Results of the rains

Friday June 8 and Saturday June 9, 2012
Oscar Scherer State Park Site 89
Osprey, Florida

FRIDAY

 

 

HOO-RAY!!!!!
It is NOT raining when I wake up.  I can’t believe it.   I look outside and it’s true.  I look at the river out my window as I always do  The river is definitely rising.  The stump I sometimes rest my feet on is under water.  My little “beach” has shrunk.

 

 

 

 

Notice the cypress tree off to the right in all these pictures.

I have lots of shots of this tree in earlier blogs and of me sitting between the two stumps, one of which is now under water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I go out to get a closer look.  These guys are playing right up next to the shore.   Who are they?   I’m so happy to see the sun I take a picture of my shadow just to prove that it is actually sunny as if the difficulty of taking these pictures isn’t proof enough.

 

But I can’t stay and marvel at this change, the heat is coming on and I must get running or face the consequences.  David goes for a walk, has his breakfast and gets ready to go to Brandon to get his last velcade shot before the transplant.  He has to be off all chemo drugs for a month before he can have it.  Sure hope his M-spike doesn’t double back on him in that time.

 

 

He takes his last dexamethazone and feels good enough to drive himself.  I make him some lunch to take along since following that appointment at 11:30 he has a 1:30 appointment with a dentist recommended by his hematologist.  I am trying to make sure he eats about every two hours or so to attempt to keep him from losing any more weight.  A dental clearance letter is required before the transplant.  The dentist is just down the street from his hematologist’s office,  but all this will take several hours plus driving time.

 

I enjoy my alone time reading and watching the river flow swiftly by.  A new view for me.  I really don’t do anything else for hours.  I love it.

 

 

When he gets back we have just enough time before they close to drive over to the Lithia Post Office and pick up a book we ordered written by Pat Killingsworth entitled Stem Cell Transplants: From a Patient’s Perspective.  It is the only book I know that takes you completely through the whole process from beginning to end in terms anyone can understand.  Pat has myeloma and knows first hand what the treatment process and transplant is like.  So if there is anyone, family or friends,  who wants to know what David will be going through you can get a copy of it here.   It’s an easy to read down to earth look at a harrowing process few people know anything about.  Pat’s story is powerful and the work he is now doing is an amazing transformation of his life.

 

I make a wild rice casserole for dinner and afterwards I begin reading the new book aloud while David does the dishes.   We are taking a break from Shadow Country even though we are less than 200 pages from the end of this 900 page book.  Pat’s book is an easy read and we want to have it read far in advance of all transplant appointments in case it provokes questions we want to ask. 

 

When the rains begin again around 7pm we realize that we have just had nearly an entire day, sun up to sun down without rain.  The first in a week.  Hope this is a new “Trend”. 

 

Saturday

 

 

I wake before sunrise and enjoy the sound of no rain.  Just birds and frogs. WOW!   I look out the window and and HOLY COW!   The place I sit and write and read and ponder on the mornings I am not running is gone.  It’s under water.  The water has risen over two feet.  A way bigger change from when I woke up yesterday. I can hardly wait to get outside and have a closer look.  Remember this tree yesterday???

 

 

 

And then I hear BOINGGGGGG.   I recognize that sound and sure enough when I go out to investigate one of the jack springs has broken.  You HAVE to be kidding?  Doesn’t the universe have any sympathy at all?  

We have the roof, the check engine light, the tires, the continuing insurance/paint problem at the farm, not to mention this small medical issue.

 

 

 

But before this day turns into another day of “business”, we go out for a walk to see what else has gone crazy over night.  We find this spring is not broken but it is closed.  The river has backed up into the spring and they close it when it does that.  Not sure why since this is the deepest I’ve ever seen the spring.  It would be great swimming.  I wouldn’t mind swimming in river/spring water.  I hope it’s not because of some contamination in the river water.   That sort of thing really depresses me.  Why do we tolerate such things??

