Key West Living.....Jan 29th, 2009

Well I have not started radiation yet. I did a consultation with the doctor on Monday of this week, down here in Key West, and did a simulation run (where they marked my body for the machine) on Tuesday. Start the "real thing" this next Tuesday and will have treatment each day for about 15-20 days. Each treatment is only about 7 min. and I will have the weekends off from treatment.

We arrived in the Marina in Key West last weekend on Saturday. We settled in and on Sunday we headed to downtown Key West. During our visit we decided to purchase two folding bikes. These bikes fold down to the size of a small suit case and can be stored in a locker so they are great for the boat. They will be very useful down here in Key West, as well as, in many of the island towns we hope to visit soon. We are also taking advantage of the new "Chopperettes" to get in better shape by riding for at least an hour each day.

The new "chopperettes" & riding down town Key West.

Today we decided to take the boat out and check out the waters around Key West and do some fishing. It was sunny today, with light winds and temps in the high 70s so we did not sail much but did have a nice day out on the water and did come up on a few fish!

Here is a pelican resting on one of the channel marks on our way out the channel from our new marina and a turtle we spotted on the way out to the fishing grounds today.

We talked to a charter boat captain this morning from our marina that indicated the tuna and mahi were biting off the Sand Key Light so that is where we headed. Under mainsail and a little engine power we headed out into the gulf stream, into about 200 feet of water and started fishing, 8 miles southwest of Key West. After a couple of hours we found the Mahi! The first hit just off the Lighthouse at Sand Key Light (just as the charter captain had informed us) and while I was reeling him in on the first rod, the second rod got a hit and Angela was also pulling one in. After I landed the first, Angela was just bringing the second to the side of the boat when the line broke. These fish jump in the air and try and spit out the hook or break the line (they are very good at this) it is quite a show.

Angela fighting her Mahi and Craig with the one that did not get away!

We turned the boat around for another pass through the school of mahi and just moments later got another hit. This time I got the Mahi up to the the boat, but with a jump he was gone. Disappointing for sure but these fish are so much fun to fight just for this show of jumping clear of the water.

We gave up early afternoon and headed back in knowing that we would have plenty of fish for dinner.

Mahi fillets ready for dinner this evening.

That is it for this week.....recovery is not a bad thing as you can see...we are dealing with it well!

The Captain

1/23: Come on baby, let's get outta here...go hang out in Key West for a while...

No pictures today but a quick update on our status.
Craig's cancer type is the least aggressive and surgical pathology showed that it was contained to local tissue. This last week the captain had a chest xray and CT of the abdomen/pelvis to evaluate for metastasis. These tests were completely clean!! Since this type is described in medical literature as "exquisitely sensitive" to radiation, current standard of care is to proceed with radiation to eradicate any microscopic cells that might not yet show up in the lymph nodes on CT. It is typically 20 treatments, administered daily Monday through Friday.

In a nutshell (ha!), localized seminoma+negative tumor markers+negative CT+radiation = 98-100% effective cure.

The captain has an evaluation appointment at the radiation center Monday afternoon. The closest radiation center is in Key West. Oh, darn. What else to do but move S/V Hakuna Matata to Key West so that we do not have a daily commute. So, we are on our way back to Key West, at anchor tonight in Bahia Honda State Park which has been one of our favorite hidey holes in the area. Although we would like to be at anchor or in a mooring field for the month, we decided that a marina might be better suited for treatment or if I have to fly. We located a spot in Stock Island (see prior post), not quite Key West proper, but only 7 minutes from the center, ample parking and not as crazy expensive as downtown KW this time of year (north of 2K/month for this size boat...yikes!)

As soon as treatment and recovery are complete, hopefully the first week or two of March, we are headed way south. At this point, the only decision is whether to turn back east to the Bahamas and cruise down the path as originally planned, or do we reverse course, blast over to Cozumel and do the western Caribbean??

