April 14 Update on Brian

On Friday, Brian went to the Cancer Clinic in Kelowna to get fitted for a plastic radiation mask for the radiologists to focus on specific areas to deliver radiation.  (In my opinion, this was far preferable to the tattoos used in the past, so he still remains a tattoo virgin...........)

He will start radiation in a couple of weeks for a six-week period, which will involve driving back and forth to Kelowna daily.  (A one-way trip is about 2 hours.)  That will probably shoot May in the foot.  

After that, he will commence a one-year treatment of immunotherapy, which is to be delivered via transfusion once every two weeks, again in Kelowna.  

This is about the extent of the new news, but I will keep everyone posted.

March 2019

I hope this finds you all well and prepared for a little of the Spring fling mood.

To cut to the most important information first, Brian saw 3 oncologists this last month and is now waiting to start a period of radiation on his neck—which may be set up this week.  Unfortunately, this will be done in Kelowna which is a 2-hour drive one way, but the service there is excellent.  He will also be starting a year’s treatment of immunotherapy, which may follow or be concurrent with the radiation.  The medication will be delivered by transfusion every two weeks, which will also require a trip to Kelowna each time.  Even though Kelowna has a Costco there, the novelty will probably soon wear off!  On the whole, he is feeling well and positive, so no sympathy is required yet.

March did indeed come in like a lion and go out like a lamb.  Temperatures were below zero for the first few days, but gradually abated so that we were enjoying all positive temperatures after March 17.  St. Patrick’s day featured our last days of skiing for this season at Silver Star, and sunshine allowed some great views of the landscape.

We left March 4 for a trip to St. Louis, Missouri, for a wildlife rehabilitation conference for me.  Driving down to the States and taking flights from there cut the cost of the airfare in half.  The conference was well worthwhile, and while I attended sessions Brian spent the life of Riley, reading the newspaper late after breakfast, going for a workout and a swim, and generally lazing in the room reading a book.  The weather was raw outside, with below zero temperatures and chilly breezes, and did the poor Americans ever complain bitterly about how cold it was.

Our hotel was excellent, and featured unique art everywhere.  I am sorry I didn’t take more pictures, but here is an example of the “art” in the dining room.

We were also impressed with airport facilities which had a few more amenities than ours.  Believe it or not, but they have designated Service Dog "Comfort Stations".

During our absence, we got an 8” dump of snow, forcing Brian to blow the driveway immediately upon our return.

Since the beginning of March, the pruners have been busy in the orchards and vineyards, pruning rigorously in preparation for this season.  Things look so bare!  The are all burning piles of the trimmings while it is safe to do so, so we get some rather aromatic whiffs of woodsmoke here and there.

March 15 was the official day of spring, as evidenced by our roof avalanche.  We looked out the door first thing in the morning to see this:

A neighbor dropped in a few minutes later and marveled.  This snow is over 8" thick.

About 5 minutes after that, Brian checked the overhang (still there) and closed the front door quietly.  That was all it took.

We came back from one of Brian’s appointments on March 20, only to find that there had been two avalanches at Silver Star, less the 24 hours after we had finished skiing.  That day, there were 48 weather records in BC broken due to the soaring temperatures, with another 18 records falling the next day (record high in Osoyoos).

You would think this would have brought out all kinds of spring sightings, but not so.  Two robins showed up on March 21 to express interest in the Christmas bouquet outside, but once they determined the baubles were fake, they left.

March 23 we had a fascinating sighting:  there were several sets of cougar tracks in the snow.  The first clue was the pawprints which were about 4”by 3½ “.  As we explored, you could see signs where the cougar was stalking, leaving snow displaced by the full body while the cougar crouched and moved.  Finally, there were some prints about 10 feet apart, which seemed improbable until we learned they can leap 20 feet at one time.  No game camera pictures—rats!

March 30 featured a walk in the valley, and you can see how brown everything is, with little snow to be seen.