 

Big change, there is no beach to spread out your blanket or put up your chairs.  The water goes all the way up to the “sea wall” on the back side.  The steps now take you right into the water.  Before the rains there was a good 10 feet of beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walk on along the spring run.  Only one bird out. He’s sitting just outside the life guard hut preening and keeping a close eye on things.

 

 

 

 

 

At the natural secondary spring we find flowers in bloom and the depth level has risen 4 feet.  It’s now 10’ deep.   So many things have changed.

 

 

 

On our way back to Winnona we take the trail from the boat ramp to our site and find the water up over the bottom step and the entry ledge at the dock.

But things are even greener if that’s possible.

 

 

Love those knees!

 

 

From the path we can see that the river is definitely up and looking wide and deep.

 

But now we have to face the music and this nice non rainy day turns into multiple phone calls to find springs and a HURRY UP trip to get to Lazy Days to buy them before they close on this Saturday morning.   Thank goodness they had them at all.

 

Quick breakfast and off we go.  35 minutes later we are there and we buy two sets of pairs.  This won’t catch us unprepared again.  

 

 

Since we are out driving around in the car AGAIN (one of my fav things to do as you know), we decide just to go on over to Whole Foods and drop some big bucks on organic food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Going to Whole Foods with David is like going to a toy store with a kid.  He’s “supposed” to help you shop.

He’ll grin and say things like “what can I go get”?   You tell him a few things from the list and off he goes.  And then you don’t see him for another 20 minutes.   He’s sampling.  Looking for things he didn’t know the food creators had created.  That he didn’t know the buyers had bought.  That he’s never seen or tasted…..and on and on……the reasons for disappearance are endless.   A trip to the grocery could take 3 hours if it weren’t for the fact that I actually focus on getting the things on the list we’ve come with and hope I can find him when it’s time to check out.  J

 

 

Anyone in their right mind who is retired from work and not forced to grocery shop on a Saturday knows better than to do that.  BUT if you are camping 27 miles away from that store and are forced into going somewhere about half way in that direction, you take your chances.   So when the lines were formed at every check out counter, we just relaxed and people watched.

 

Since we are leaving the area tomorrow,  and I’ve been such a good girl to do the buying while David shopped,  we stop on the way back at Campbell’s Dairyland where I treat myself to one scoop of German Chocolate Cake ice cream on a cone.  Yes I know, it was only two days ago that I had that Reece’s Sundae.  I really do have to stop doing this.  The more I eat the worse the craving becomes.  Roz is exactly right.  Hi, my name is Sherry and I’m a icecreamoholic.

 

Again today it doesn’t rain until later in the evening and then only for a short time.  I’m beginning to take heart that Florida is going to go back to its “normal” ways of afternoon showers during the summer “rainy season”. 

 

I’m sorry we have to leave tomorrow.  Now that the river is so far up, I was really looking forward to watching it flow and to seeing how it is different when it is high.  I suspect the kayakers and canoers will be out tomorrow.  I know I would be if we didn’t have to move.   But this will be our last “vacation” and I’ve been checking the weather to see where the heat and rain are going to be.  The beach looks like the best bet for the least of either so we’ll head down there and cross our fingers.

STILL raining

Thursday June 7, 2012
Lithia Springs Park Site 40
Lithia, Florida

Note: if you mouse over the pictures there are “remarks”

Surprise, more rain!

 

 

Yesterday, Tuesday, Karen of Travels with Karen and Al commented that in Florida in the summer, the forecast is always rain.  (Now that’s comforting) She says that “it’s the rainy season  (yes indeedy)   and you normally get some rain just about every day – just not all day like this week has been”.  ( All rain, all day every day is how it’s shaping up.)  

 

 

Catherine and Jo Beth, of RV Crazy Travel Journal,  who also have lived in Florida, comment that hopefully you are” just getting into the summer rain pattern of afternoon showers”.   My 92 year old father, who has lived in nearby Largo for 30 years says the same….afternoon showers.  (I sure hope so. And soon)  But he qualifies with “however nothing about the weather seems to be what it used to be”. Ah sadly yes, thanks Dad.

