Friday January 17 & Saturday January 18, 2014
E. G. Simmons Park, Ruskin Florida
FRIDAY IS MEDICAL DAY
We are on the road by 9am and off to Tampa where David has an appointment with his second opinion doctor who was actually the one who first diagnosed him with Multiple Myeloma in January of 2012. We owe a great deal to doctor David Wright of Florida Cancer Specialists who initially encouraged us not to think of the disease as “fatal” and assured us that there was treatment after which we could likely return to our lifestyle for at least a few more years. He is an upbeat, encouraging man and I would highly recommend him to anyone who needs a hematologist in the Tampa Florida area. He’s 6’4” tall BTW.
His story was the same today, not to worry, there are lots of options. He concurred with the probable treatment plan barring any bone damage discovered by the two tests later in the day. The RX to Go arm of Florida Cancer Specialists is the group which provides David’s medications to him over night by UPS wherever we are in the country. OUTSTANDING service. I’m pretty sure that we are the only continuing full timers that either Dr. Wright or Dr. Shain, David’s Moffitt doctor, have among their patients. We hope to be a model to bring hope to those with this incurable disease.
White Ibis flying over E. G. Simmons Park
After this appointment we go across town to the all too familiar Moffitt Cancer Center where right on time at 12:45 David is wheeled into surgery for his Bone Marrow Biopsy which makes a hole in his hip about the size of an ice pick. Oh my…..
He is sedated but not put under full anesthetic so that within 20 minutes of being out of the surgery suite he is awake again and about 30 minutes after that is on his way to Radiology for a Bone Scan.
Fishermen at E.G. Simmons
The biopsy is to check the percentage of myeloma cells, to see if there are any new chromosomal abnormalities that were not there before and to do a prognostic risk status to determine how aggressive the cancer is now.
The bone scan of all the bones in his body is to look for any evidence of myelomic activity which might include solid tumors on the bones or bones that have been hollowed out or compromised in some way by lesions. He has now had a total of 3 biopsies and 3 scans.
From the initial bone biopsy in 2012 we learned that he has chromosomal abnormalities and a high risk type of myeloma. So far the bone surveys have shown no damage which is one of the main reasons that he is able to feel “normal” and have no physical limitations.
Due to the efficiency of the Moffitt folks, we are back out on the street in less than 3 hours and by 3:00 are headed home. When we arrive, David understandably takes a nap. I go out for a fast walk around the park to pick up the rest of my 10,000 daily steps.
Along my way I enjoy a flock of white Ibis flying above me, see many fishermen on the edges of the mangroves, some cute raccoons hoping to get near the park’s trash cans, lots of ospreys on and off the nest and just the beauty of the natural area.
I haven’t found a place to view the sun actually setting over the water. The sunset tonight wasn’t as spectacular as the night we arrived but it was still lovely and the pink sky after glow was as well.
SATURDAY
We wake up to 49 degrees and decide to have a warm breakfast before going out to do today’s 10,000 steps. Those folks at Moffitt really are fabulous. Despite the size of the hole in his hip, David reports no discomfort last night or this morning and has taken no pain medication.
I’m hoping tomorrow will be warm enough to go kayaking. We have a great put in at the rear of our site.
But today it is 49 and breezy and feels pretty cold as we set off into the wind.
After leaving the campground, one of the first things we see is a flotilla of ducks. Neither of our cameras can get a good shot at the distance but it looked like they have blue bills but no white on their faces or sides so we have tentatively ruled out ruddy ducks and lesser scaups.
The park is surrounded by mangroves. It is a lovely natural environment. I love the roots reaching down for the water.
Many local people come for the day for picnics, birthday parties, launching their boats of all kinds and of course fishing. We wonder about the birthday party being set up with balloons in a pavilion we pass by. I hope everyone is really warmly dressed. The high today is only going to be 55.
E.G. Simmons is a lovely place for a bike ride, a walk around or a kayak paddle through the mangroves. And if it were warmer, the manatee might be willing to leave the Tampa Electric Company plant and swim over in these mangroves. We have seen them here other times and even kayaked among them. If you’d like to read about that. You can find the post here. But today it is feeling cold and windy to me as we walk rapidly
Seeing the stacks of the power plant at Apollo Beach on our way back reminds me of the manatee viewing area there. No doubt all the manatee are there today given the weather, so we decide to take a short drive over to see them.
But we forgot this was a week-end day. Does that happen to you too? And we also forgot that it was a holiday week-end day. We are shocked to pull up and find a line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot and cars parked all along the road. But we are here and we know the manatee are too so we forge ahead.
The parking lot is lined with what we learn are called “Solar Trees”. These solar panels have informative signs describing the details and benefits of TECO’s solar program. Among the things we learn is in its first 10 years Tampa Electric’s renewable energy program generated about 41 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy offsetting more than 35,000 tons of carbon dioxide. That’s the equivalent of planting more than 8,200 acres of trees.
If you or your business have solar panels installed Tampa electric will interconnect your system to the grid and install a bi-directional meter. With net metering you can earn credit for the electricity your solar array returns to the electric grid. I’m thinking that could possibly mean a check rather than a bill at least some times. Wouldn’t that be sweet???
Near the top of the parking lot we find a station in the Charge Point network. Here with a credit card, you can fill up your electric car just as you do in a gasoline station today. But this is solar energy. I really love this. How I hope it is the way of the future. The cleanest fuel we have yet to “discover”. Haven’t you ever thought the creator must be wondering what in the world we are doing digging energy out of the ground or using chemical reactions when there is a huge energy source every single day in the sky where you really can’t miss it.
I am surprised to find that the viewing center is quite a big operation with an educational building and all sorts of indoor and outdoor games. There is a hurricane simulation center where for $2 you can stand inside and experience really strong winds. I guess. When I walked by two little girls were in there and their hair was blowing all over the place. I should have taken a picture of them.
We go out to the first viewing area but there are no manatee here.
Looks like they are further down the discharge canal to our left. So we head in that direction.
But before we do, we go into the education center to warm up. Lots of other folks have the same idea. So how do they know what manatee breath smells like?? They have a complete manatee skeleton. You can pick up any of the bones other than the “hands” which are encased. The manatee “hands” inside their little flippers look very much like a human hand amazingly.
They have several games which we had a good time playing. We did pretty well on the question and answer ones.
And then it is out to see the manatee and they are here in numbers. It is GREAT! They are such magnificent creatures. Some are just HUGE. Many show scars from boat encounters.
The water temperature gauge shows why they are here. We’re freezing out here. But they are warm down there.
There are a lot of things going on in addition to manatee. There are large numbers of fish and we can see them swimming in schools which of course attracts the pelicans.
At one point there is a flurry of activity. Fish not just swimming but zooming by, jumping out of the water, and then we see the shark. It is moving at a speed too fast for my camera but here’s the best picture I could get. There are signs telling about the fish one might see here and it lists the black tipped shark as a common visitor.
I could have stayed here for hours and watched all the activity, IF it had been warmer. But then the manatee might not be here so it’s a real catch 22.
We definitely recommend spending an afternoon at the Manatee Viewing Center but do it during the week, not on a holiday and dress WARMLY.