Snow has disappeared except for patches in more heavily treed areas, and ice is completely gone from Lake Osoyoos today.  March has been very dry, with only 10.8 mm year-to-date versus 81.6 mm last year.  (That includes a little melting snow.)  Concern is already growing about the upcoming fire season, and our local fire department had to put out two grass fires on March 30.  Unlike last year, no wildflowers are blooming yet even though grass is greening up in the valley.  As yet, we have still not experienced “normal” weather here.

We have booked a 17 day 300 km hiking trip in Wales in September, and have started walking this week to start getting into shape for it.

As a final note, given the predilection for wine here, it is unsurprising that you can find some unique bottle stoppers.  My favorite this month is the Rubber Chicken special, which works very well until the chicken comes up for air.

February 2019

That month disappeared in a flash!

Like many people in Canada, a lot of people in the Okanagan were very frustrated with winter in February because it was much colder than normal here.  Some places were trending towards the coldest February on record, but things must have lightened enough in the last couple of days to prevent that becoming reality.

If you like winter sports, of course, this is wonderful, and most of the highlights of the month came from skiing at Silver Star, or snowshoeing with our neighbours on the mountain.

At the beginning of the month, Silver Star cooperated with the winter festival in Vernon, which had a theme of “Pirates” this year.  The snow sculptures were great and very creative.  The temperatures for skiing at that time went from -24 to a balmy -21.  Nobody said we were sensible to go skiing then.

Silver Star is owned by Australians, and they seem to get their staff almost exclusively from that country.  All you hear is, “No worries!” There are also a significant number of Australians and New Zealanders who come for a month or so of skiing every year.  Assuming this is their summer holidays, perhaps that makes sense.

The highlight this month for us was a couple of Irish guys, who had the best ski pants we have ever seen    And were they ever having fun!  It is not obvious in the picture, but the leprechauns holding up the guys were indeed puppets on the front of ski pants.  Apparently they were quite warm as well.

At home, being up the mountain, we got lots of snow, as usual, but not to the worrisome extent we had last year.  Snowshoeing was excellent, and there are many long trails we can take for a good amount of exercise.  We went out with neighbours a weekend ago and had a chance to see some good scenery since sunset has moved from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm during the month.

Although winter still seems to have us deeply in its thrall, there are obviously some rodents who feel it is time to start getting out and about.  We are no closer to identifying the tracks, but they are intriguing.

Regarding Brian, he met a medical oncologist February 28 for the first round of doctors’ appointments.  It appears he will have a period of radiation followed by immunotherapy to fight the melanoma.  He meets a radiation oncologist on March 18, followed by a visit to his surgeon on May 20. 

By that time the experts will have consolidated their assessments, and a program will be mapped out.  We both continue to be extremely impressed by the responsiveness and efficiency of how his case is being handled.  It is very reassuring.  I’ll let you know what is happening by the end of the month once we have more details.

We head out in a couple of days for a trip to St. Louis, Missouri, for a wildlife conference, so I hope to have many interesting things to feature for March.

Update on Brian

Brian saw his surgeon today and has been told that his melanoma is considered to be Stage IIIB ie it has moved from his temple into a lymph gland on his neck.  The good news is that the CT scan revealed no other potential sites of concern.

Normally, the next step would be to do further surgery on his neck, but that would involve cutting into muscle and perhaps limiting his neck and arm movement which would not be ideal.

There are other standard treatments for this stage, including boosts of the immune system and radiology.  His surgeon will be consulting with other oncologists and will meet with Brian in 6 six weeks time to start what will be considered the best route(s).

He has been extremely pleased with the surgeon as welll as the speed of action.  (While I was in the waiting room, I heard a receptionist tell a patient on the phone that even urgent CT scans took 2-3 months to schedule.  Brian got his in 9 days.)

So, things are well in hand and an good outcome is very likely.  I will keep everyone posted as things develop.  Thanks for all your good wishes--it is encouraging.

January 2019

Happy New Year Everyone!

