**NEW** Starting Chemo March 2009

Dayla...yes the 2 are different and an echo is even easier than a muga.

My nephew just finished his 4th round of chemo where he was in the hospital for 5 days. He is hanging in there. He just lost his grandmother on 4th of July unexpectedly. But, he is a trooper and keeping his chin up.

Hi..

Dayla..I had a routine echocardiagram a week or so ago by my cardiologist. A very easy test.

Christy..glad Gavin is holding his own. Kids are definitely more resilient than adults.

Today was a less humid day but the real heat will resume tomorrow .

Hugs,

Francine

Chris: That's great news! Yippee! You have c ouple of great trips coming up..Enjoy! Better get your glasses so you can enjoy a couple of good books at the beach.

 Francine: any word on your hospital insurance yet? How is the heat in NYC?

Hope everyone is well and continuing to enjoy the summer.

Hugs to all

Beth

Hi all,

Checking in to say hello...  The weather is finally bearable and I went for a bike ride with a friend yesterday along the Potomac.  This is the first real physical activity I've had since the reconstruction and, needless to say, I over-did it...   But I was happy to get out there and do something!  I've gained so much weight.  So, now I'm on the path to losing this poundage...

I'm happy to see all are doing well.  Chris and Francine, I hope you both enjoy your vacations.  Alyad..  I hope you're feeling better about your hike.  I loved reading your posts about it and you are awsome!  That's quite a feat after what you've been through.

 All..  here's one of my favorite jokes of late... lol  My best to you all!  Beth

I know this must be true!!!   
With time, women gain weight because we accumulate so much information and
wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out
to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured,
educated and happy.

Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, 
Good grief, look how smart I am!  

Must be where 'Smart Ass' came from!   

Beth R: I am LMAO (laughing my ass off)...ha ha if only I could really do that. Love the joke and count me in as a smart ass to!o Glad you enjoyed your bike ride.

Enjoy the day

Hugs

Beth P

cute joke Beth

Francine: How was the wedding? You must be looking forward to Bermuda next week.

Tanasha: How are you doing? Hope all is well with you and the bambino.

Beth R: Wha';s the plan for this week? Anymore cycling....come on ...I need some inspiration

Rachel: How are you doing? Have things settled down since the big trial for you?

Best wishes for all you gals

hugs

Beth P

okay- finally have internet at home again- so here are some pics from my Appalachian Trail hike. We hiked 900 miles from March 3- July 6 Georgia to New Jersey (skipping 440 miles of trail from Pearisburg VA to Southern PA- and also the last 50 miles of PA)

 We took over 2600 pics between the two of us- I weaned it down to about 600 that I posted on facebook. I've picked out about a dozen to try to post here, but I'll split it up into several posts.

 ok here is the first- I'm going to resize the rest so they aren't so big. This is me and DH at the start in Northern GA March 3- it had snowed about a foot the day before.

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me and DH at a view in North Carolina

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We were lucky to have many friends along the way who helped us out, but my friends from my 2001 hike went above and beyond. Mary Ann was dx with bilateral bc (with two diff pathologies! )  last year and went through chemo and finished rads a couple days after this pic was taken.

Hi,

Beth...thanks for the good wishes..

Dayla,,I do enjoy your photos .

NYC gals. -- I ate lunch today with a cousin at Dallas BBQ. Remember that place on 42cd. street.

Much to do before Sunday. Looking forward to the cruise. First time traveling with our granddaughter and her family as well as my husband's other son.There will be seven of us including two sons and their spouses.

Hugs,

Francine

Hi Ladies,

 Me and baby are doing great thanks for asking.  We will find out the sex in two weeks! I can't wait.

Side note - some of thos sticky wings would be good right about now.

 I hope all is well with you guys.

Enjoy Ladies..

Hugs,

Francine

Hi ladies,

Chris..have a great time with your family in NC.

Tanasha..glad all is going well with you and your little one.

Yes Bermuda here we come. I do believe the strom will be gone by the time we are there. Hopefully we won't meet it along the way.

Hugs,

Francine

Hi All,

Alyad - Great pics!  Thanks for sharing.  I hope all's well with your friend who was going through chemo.

 Tanasha - Good news about the baby.  Keep us posted!

Chris - I hope you enjoy the beach.  I LOVE the beach!

Francine - Have a great time on the cruise.

BethP - I rode again today and went much farther than last week.  Now I'm completely exhausted since I walked quite a bit yesterday.  But I feel good!!

My best to you all,

Beth

Hi everyone, thanks for your comments, I'll get some more pics up soon. My hiker friend in the picture who had bc is doing well-I think she and her DH are planning to hike the Arizona Trail this winter ( I think its about 700 miles? and I think they are planning to finish their hike of the Pacific Crest Trail next summer, they have done about 1200 of the 2600 miles). They lived in Northern Georgia at the time we started hiking and then once she finished treatment, they moved back to their place in Asheville NC 300 miles up the trail, so we saw them several times. She made a comment about living in very progressive liberal Asheville with her really short post chemo hair "here nobody looks at me weird, they just think I'm a lesbian!"""

a couple pics taken of me on rainy days- rainy cold weather sounds pretty awesome right now!

a group of rare Lady Slipper flowers.usually you are lucky to see just a few of these on a hike- I hiked past one spot where there were about a hundred -amazing!

the much more common rhodendron - these grow into forests on the trail- when they bloom you hike through tunnels of pink flowers!

In southwest VA the trail passes through Grayson Highlands State Park where there is a herd of wild ponies that are quite tame and approachable- these two colts were so cute!

DH at Sunfish Pond in NJ- I call this pic "my favorite person at one of my favorite places" as I spent the bulk of the summer of 2002 as a caretaker at a backcountry campsite near the pond.

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me and Dh at a view in NJ

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I feel like you can almost sense the curvature of the earth here....