 

 

There are lots of repercussions of rain, rain, rain for us.

 

I’m sure hoping that it is soon going to settle into what these folks have come to think of as the “regular routine”.  I can handle that if there is just at least some time for things to dry out.  Some time to be outside.  For the last week, everything is wet inside and out and it isn’t raining inside the coach “yet”.  Books are damp, the printer won’t pull the paper because the paper is too wet.  Bath towels are not drying and mildew is just around the corner.  The clothes I wore out running yesterday are wetter than they were when I returned and hung them up in the bathroom.  But we can’t run the AC 24/7 for the dehumidifying effects or we’ll freeze ourselves out.  Especially David with no meat on his bones.  I’m thinking I should have brought that stand alone dehumidifier we USED to have.  Be CAREFUL what you think you won’t need when you give up your “things”.

 

So this morning I can’t sit down by the water.  It’s raining.  I can’t do yoga outside.  It’s raining and even the patio mat and furniture are soaked.  But at least as I sit inside working, I can look at the rain falling into the river below me.  The drops are on the window edge, on the leaves, falling into the water.  The land is loving this rain even if I am not so much.

 

We both try to figure out how to work around this constant rain.

 
David needs to go for a walk every day but that’s tough with all the rain.  There are breaks but when you set out, you never know if 5 minutes later it’s going to pour.  He needs the exercise for his bones but not too much exercise lest he lose any more weight.  It’s a fine line that we aren’t sure he is walking correctly.   But this morning he takes the camera and gets the shots that are the main photos on this post.

 

 

 

While it continues to rain, I do some research on the chores that are piling up.  I’ve still got these spots on the fiberglass roof and they are really worrying me now with all this rain.  So I’m trying to figure out how to do something about them even if it won’t stop raining.  Can’t get up there and sand them down and do whatever I should to reseal them (all detailed directions or advice on how to do something is welcome here).  Can’t call a mobile tech, same rain problem, and there’s only one listed in RV Service Reviews for the Tampa area and the reviews for him were not good.  We are near enough to Lazy Days and we have several friends who have purchased their Class A’s from them and been very satisfied with the way they were treated.  BUT there are more than 20 reviews on RV Service Reviews which say exactly the opposite.  High hourly rate, poor service, would never use them again.   SIGH!  Research time spent with no result.  

 

 

On to tires for Ruby. 

Ruby’s front passenger tire has had a slow leak for some time.  Actually a LONG time but David’s decision was just to keep topping it up with air.  My decision is that the front tires need replacing so I go on line to Tire Rack and spend eye glazing hours looking at the tires for this make and model of car.  Comparing this one to that one, reading all the reviews and the summaries.  I think I’ve decided what to buy and I think I’ve decided where to have them shipped for mounting and balancing.  Now the problem is when.  We have to leave Lithia on Sunday, our two weeks are up.  We have to go “somewhere” in the rain for at least a week before we can come back for our last 2 week stay here before moving to Quail Run.  Those two weeks are rapidly filling up with the pre transplant screening doctor’s appointments.  You don’t even want to hear about all of those.  I think I’ve counted 10 in 4 days.  But at least I know what I want to do about the tires.  That’s some progress.  How could I possibly do this without the internet?

 

After my progress/no progress, I realize it’s time to drive to Brandon.

 

 

Having driven this 10 mile route so many times since it is where David has his shots done on Tuesdays and Fridays, I think I can drive it in my sleep.  His Revlimid prescription was SUPPOSED to be delivered to the clinic Tuesday so he could pick it up at his regular appointment.  RXtoGO, the Pharmacy which provides this chemo drug, is SUPPOSED to do this each month.   For the past THREE they have not been able to manage to get it there on time and once again I have to make a special trip to pick it up.  What in the world would happen if we were on the road, in a different place each month I wonder???

 

Of course I could only drive this in my sleep if it weren’t raining.  HA! Rain, my favorite driving condition.  Oh no actually my second favorite, snow is my most favorite. Guess I can be thankful it’s only rain.  At least I know these roads so well well that when it starts coming down in sheets, it’s not quite as nerve wracking as it might be otherwise.