To make things a little more predictable, I plan to publish this blog at the end of each month.  That way, you won’t waste your time wondering if anything is new or not.

2019 has started out extremely well this year, because we have only about 1/3 of the snow that we had this time last year.  More importantly, the temperatures have been much warmer, often slightly above zero in the daytime and slightly below zero at night.  Not hard to get used to at all.

Last winter featured a lot of fog (I could show you a nice white screen, but you get the idea….).   We still have days of it, with the added benefit of having beautiful hoar frost scenes in the aftermath.

On the other hand, we have also had many more clear days, with the unique position of being well above the fog in the valley, seeing very different landscapes.    The valley often looks like it has been filled with whipped cream.

With the clear days, there is a much better chance of seeing some spectacular sunsets.

Life on the mountain can be busy in the winter, featuring some more concerts at a building we call the Summit Centre.  Last week featured a nephew and uncle duo, folksingers and fabulous guitar pickers.  The Summit Centre can seat about 60 people, and it allows for a lovely coffee house feel with an intimate group.

I mentioned the Model Train Museum here, which required a second visit to cover things missed the first time.  The owners have puckish sense of humour, offering little scenarios that can be easily missed.  Keep in mind these figures are only an inch tall, so you can get a feel for the detail.

Lots of activities, such as an organized cycling race were featured…..

Smart Cars showed up here and there….

The whole thing is set in Germany, with the traditional oompah bands and outdoor feasts……

The creators seemed to enjoy dogs at fire hydrants, with varying levels of encounter……

Finally, there were a pair of hippies trespassing in a sunflower field.  And this is just a train museum?

Brian has encountered a health issue the last week of January:  he had a lump removed from his neck and it was determined to be melanoma again.  The medical profession has moved very quickly on this, and he has had some tests done within the week in preparation for a consultation with the surgeon on Tuesday, February 5.  I will keep you posted as to what is going on.

Getting Ready for Christmas in the Okanagan

As we approach the big day, we see more and more signs of the impending season.

December 1 featured the Christmas Day Parade in Osoyoos, and it was a lot of fun to watch.  I believe the fire department contributed half the vehicles in the parade.  Local businesses such as one of the grocery stores participated as well, but it was a lot less artificial than a big city parade.

When Mr. and Mrs. Claus arrived, the children went absolutely nuts, and it was clear that no one had given away the secret.

As I may have mentioned, many of the major roads on Anarchist Mountain are named after local wildlife, and there are some amazing bronze statues at the entrance to the road.  The people on Wapiti obviously got into the Christmas spirit(s?) early, because Mr. Wapiti was looking quite festive on December 2.

As December came to be, there was considerably less snow than we had at this time last year, and plants seem to have no idea it was supposed to be winter.  On December 4, I took a picture of the shrub roses blooming vigorously outside the dental office.

A brief cold snap came, and the city water fountain bore mute testimony to the chill.

We started getting into decorating, and Sinister and Dexter flung themselves into the Christmas spirit.

It seemed a shame that no other statues were matching the splendor of Wapiti, so a quick trip to the dollar store rendered Eagle, Sasquatch and Caribou more festive.  That appeared to spark a little competitiveness because when we came back to take a picture of Mr. Caribou, his decorations had been enhanced by someone else.

Mother Nature added to the picture briefly with a beautiful dusting of hoar frost.  (It can be very cloudy/foggy here to the extent that we can see nothing from our windows.  Sunny Okanagan is sometimes a veritable myth……)   One of our local spiders must have been shocked to see the new decoration of its web.

Naturally Christmas includes some great food, and one of our mountain traditions is to have a pot-luck dinner at our local fire hall in the middle of December.  The food is tremendous with a huge variety, and there are draws for door prizes.  About 125 people sat down for this event, completely filling the hall.  We are extraordinarily lucky in our volunteer fire force which is apparently the largest in Canada for a volunteer team.

