From Dutch to Deutsch

One of the moms stopped over with these beautiful lilies and a basket full of soothing treats

Josh and Julie have been away for 4 days in New Hampshire for a wedding. They have half of a cabin,a full schedule of dinner cruises ,jet skiing paddle boarding

Despite us living in the country, we do have artists. Went to a very local art fair yesterday. These chains, which I bought some of, are carved from single pieces of wood

Josh was a groomsman thus the tuxedo

walking a bridesmaid down the aisle

I resumed biking. Not waiting a month. Beautiful sunrise, lots of deer

early morning sun back lighting floowers

I continue to heal. I stopped the heavy duty narcotics 2.5 days ago so I could have a glass of wine with a friend, drive and bicycle. The pain, quite sharp if I move incorrectly, is all on one side now so I can sleep on the other side (bad hip has disappeared again). Coughing brings on pain. As my throat is still irritated by them jamming that breathing tube down my throat, it is hard to stop. Does biking hurt it? No. Going from lying down to sitting up is much much worse. I am trying to deaden the pain with smaller than prescribed ibuprofen. Worried that it as it has in the past, will cause a stomach ulcer. I had been trying to walk for exercise. If I sped up, I would feel my abdomen. Not enjoyable but I am glad I can bike though I'm sure the doctor would not approve.  I have had a few visitors which I greatly appreciate as I is no fun being cooped up here.

As it appears that I won't be dying soon, I am planning a get away with Steve, who has been left home for three of my adventures. They had a 'use your mile's sale with 3  options: London, Dublin or Munich. Munich is conveniently next to Austria, Czech Republic, Lichtenstein and Switzerland. We will concentrate on the first two  I have since abandoned Dutch to review German, which I had in college.

Into darkness

During my forced downtime I was asked to find certain photos for Josh   This was not one of them but I thought it was cute

I liked this of Josh   I think he is 10 or 11

Me in high school with my white lips and paisley Nehru jacket. Would love to have that skin back. When I was very young straight hair was a cosmetic defect but later, it became OK

8 week old twin nieces in 1985

Surgery scares me. So many things can go wrong or be found but it is over, except for the pain. The organs removed have already been examined and determined to be free of cancer. They blew me up like a balloon and inserted a camera so they could see what they were taking out and also examine for signs of trouble. I saw the colorful photos, nice and sharp with my organs larger than life sized. Ovaries did not have obvious tumors on them. My uterus has shrunk,, as normal, to a fraction of its former size. Could see my liver too and a distressing amount of fat.

I had some time before going in. I was to fast but I was allowed 12 oz of clear fluid no later than 4 hours before surgery. I chose black coffee which might have not been the best choice and I also got one more run in (nice and cool for a change but my hip pain returned though now it is masked by a whole lot of other pain)

First problem was I was too dehydrated for them to insert the iv. (Coffee and running dehydrates) Usually I am a phlebologist's dream being thin with big veins but she was clearly having problems. Hate needles under my skin randomly poking my veins. She had to get a vein finder, a machine that lights up your veins. I was curious how it worked. I since learned it uses infrared waves. I assume blood is warmer than the rest of my body. Finally she was able to find a useful vein. The staff is getting younger and younger especially the anesthesiologist who looked like a high school student. My surgeon, who I really like, showed up at the last moment. Any questions? I had some blood work done previous to showing up and although she wrote: all normal, you're good to go, one test for antibodies in case I needed a transfusion seemed way off. A good number would be close to zero but mine said 1533. She said that can't be, she would not have signed off on that and looked it up. 1533 was the time the blood was taken, not the result. I didn't use the recommended browser for the portal so my results are fairly jumbled. That was her laugh for the day.

I was using a different hospital than the one I had my other 3 surgeries so their processes seemed different. At UM, when it was time for surgery, they would wheel me to the surgical unit, do a bunch of little things then have me count backwards while they administered the knockout drug. They chose to surprise you here. They said something about giving me something to relax and the next thing I know I awoke with a sore throat and asked when I was going to go to surgery.

You're all done.

So they didn't see anything abnormal and though I was prepared to dress as if I was 9 months pregnant, I pretty much was the same size I came in as. I was told I would be very groggy for 2 days. Ha. Barely have slept at all though Steve thinks it was the large latte I insisted to sooth my throat where they had rammed a breathing tube down.

We picked up my heavy duty narcotics supplied with some sort of polymer to dispose of ones I don't use. I never dispose of narcotics having come up short when I really needed them for a broken arm. I am using them sparingly as they come with a cost so only at night.  I can be pain free if I am perfectly still but I am a tosser and turner which led to pain all last night.