 

 

 

I must confess, I have an ulterior motive.

 

 

After picking up the medication I turn left out of the parking lot, go two blocks and pull  into Campbell’s Dairyland.  I actually volunteered for this Revlimid run because Dairyland has a “special” every day and Thursday’s is the Reece’s Sundae.  Normally $5.50. 

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t believe that in 4 months I have never been here on a Thursday?  I’m calling it a late lunch and it’s big enough to as a meal.  Are you getting the sense that the ice cream intake for yours truly seems to be going up steadily??

 

 

 

 

 

After I finish my sugar feast, I make another less fun stop, in the rain, to pick up some over the counter medications that David is prescribed to help with the side effects of the chemo drugs.  The category “medicine” in my monthly financial records is growing by leaps and bounds.

 

Still no break in the rain.  We haven’t even put the table cloth on the picnic table since it doesn’t stop raining long enough to sit outside to cook or eat.  The poor grille just sits there waiting.

 

Later in the evening, David watches some of Ken Burn’s National Parks series with a big bowl of popcorn.  We continue to try to put weight on him any way we can.  But that’s tough leaving out dairy and sugar.   We have the entire Burns’ series on DVD and enjoyed watching it as we traveled out west last year and enjoy it now hoping some day we may be able to do some of it again, see places we didn’t get to. 

 

“Hope is a thing with Feathers, that perches in the soul.” **

Although in honesty it isn’t looking good for long term travels since it will be very hard for David to have the kind of follow up that this type of cancer requires and also be on the road.  It’s beginning to look like he may be forced into a home base where he can have large series of blood work done each month to check the status of the myeloma.  But we won’t know any of this for absolutely certain until we see how he comes out of the transplant.  We’re trying to imagine ways in which we could continue to full time even with the necessity of having not just a hematologist, but a Myeloma Specialist that he can see each month. 

I’ve gotten a number of encouraging reports from commenters about friends and relatives who have had successful stem cell transplants and are leading normal lives again.   Those sound very hopeful.  But unless their transplant was for this specific type of blood/plasma cancer, the situations aren’t really comparable.

 

I hold Emily close.

 

We spend an increasing amount of time gathering information online from other Myeloma sufferers about their history and experience and from on line sites specifically related to Myeloma research and treatment.  We want to be aware of every option and to have our eyes open and know what to expect.  There are times when I wonder if increasing our knowledge is really wise.

Wait and See

Sunday June 3 – Wednesday June 6, 2012
Lithia Springs Park Site 40 Lithia, Florida

 

SUNDAY

 

 

It is a lovely rare cool morning down on the river front. There is always something to enjoy.  The flowers along the water, the lovely cypress and its knees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canoes are coming down by 8am. Probably the earliest I’ve seen them. Birds are singing all over. Wish I were a good enough birder to recognize them by ear. In this jungle it is very hard to ever get a sighting.

 

This has been a very quiet week-end. I suspect everyone came out for Memorial Day Weekend last week-end and they don’t do two in a row. It’s been nice. Just the sounds of nature. Few voices, no radios.

 

 

I’m not only reading Peter Matthiessen’s Shadow Country aloud in the evenings but in the mornings in addition to my journal I’m reading Lili Wright’s Learning to Float. It’s a memoire which seems a lot like a blog written after the fact.  It recounts a trip she takes down the East Coast from Rockport Maine to Key West. One of the characters she meets is an older woman who when asked her age says  “Too old to start over, too young to settle for this”.  I ponder.

 

 

 

MONDAY

 

Go running this morning. The temperature is 65 which lately is about the coolest one can expect at sunrise.

Today starts our second week of this stay in Site 40. We plan to leave Sunday and go probably to Oscar Scherer again although rain is predicted steadily for the next 10 days. Doesn’t make much sense to pay $50 more a week to stay there if I can’t use the beach.  I guess we’ll see.

