Wednesday, October 6

As of today, I have started to post back on the regular blog at www.jennysjourney2010.blogspot.com .

Tuesday, October 5

We arrived home this evening at about 9:30, after a full day's drive. Luckily the weather was lovely so riving was easy, though long.

I created this blog just for the Simonton experience. I will now post on the blog at www.jennysjourney2010.blogspot.com again.

Jenny has an appointment with a radiology oncologist on October 12, regarding the cystic tumour in her lower right groin area. She will consider what, if anything, she wants to do about it because the medical oncologist said that it is very close to the bladder and bowel. She does not want to wreck them in the process, so she will get the information then make a decision.

Meanwhile, psycho-neural-immunology is what she is focusing on right now.

I will probably wait until that visit to post here again, then post every week or so, depending on what is going on.

We sure appreciate your support and interest.

Monday, October 4

We are in Lincoln City, Oregon on the coast. We got here yesterday and will leave tomorrow, Tuesday.
We have had a two day break here and it has been pretty low key, just taking it easy.
We'll have a full day of driving on Tuesday.
That's it for today!

Saturday, October 2

Jenny has recorded a video. We did not know how much time we had to do it, and it cut off at a certain point, but she got a chance to tell it all anyway. You can click here to view it.

It is actually on this page as well, you just have to scroll all the way to the bottom to see it.

Friday, October 1

We left Montecito today at about 1:30 pm. We took a spin by Oprah's place, just around the corner from the retreat centre before getting on the highway. You cannot see the house, just a huge beautiful gate and some nice grounds.

It was a bit of an emotional goodbye. Here are a few photos taken today.

The patients (Chickie in the plaid shirt and Arthur in the back and of course Jenny) and their support people

Jenny and I with one of the facilitators Erin Sommerville
She is from Victoria!

The 3 facilitators

Erin, Patricia and Jan

Tonight we are in San Jose, just south of San Francisco. One more day and we will be back in long pants!

Tomorrow night we will be in Northern California or Soutnern Oregon (on the coast).

Thursday, September 30

Well just one more day. Wow, what a week we have had. It has been just wonderful.

The two other cancer patients and their support people were super. We all had a good time together, and we worked hard together.

We have learned that Dr. Simonton was revered by some very famous, influential and respected people. The facilitators are unbelievable and know people at the top of the field; in fact, they themselves are up there at the top of the field in many respects as well.

Last night we ran late and that is why I did not post yesterday. During the evening was the part of the curriculum called "Power of Play". Everyone had an absolute blast. There are a couple of photos below.

Here we are doing some improv

We composed a song for the facilitators (of course) and the six of us sang it to them at the end of the day. Karen Simonton was reduced to tears. Evidently, no other group has ever done anything like that.

Jan said it a video of it should go on the website. We said we would sing it again for them if someone has a webcam. Arthur had brought his guitar, so we had accompaniment. They really were blown away by it.





Thursday they finish early and people go out and go into Santa Barbara and do whatever they want to do. So the 6 of us arranged to go out o dinner on the pier. Wow, what a beautiful area. Anyway, Jenny and I got the first and got a large table. We went ahead and ordered and were partly finished when Arthur and Rebecca came in. They were partly finished when Chickie and Teri-J arrived. They were still eating when Rahla and her husband Richard just happened to show up and joined us. Rahla is interning in the program, and she and Richard are the facilitators of the Power of Play. It was wonderful to be out having a good time.  

So tomorrow we leave and it will be a sad thing. We have so much respect for everyone here, and so much admiration that of course it will be a bit hard to leave. Jenny has learned so much - and so have I.

We will leave sometime after lunch on Friday.



Tuesday, September 28

Today as dictated by Jenny:

"Today was all about learning healthier ways to adapt to changes in my life, and their relationshp to my cancer. To do this, we went back 18 months before the original diagnosis, and examined events happening at that time,  and up to the present.

