Asia in November but all plans are on hold right now until we have further information.

We both hope this turns out well.

Sun Valley, ID

The Admiral and I have been enjoying the quiet life in the mountains and the days pass quickly. All the new painting and decorating has been done and we will put the condo up for rental again when we leave on Saturday. There have been some devastating forest fires in the surrounding areas and our usually glorious mountain views have been marred by heavy smoke and ash.
We have been enjoying the Sun Valley Symphony, which is an annual feature here. Mozart tonight, followed by martinis at the Sun Valley Inn.
On a much sadder note, we received the news yesterday that one of our fellow cruisers had lost his battle with a very rare and aggressive CNS lymphoma and passed away at the tender age of 48. We will miss him very much and we must learn to live our own lives to the fullest.
We leave for San Diego on Saturday via Las Vegas and Rancho Mirage.