 

 

As I reported in the last blog, we seem to have low voltage problems in site 40 every time someone moves into site 39.  It happened on Saturday.  Those folks moved out on Sunday. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it happened again this afternoon,  just for curiosity, I walked up the driveway to see who it was this time.  Site 39 is just at the top of our drive and across the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turns out to be a distant cousin of Winnona.  A Winnebago Brave vintage 1977.  No AC, and they were plugged into a 110 volt outlet.  Things sure have changed with the Brave.  Winnona has two air conditioners. But it’s difficult to understand how such a low draw as 110 could affect our voltage.  There must be more than meets the eye.

 

Later that day, we are told that they will be closing the Lithia Springs campground this summer to upgrade all the electricity. The close down date hasn’t been announced although they plan to reopen September 1^st so it will have to be soon.  Possibly this will  be our last stay at Lithia Springs whether we want it to be or not.  We still have time on our meter but they may not be accepting anyone’s money.  We had thought we would come back here for another 8 days before taking a last vacation prior to moving into the long term stay park on July 1^st.  I guess we’ll wait and see.

 

 

Since we have to stay inside anyway, I decide to do something that has been on “the list” since last fall.  We’d been told by the Winnebago technician in Forest City when we had work done there in the fall that there is no need to buy the special product for preserving and protecting your rubber slide seals.  He said just coat them with corn starch.  Great we think.  Until we try to do it tonight.  Even my small hands have a hard time getting to those seals. 

 

 

The pictures David takes are of the easy part, the bedroom slide sides.  He does not get me trying to put my hand between the living room slide and the pantry or standing on top of the sofa to reach up and back to get the top seals.  Not sure how much all this rain is going to affect our efforts here.  Not sure this was the smartest time to do it but it’s when we had the time.  Guess we’ll see.

 

 

 

 

Tonight is the full moon. I love to watch it rise over the water. Here in our jungle campsite at best I can catch a glimpse of it through an opening in the trees. Prior to the current situation, I always tried to do a full moon hike. It’s great being out in the dark when it isn’t really dark.

 

 

 

TUESDAY

It never got below 75 last night. I find that pretty muggy for sleeping so I have to run the fan. I’m wondering if others have a problem leaving the AC on all night with its noise waking them up when it comes on and off. Do some RV’s have quiet air conditioners?
Never thought it would matter that much as, like everyone, I intended to follow the weather and for the most part be where I needed neither heat nor air or at least not much.

 

I am sitting down on the river at sunrise this morning. Of course I can’t see the sun rise from there with jungle on both sides but the changes in the light are wonderful.

David’s next to last Velcade shot is scheduled for 9:45 so we get in the car. Drive down the road and before we even leave the park the “check engine” light comes on. I need NO MORE problems at this point so I insist that we stop and see what that could mean. If we are late then we are late.  I read in the manual that it means you need to go directly to the shop and don’t do any fast starts or high speed driving on the way.

Well now, what is high speed driving?? 50?? 60?? 70?? I decide 45 is good and since these are county roads all 10 miles to Brandon we are able to do that. We pull into Precision Auto Parts who rescued us when we had the problem leak in the fuel line back in March. Mike comes out with his electronic code reader and says it’s a pre heat on the emission control system and not to worry.  Bring it back at the end of next week and he’ll fix it. OK then. Wonder what that will cost?   I guess we’ll wait and see.

 

Since it’s the next to last visit to Florida Cancer Specialists and David has been such a good customer I take some pictures to remember them by.  The building and the people inside.  This is a hematology practice so there are lots of various cancers being treat here.  Dr. Wright was David’s hematologist and continues to do his induction therapy since it is closer to us and easier to get to than Moffitt where he would have the same drugs, it would just take longer to do.  He’s been coming here twice a week for 4 months now.

 

 

An hour later we are on our way to finalize the plan for a campsite during the two month transplant period.. On our way. just after we get on the interstate, the skies open up and it pours rain so badly we can hardly see the lane markers. The water is splashing up all over the place. No place to pull off due to the constant work that never seems to end on I 75. No shoulder. White knuckle driving for about 15 miles. Being in Ruby is bad enough. I would have a heart attack if we were in Winnona.