It was a pretty heavy session, shared with everyone. There were lots of tears and laughs but I feel progress is being made. It is hard work to be introspective. But in the long term, well worth it.

We have homework, meet with a counsellor when we want, and there will be lots more of that to come in the remaining three days.

This is but the beginning of a long, lifesaving project. The journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step. This week we are taking that first step. Much more to come.

Thank you so much for your support and encouragement."

Love, Jenny

So there you have it folks, right from the horse's mouth.

We will take some pictures tomorrow and post them.

Monday, September 27

Meeting Room

Cafeteria

We had a really good day today. It is just the beginning.

We talked about lots of things including imagery, how to etc.

The instructors hold counselling sessions with each patient and support person,
and Erin (the one from Victora) was assigned to us. We met with her for about an hour
and we went through all the things going on in Jenny's life just before and since the diagnosis.

We are enjoying the other people in the group.

I went back and edited my post from yesterday. What a disaster! I have also added some pictures from the Reagan Library. Tomorrow I will take some photos in the daylight and post them.

Jenny is enjoying it and feels she is getting quite a lot out of it already.

Sunday, September 26

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

We did get to the library today. We got there shortly after the 10 AM opening, so there were not many people around.

We really enjoyed the experience. It is located

high atop a hill and the views are magnificent.

They have an oval office set up that is the exact replica of his, and I believe the furniture is the oginal (all but the desk that is - the original is still used today by  Obama. The one here is a replica).

They have Air Force ne there as well. And it IS the plane that was used. That plane was used by 7 presidents starting with Nixon. That would mean that Clinton must have used it for awhile. Anyway, the entire plane is there and you walk through it.

 Today, Air Force One has a bedroom, shower and is huge (a 747 we think), but this was

a 707, and not near the size of today's. The office was very small, press area crowded but it was really interesting to see it

We visited the gravesite, and saw a little piece of Berlin Wall. It was an interesting morning.

Simonton Cancer Center

We arrived at the retreat centre - called La Casa de Maria - at about 3 pm. We checked in, met Karen Simonton, then loaded our considerable belongings into our room. The room is very basic but fine.

This facility is not owned by the cancer centre, but is used by them for their retreats. It is located in a very beaiful area called Montecito, at the bottom of the mountains where the fires raged a couple of years ago.

We will have dinner at 6 pm then meet for a 1 hour orientation.

Karen says this is the smallest group they have ever had. There were going to be 5 patients,

but 2 changed their time to November, so now there are just 3.

Evening Session

Wow - so far so good. Jenny and I both believe this is going to be a mind blowing week.

There are 3 instructors. One of them was with Carl Simonton through a lot of his pioneering work - well, after about 9 years. She joined him in 1979, and in fact introduced him to his wife Karen.

One is from Victoria of all places, but has lived inthe US for a long time.

They are highly educated, experienced in this for a long long time (the newest has been doing this for 17 years) highly motivated and totally believe this work helps peole because they have seen it over and over.

We are excited about what we will be doing.

Dinner was good too!

I will post again tomorrow night.

Saturday, September 25

Here we are in Ventura, right on the coast a bit south of Santa Barbara.

We did a lot of driving today, from Corning to Ventura. We were having dinner at Santa Clarita, looking at the maps when I discovered route 126 directly to here. We had a bit of a job finding a place to stay - prime area, Saturday night and the weather is beautiful.

In fact, it was really HOT today. And we Victorians are not used to it, especially this year! But it is wonderful and we are enjoying being back in shorts.

I am not sure if I will be able to get onto the Internet each evening at the retreat.There is no Internet in the rooms, so I am not sure what will happen. Either way, I will journal it on the computer each evening then I will post when I do get access. There are also no phones or TV in the rooms (me thinkest they do not want us to have distractions). For those of you who know me well, you can imagine it may cause me to have the shakes!

So stay tuned, it is going to get interesting.