And on top of it, another brief storm blew through knocking out our power yet again. Although they said it would not return for another day and a half, it came back early this morning.

I am a ticking time bomb

lots of leopard lilies now

we have had three impressive storms. One causing us to lose power for more than 24 hours when it was 98 degrees No water on that day too as our well has an electric pump This was right before the 60 mph winds hit. Everything was blown down

later

A few days before torrential rains hit causing Shanna's neighborhood to flood. Their car was wrecked when they tried to drive through this

Me and an ever suspicious Hannah

this silly thing kept jumping into my pond and was found three times floating on my fake lily

flowers

and more flowers

hostas in bloom

Today this time bomb will be partially defused. I will go to the hospital shortly and have my ovaries and tubes removed as this nasty gene I recently discovered I have puts me at high risk for ovarian cancer. A particularly scary cancer as it has no symptoms until it is too late though I have been imaging symptoms ever since I learned of this. Aside from the slicing and dicing, they will look inside for anything suspicious and also biopsy everything they remove. I am also at high risk for breast cancer, no credit for having it already but my treatment would have been different HAD I KNOWN!!!! but I am aging out of the risk, I hope. Also I am being screened reularly. Other cancers I am on the hook for, though at a lesser degree, are pancreatic and melanoma.

I scheduled this surgery 4 months ago giving me plenty of time to get authorization from the insurance. What a nightmare that was. Denials, sending forms over and over again, numerous calls to incompetent people. I finally got an authorization via automated phone call a month ago. I naively assumed that they would send a written copy. Didn't happen. Finally less than 24 hours before the surgery, the hospital called them wondering where the authorization was and they were told the whole procedure was denied. I thought I would have to cancel. Four straight hours on the phone yesterday resulted in the  authorization. They had no record of the authorization previously given me or the phone calls, despite me giving them the exact time and dates. The surgical office spent an hour on the phone too. Do not use Humana!!!!!!! Meanwhile I was supposed to visit my friend which probably will be for the last time as her condition is quite dire and I will be immobile in the short term.

How did I get a gene that only 1 in 800 Northern Europeans get? Jewish people get some version 2.5% of the time. I was not tested even though I had a cancer consistent with the gene, as I was thought to be too old and didn't have a strong enough family history to warrant the test. They have since changed the guidelines so I was tested. I have found my gene. It is a founder gene in Norwegians. How Norwegian am I? 3% according to ancestry.com. I am assuming I got it from my mom who had breast cancer though not the super aggressive kind I had and so did her sister. I did have a cousin who died young of a probable gene induced cancer. I felt I owed it to my relatives to warn them. One cousin who I was especially friendly with, will no longer speak to me. They do shoot the messenger.I did get a hold of the widow of my cousin to urge her to have their children tested. She said she would send me the results. Didn't happen but at least she responnded. I have sent several letters and messages to the sister of my dead cousin. No acknowlegement. Another cousin, who is probably the least at risk pretended not to read my message but she is still friendly.

This gene is autosomal dominant so each of my children have a 50% of getting it. All I will say that they didn't all get away scot free which breaks my heart. Although gene carriers are not to be discriminated by the Obamacare, this can change in a heartbeat with the orange turnip brain around.

I do go to meetings of fellow gene carriers. I am the oldest by far but the younger one is, the more risks and decisions that  have to made .  The worst is knowing before you had your kids. And if you are having kid, theoretically you can preselect gene mutation free embroyos, which some consider. And people not wanting to know their gene status despite it potentially saving their life is really common. Part of me gets that. I was floating through life fairly happily until I learned this.

Iceland is a small country founded by a few Danes. One of them was a gene carrier and so the prevalence of that cancer  is relatively high in that country. The health service wants to test everyone but some are suing for 'the right not to know' even though it could save their life.

I am very nervous now. I don't like being in pain, being immobile and potentially finding out they found something.