 

We look at the sites available for 2 months beginning on July 1^st, notice that although the park is over 2 miles off of the interstate, the road to it curves back around and I 75 runs right by the back of the park. Those who have read my blog know how very much I enjoy interstate and train noise. Most of the park is full with what look like people into long term stays. They allow year long stays for $270 + electricity a month. So it’s no wonder.  BUT this park is the best I could find within 20 miles of Moffitt.  We put down our $200 deposit and are signed up to move into site 15 at Quail Run RV “Resort” on July 1. 

 

Do those of you who stay mainly or some in private campgrounds find that the web site paints a much better picture of the place than it looks when you get there?  We’ve looked at about 5 private parks now and have found that to be universally true. Some look A LOT different, actually totally different and some only a little. But bear that in mind if you check out the Quail Run website. Were I recommending it, I’d say it would be a fine place for an over night even with the interstate noise especially if you could keep your windows closed or if you were visiting family and friends for up to a week.   Two months?  Guess we’ll see how it all pans out.

 

On our way back to Winnona we stop at Brusters but even they don’t have an ice cream flavor that will cheer up the doldrums. I spend $3.45 for one scoop of chocolate coconut almond that is OK.  I decide I won’t return until they have Jamaica Me Crazy.  I’m signing up on line to have them let me know. David goes around the corner to check tire prices.  Ruby needs two new ones before he goes in for the transplant.

I’m sure this will all make for some great stories Some Day.

 

 

WEDNESDAY

 

 

Out running again this morning before sun up.  The air is full of water, the skies are full of water but the ground has sucked the all day rain from yesterday right down.   The river seems up a bit but not as much as I would have thought.  The resurrection ferns just above the awning on the gorgeous Live Oak by our patio are just loving this moisture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily I return and David is able to do his walk before the rain starts again.  We have tofu scramble and has browns for breakfast.  Because of the rain, it doesn’t make the rig too warm.  Tastes delicious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It rains all afternoon.   I sit at the dinette and work while watching the rain on the river.  I order a copy of a book entitled Stem Cell Transplants from a Patient’s Perspective by Pat Killingsworth.  Pat had his transplant done at Moffitt and has one of the same doctors David does.  He has pretty much dedicated his life to this disease since he was diagnosed and has made a life out of it.  He does a blog, maintains a website named Help With Cancer, is a columnist for the Myeloma Beacon and a correspondent for the International Multiple Myeloma Foundation.  He may know more about this disease than most doctors and he for sure knows about it from a patient’s point of view.  I hope it will help David to know exactly what will be happening as he begins this enormous assault on his body.

 

We have left over pizza for lunch.  I read blog comments – FUN.  I write and send the regular semi-monthly email “Update on David” to his family and friends.  David reads entries on a list serve from other myeloma patients as well as the latest information on the recent American Society of Oncology Meetings in Chicago this past week.   I do some minor clean up on my laptop whose free space is approaching 25%.  Things run much better if you have enough free space to work with.

 

During a lull in the rain I run up to the grocery for some supplies.  We aren’t close enough to Whole Foods for a quick trip so I go to Sweetbay and try to be careful what I buy.  Once we start our daily visits to Moffitt in Tampa, Whole Foods will be easier to use.  I do greatly prefer my foods without corn syrup, corn oil,  high fructose corn syrup, Monsanto GMO soybeans, potatoes, peanuts and corn.    The only way I know to do that is to shop organic.

 

 

I have finally done it.  I’m all caught up on the blog. That is until tomorrow of course. J I suspect it only happens because of all the rain.  I can’t do much other than feel the jungle growing all around me.  It has rained all day long and is still raining.  I do a final check of the weather sites which again say the rain will continue all day tomorrow and Friday and…….  In fact, the 10 day forecast shows rain every day.  I think the drought may be over.  But it may doom a “vacation” trip to the beach.  Seems lots of things in life at this moment are up in the air.  Guess we’ll wait and see.