We do not check in until sometime in the mid afternoon on Sunday, so we think we will go over to Simi Valley to the Reagan Library. We think it is probably less than an hour from here.

Bye for now.

Friday, September 24

California, here we are! We are in Corning, 50 or so miles south of Redding.

Mount Shasta was spectacular, even at this time of year after a significant amount of winter snow has disappeared.

We thought we might stay in Redding tonight, but before we had our act together we were through it, heading for Red Bluff 29 miles away. We were very hungry - actually I was getting to be a space cadet, so we just picked an exit at Red Bluff to get off the I-5. We ended up at a restaurant right in the town called 'The Cozy Diner'.

Before we left we were asking the server about motels locally. When the woman at the next table overheard us, she piped up and said she is the manager at the Comfort Lodge in Corning, about 15 miles down the road. She said to tell them Nancy sent you and quoted us a very good rate, about $10 less than the already good rate.

In the end, she called the motel and told them to save us a room and what the rate would be. So, here we are at the Comfort Lodge in Corning, thanks to our new best friend Nancy!

It was a beautiful day to drive today. And it got warmer as we drove. It is down right hot here in Corning, so tomorrow we are in shorts!

Here is a tip. I learned about it today. Never - ever - put your sungasses in the open glove compartment of the car (especially if they already have a crack in them). That is because when you close the glove compartment door, the glasses snap and break and are rendered useless.

That's your tip for the day. We will post again tomorrow.

Thursday, September 23

"Cruising down the highway in our Kia Se-do-na"


Whew! We made it after a whirlwind week. This all came together so fast it nearly makes our heads spin!

Here we are in Wilsonville, Oregon. It is less than an hour south of Portland. We stopped here for dinner and had planned on going further but as we had been awake since 4:10 AM we decided to call it a day.

I do have to confess that we had a bit of a nap in the parking lot of a Subway sandwch shop in some funny little place that had 5 (no kidding) barber shops in about a 1/4 mile stretch. Jenny and I are really good at 'sleeping around'. We have napped in more parking lots than we can remember.

So tonight it's Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice then hopefully a good night's sleep.

Bill and Verdelle, Jenny wants you to take note of the name of the town we are in . WILSONville - she figures you must have made an impact on your way through.

We will keep you posted. Tomorrow we will be somewhere in California.

Bye for now.

Tuesday, September 21

We are working feverishly to get ready for our trip south on Thursday. So much to do, so little time!

I found another site with some information about Dr. Simonton and his work, and that of the Simonton Cancer Center. It is at http://thesimontondocumentary.org/about_dr_simonton .

We had a visit today with Dr. Neil McKinney, the naturopath. He has some more tricks up his sleeve, so Jenny is on some new things and still on the mistletoe.

Throughout this journey we have received tremendous support from friends and family. Lately, your support has been nothing short of outstanding. Thank you all so much.

Two more sleeps.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Jenny and I will be leaving for Santa Barbara, California this Thursday, Sept. 23 (Monticeto, to be specific).

At her 4 month post chemo oncologist appointment last Thursday, we found out that her CA125 is rising. While is should be under 35, it had gone to 87. This is not a terribly high reading, but it is climbing and that is not good.

In addition, a tumour in the lower right pelvic area has grown. It is fluid filled, which is better than solid, but again, not good to see the growth (or to have the tumour there at all).

These are indicators that the cancer is on the move and so soon after her last chemo treatment.

We are going to Santa Barbara to the Simonton Cancer Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and lives of cancer patients through psycho-social oncology. More information can be found at www.simontoncancercenter.com. 

We will be driving down, and welcome the opportunity to get away and have processing time both there and back. 

I will post as the week there progresses.

Jenny is feeling like a million bucks so the verdict was a big surprise - correct that to 'SHOCK'. She has energy, looks well, feels well, keeps busy etc. Wow.

Thank you all for all the support you have given us.