A number of things happened last week.  One of the wineries here features a “Communal Table” where the chef features a 3 course meal based on a specific theme.  We previously went to a meal based on native recipes from the Haida Gwaii, and then the last one in December featured “Christmas in Piedmonte”, an Italian area.  It’s called a communal table since everyone eats at a long table, and servings are presented family-style.  You can get wine pairings with each course if you so desire.  Seventy people sat together for this meal.  The food was divine.

We still have very little snow on the ground, but the cloud patterns are fascinating.  It will very likely be a green Christmas in Osoyoos because there is no snow today, and the temperatures continue to be mild.

The spirit of competitiveness notched up big time when the folks on Sasquatch got the boy fully dressed up, and Mr. Moose got festive according to a long tradition from one particular occupant.  The few undressed statues remaining will probably get a lot more attention next year based on boxing day sales.

Brian and I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season, and look forward to sharing with you in the New Year.

Winter in Osoyoos, Christmas in Osoyoos and 20 year-old Ankles

Winter in Osoyoos, Christmas in Osoyoos and 20 year-old Ankles

Winter in Osoyoos has been much more benign than that of last year.  Last year at this time, we had two feet of snow on the ground.  This year, we have minor patches from 2 weeks ago.  This is a picture of the valley taken at 3 pm this afternoon, and you can see there is no snow.  In addition, rose bushes had fresh blossoms at a dentist in town.  Beauty!

In the meantime, Christmas moves inexorably forward.  The evening of November 30, Osoyoos had its Santa Claus Parade.  The event was so fun.  From 5 pm to 6:00 pm, businesses were open and if you came indoors you were treated to a big variety of home-baked goodies, teas and coffees and Christmas drinks as well as a considerable amount of bon homme even if the Quebecoise didn’t know about the desert.

At the local Home Hardware, which is legendary for its marketing and offering of goods, a very good choir sang songs until the Santa Clause Parade started.

The parade was a treat because the kids were terribly excited, but well behaved, and marshals paraded up and down to keep control.  They were clearly fearsome beings.

The floats weren’t necessarily sophisticated light festivals but they showed the Christmas Spirit perfectly.

Kids weren’t fooled by plastic Santa, but the real Mr. and Mrs. Claus at the end rendered them completely hysterical.

So often the simplest of things seemed the most fun.

The next day, there was a Christmas Craft Festival at Rock Creek, a teeny community about 25 minutes to the east of us.  I meant to show a picture of the indoor hall, crowded by customers and vendors, but I couldn't even raise my arms to take a picture since it was so crowded.  This is essentially a farming community, so the sign in the fairgrounds parking lot said, "NO unloading of livestock in the parking lot".  We parked elsewhere, just to be safe.  Our trophy was a beautiful outdoor arrangement, 3 ft long by 3 ft high by 1 ft deep for a mere $40.  

In our neighbourhood, most of the named streets (all about wildlife) have amazing copper statues at the entrance of the area.  Our neighbours on Wapiti have already challenged the neighborhood with good Christmas Spirit.

On Friday, November 30, I saw my surgeon for the last consultation on my ankle.

When I entered the room, he seemed quite excited to see me.  Then he asked the question, “Did you hear it break?”  I was puzzled but answered that yes, I heard my ankle break.  Then he said, “No, but did you hear the screw break?”  I am now horrified, but I said I did not.    He shows me my X-Ray and one of the two screws holding my leg bones together has broken.  Oh, dear…………..To my complete surprise, he says, “Excellent!!!” and asks how old I am.  When I reply that I am 65 he says, “This normally happens in 20-year-olds!!!” 

It turns out that there were two screws holding the fibula and tibia together to prevent motion below while the fractures on each side healed.  Once I started healing, motion started to occur, and instead of further exacerbating the fractures, the screw failed.  Well!!  I can’t be more pleased.  With this, it means that there are no longer compelling circumstances to have the hardware removed, which means no requirement for another surgery which is a risk in itself.  Wait for information on the upcoming dancing classes………………….

(The picture below is way too much information, but we have to boast about what we can.)