A granny without a granny gear

Lake Huron. n the first day we biked back and forth along the shore

Tawas Point lighthouse

WELL I'm not an outboard

Classic cars paraded by as we drank our beer one evening

in the morning around Oscoda

Lumberman's monument  Michigan was covered with trees once though they are finally planting new ones as they cut. Still numerous logtrucks lumbered by us

Went down then up 300 steps to see a series of springs and waterfalls in the deep forest 

Au Sable River

those steps

Spent a rainy afternoon in a winery in Rose City

Higgen's Lake

Naomi

Late in the day

Lake Cadillac

path to the town

Before our ride yesterday. I rode a lot with the other woman in yellow last year and a lot with the couple here

I am back from  my bike up north bike ride. 276 miles: I have ridden more than 800 miles since I got back from Belgium. I was nervous because my bike lacked the 8 lowest gears, useful for hill climbing but I managed to power through some of the big ones. When I was young, I rode even steeper hills on a road bike that didn't have granny gears either but I was young. Still I passed a lot of people going up.  At one point this ride attracted as many as 500 riders but only 160 of us showed up for the 6 day ride. Bad advertising? Disorganization? People don't like the east side? Even the woman who said she would ride  it with me was a no show.

We had to leave our cars 150 miles from where we started. We would be bused but for our bikes to fit on the truck, they said our pedals had to be removed. The bike store person said it would be very hard. Although after much searching, I found the right sized allen wrench but lacked muscle though later, three big men with better tools and penetrating oil couldn't get them off either. Turned out they didn't care if the pedals were on. We camped for three nights at the same place which meant less tent set ups, always good. Naomi was around when I had to set up the tent in the next two places. She had come up to a rather remote area where we were supposed to go tubing but that was cancelled due to a thunderstorm at the last minute so she stayed an extra day where we would be next to a beautiful lake.

Also I was nervous having hurt my hip the week before while running. It was painful to hurt or walk though it didn't seem to hurt while I biked. I sleep on that hip. I would try to sleep on the other side but would roll over to the bad side and wake in pain. The day I walked up and down all those stairs didn't help but by the end of the ride, it didn't seem to hurt anymore. I haven't run yet in part as the heat index is through the roof as it will be tomorrow but I will try Sunday. I will be forced to be inactive after Monday, which scares me. The reasons I will explain in another post.

As the week progressed, it became hotter and hotter. 61 miles one day while 86 with unrelenting sun. I train in the morning to avoid heat and traffic. A more difficult day was against 20 mph headwinds and mostly up hills, some quite steep though it was only 50 miles.  Lots of forests. I didn't see many animals except a dead porcupine and a rattlesnake. Not much deer either. I see more on my usual runs near my house. I was told that deer need cornfields, which are few up there. I did hear loons again but I have yet to see one.

At least the food was much better with plenty of fruit, vegetables and salads. I ate much more healthily than I have on other bike rides and except the day in the winery, I did very little drinking.

Lots of poverty on that side of the state. Yards full of discarded appliances and car parts. Churches that looked like pole barns. Definitely no cute villages as found in Holland and Belgium. Bars except in Tawas and Cadillac didn't have any good beers just tasteless swill. We did go through the little town that Burt Reynolds came from. The residents are quite proud of that. The local store welcomed us with iced paper towels to wrap around our necks and a place to sit in the shade on our very hot day.

Naomi had a good time for the two nights she was there. The male bikers were especially welcoming to her. She now has long black and blue hair. Since our tubing trip was cancelled, we went to a wine tasting that was part of the bike tour. She doesn't drink much and does not appreciate wine but she stuck to the sweet stuff, which she had plenty of options and I bought a bottle of one we could both stand for the campsite. The next day she took down the campsite and set up at the next place so I could have an early start against those hills and headwinds. She met me for lunch  10 miles short of our camp. We spent the afternoon on Higgens Lake. Very pretty but paddleboarding was out due to strong winds. She remained on the lake before driving the long way home whereas I had my long ride to Cadillac and then a shorted ride to where my car was.

Lots of griping from fellow bikers. I am afraid  the ride won't survive. It is the chief fundraiser for the bike trails in Michigan but needs a critical mass of riders.

Home to more flowers in bloom and heat. o more orioles. Steve claimed to have been feeding them but probably wasn't as diligent as me

the Big 4-0

these are half of the forty balloons floating around t hose. Kids took most of them home

cool planter

Surprised honoreee

Hannah and Steve's sister

grandchildren piled together with Shanna  All we see is Maya's hair

Tessa and Maya

last lunch

Aside from gardening, pond cleaning, bicycling, I was also arranging a surprise party for my daughter.  I was going to be gone on her actual birthday so we had it the weekend before to increase the surprise. I did tell her that I was having her family over for a birthday dinner but she and her family would be the only guests. I anticipated and prepared food for 26 people though a few didn't come until later. I did attempt to clean up the place though one guest was overheard saying something about my patio being disgusting.  I bought two bouquets of flowers though one faded very quickly.

