Saturday, July 2, 2011

Several things, including activities for healing...

Follow-up visit with General Surgeon
On Thursday I had my last visit with Dr. I, until after my implant is in. He had a Resident with him and  explained that he would be going into more detail with her for her learning experience. I'm all for it - except for 1 hospital that I ever worked in, all have been teaching hospitals. Everybody needs learning opportunities. He talked a bit about presenting my case to the tumor board. The board agreed, of course, that the treatment was appropriate based on tumor size and type. They were fascinated by the size and growth of the nasty alien thing. Other than that, tissue, incision, sensation even in its abnormal-to-me condition, are all looking good and as hoped for.  

I wonder about physician patient relationships. One builds a relationship relatively quickly out of necessity, establishing some sort of bond. We need to be able to trust for treatment and healing. To me, lack of trust would not enhance that process. The relationship, if we are fortunate, is a short-term one and patients go on to live their lives, physicians to see and help many more patients. If we are fortunate, patients need few of those short-term relationships. I wonder how physicians are able to build that relationship so quickly and so briefly with so many people. It may be taxing, or perhaps it is just a part of what they do every day. Mhmmm. 

Activities for healing
Well... so the best part of my entry today. I'm at the beach. The weather is fantastic. Yesterday morning I sat on a window seat facing the ocean, ocean sounds in the background to work for 4 hrs. Painful, right? I've had some good beach walks. The stars last night were fantastic. This morning when I got up I looked out the window to see how low the tide was. OMG - I need to be out on the beach now! It was way out there. I wanted to go down around the Cape to see what I could see. As I walked I heard a woman comment that the tide was at its lowest so far this year.

Bed head - why is Ocean Air bed head so much worse than Desert Camp bed head, or Valley Air bed head? I try to dampen the hair do down, get my clothes on, grab the essentials of water, rock bag, camera and binoculars. Don't forget money, because I have a feeling that I'll be getting a coffee and breakfast sandwich while I am out. The mirror is a little high for me, so I'm probably not seeing everything I need to see before I head out. Ok for me, but I feel sorry for those who are looking at me! But I need to get out there while the tide is so far out so I can get around the point at the north end of town. No time to waste.

Imagine this - listen to the ocean all day and night long; hot tub any time of the day you wish while looking at the ocean; listen to bird sounds; enjoy seafood meals. My gift from dear friends to help me recuperate. I think it's helping!

I want to share a few pictures from yesterday and today.

18 arm purple starfish

Cape Meares Light House

Catching the wind and waves

Tide is way out

Our view

Beach flotsam

Current favorite colors - charcoal gray and lime green
Star fish everywhere

Our friends, who are loaning us their beach condo for the weekend, purchased an Encaustic work of art last weekend while attending an event in Cannon Beach. I had looked up the artist and his work on the web, so I can totally envision the star fish photo as a painting. Anyone want to do that for the fun of it? Here's the link to Christopher Gerber's website. Good stuff.

Not to forget today's Farmer's Market in Tillamook! Yet again, we found some fresh Hood strawberries, Bing cherries, asparagus. We stopped and picked up a crab. You want to join us for dinner?

It's all good for healing - relaxing, being active, seeing art and nature and art in nature, and everyday stuff. I'm on my way.

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