Steve's sister was flying in from the west coast his brother from the east coast though storms in prevented him from coming until the next day. Guests parked around the corner down the street so Shanna would not know immediately something was up. Her aunt would surprise her after she saw the local guests.  So the surprise was a success. She was surprised. I had discussed plans before hand with her husband. I was afraid he would tell the kids. Oliver was sad he wasn't let in on the secret.  I had hoped we could eat on the patio and arranged for that (cleaning it up albeit it temporarily against the constant birds  their debris) but it was extra hot and humid that day. The kids played outside though so it so it was a bit less crowded.

The next few days were spend entertaining and going out. The kids had one dinner alone with their aunt and uncle while we had some of the kids. It was a good time. I think Shanna was happy.

We bought too much food. I thought we would eat in more so since I will leave soon, I spent a lot of time making dishes of it that could be frozen yesterday. I hate waste.

What am I doing being on the computer when I should be packing?  I usually am exercising but as I can barely walk due to a very sore hip, running is out I think I will be able to bike my 280 miles though hopefully,  Naomi will be with me for some of the time she likes being on the water. We will be just above the thumb on the so called sunrise side, which is much less visited and populated. It will be hot

Back at the Ranch

sunrise through rhubarb blossoms. Lots of rhubarb. I've been harvesting some of it, giving it away, but still a lot remains

I tried my hand at making real Belgian waffles (super lekker wafels!!) One uses a thick yeast dough instead of batter. Special sugar pearls are in the dough. I bought mine in a Bruges supermarket.

Allie and their new German Shepherd Kaya. Alas Sunny had to be put down

waterfall on bike route

pink columbine. Most of mine is blue

irises of various colors bloomed

went on a garden walk with a good friend Love reflecting balls

one of the houses on the walk

sunrise over my cabana. After I exercise, I like to sit on my patio with my water fountains and flowers

pretty truck on my bike ride

new bird for me: a brown thrasher. He visited every day for a few weeks. Haven't seen him in a while

we had a few weeks of cedar waxwings visiting our service berry tree. Robins and orioles and catbirds like them too

nasturium

swallowtail visiting my flower basket

a cool photo Oliver's art teacher took

pesky rabbit eating my hibiscus

northern flicker

some of my lilies

My friend, in hospice!!!!, cut my hair

lots of pretty sunsets and sunrises

this is a barn swallow egg half on top of a penny

polysemous moth It's a boy. He needs big antennae to pick up the female phermones

the lake at sunrise on my 33 mile loop

confetti waffles. Josh took me out one morning with his family

graffiti alley Josh and Hannah

yellow hollyhock in front; red in back

more Asiatic lilies  My tiger lilies will bloom while I am gone though I have lots of day lilies too

baby barn swallows  We had five. Didn't take long for them to grow up

May is usually my big gardening month but I was gone during the most crucial weeks. I did get my vegetables and bulbs in but no annuals. A good portion of my time since I've been back is trying to make things pretty with baskets and weeding. Despite many precautions, I did get a nasty case of poison ivy. I wore two pairs of gloves but I should have put on yet another pair when I took off  my polluted clothes. And there is still plenty left. Next stop: chemical warfare.

And bicycling: 515miles in  5 weeks. I did get a flat with 1.5 miles left to go. As my bike shop is now closed, the one that promised free tune-ups for the life of the bike, I had to find a new one. My flat was fixed but he told me I need a new front derailleur. I only use the front big wheel when I am on the big hills up north. I am hoping next weeks ride will be flatter than in year's past or I am in trouble. No time to fix it now, Running has become hard due to us having a very hot humid summer plus somehow I hurt my hip. Fortunately it doesn't bother me when I bike.

I still am plodding away learning Dutch though my trip is past. Maybe I will go back and visit points north. Despite its similarity to English, it is much more difficult than the romance languages I've learned. I was embarrassingly inept on the trip though I can read it OK.

My friend who has had( still has!) three different types of cancer was initially predicted to die a few weeks ago but the latest cancer has seemed to stop progressing despite no treatment. I've been helping her occasionally. One day she had so much energy, she insisted in cutting my overgrown hair.

I have been visiting friends and family between all my gardening. I went to a blues concert one night with a friend and a garden walk another time. We had a mom's group in which I made my Belgian waffles with a rhubarb sauce They are not a breakfast food in Belgium, either a snack or a dessert

I love summer, especially the days when it is not hot but it is going by so fast.