January 15-19, 2009

Not much has been going on down here in the Keys over the last week but recovery continues to go well. We did have a doctor visit on the 15th and they removed the rest of my stitches and gave us the final pathology report. The tumor was cancer but from what the doctor can tell us at this point it does not look like it has spread and it is not a extremely aggressive tumor type which is all good. I have a cat scan this Wednesday to verify this, but even if it is clear it looks as if I will be doing radiation for about a month.

There is not a radiation clinic here in Marathon but there is one in Key West. Since I will have to go everyday we have decided to move the boat to Key West for the month of February during the treatments.

This last weekend we drove down to look at a couple of slips that were available and for rent. The marina is located on Stock Island just min. from Key West and the radiation clinic. It looks like we will try and move the boat to the new marina this weekend. Here are a couple of pictures from our "recon" mission this weekend of the new marina.

Angela has also been working on a few interior decorator projects. So we now have a couple of new rugs, one in the main salon and one in the galley area. She also purchased some new pillows for the main salon to add color. Here is a pic of the new rug and pillows in the salon.....very exciting stuff!!

Not much else to report here in Marathon....guess our next report will be from Key West......at least we will be moving on!!

The Captain.

January 11-13 Key West

We weighed anchor around 1030am for the next leg of the journey to Key West. Another beautiful day but winds were too light to sail, so we motored and entered the harbor around 3pm. The channel is very busy with all manner and sizes of vessels...

Big B, Little b,

What begins with B?

We felt sorry for the touristas in the swanky hotel behind the cruise ship dock..so much for your water front balcony with sunset view!

Image to the left is SV Hakuna Matata at anchor in Key West harbor.

Image to the right is our view from the anchorage of Key West looking at Mallory Square.

Nothing better than a sunset (or moon rise, for that matter) for relaxation and mental therapy. We were in need of both....

We tooled around Key West on Monday...the usual sights, sounds and activities, plus a trip to the barber for the captain after my last attempt at tapering and the ear guard incident. In true Key West fashion, this "typical" old style barber shop (shoppe?) served multiple purposes. In addition to man hair cuts, they sold semi-automatic weapons (no purchases) as well as a colorful (read: colors not found in nature) array of hair extensions for the local sistas.

Rock on...one of the best examples of grafitti we have seen.

A sunny day with unusually favorable winds for our direction of travel, 12 knots from the west. We hauled up the main in the harbor and began our journey home. A pelican fish feeding frenzy on the way out of the harbor would portend things to come...






Nothing disturbs the quietude of a refreshing sail like the ZZIINNNGG of a trolling line. At first we thought that perhaps we had snagged a crab pot. Craig took the pole and I took the helm. The fight was definitely on, and after the perilous battle, Captain Craig was victorious!!

Size does matter, one of the biggest we have landed.






Upon return to our slip, the Captain takes a knife to the beast and makes a new friend in the process.

January 10, 2009.....escape from doctors

We had a disappointing followup visit at the doctor yesterday as we were all set for the pathology reports but upon our arrival found out they were not finished up yet. Wanted to have the "plan" in hand in regards to what was next and how serious the tumor was but now we have to wait til next Thursday.

They did take out half of my stitches and the doc said I was clear for showers (big one for me) and any activities I felt up to. I immediately asked about sailing and he said, "fine".

So we were feeling down not getting the report as we thought we would, but thought hey we do not have anything to do until next Thursday, we have a boat and a "free pass" to sail from the doctor.....so we decided we would leave today and sail down the Keys to Key West over the next couple of days.

Loaded up with groceries this morning and headed out. Great day of sailing with winds 10-15 knots, sunny skies and temps in the high 70s.

Sailing away from the doctors in Marathon and feeling pretty good about being back on the water.

Our view today on the way to New Found Harbor (1/2 down to Key West From Marathon) and Angela takes the "saddle" to watch for lobster traps.

Finally sunset this evening as well as the full moon arising in New Found Harbour......it has been a great day of recovery.

How to recover on a boat.

Well recovery is going pretty well. Have good days and bad and still sore but getting around. Weather is great, sunny and in the 80s so it is not a bad place to be for recovery.

So what have we been doing?? Well last night right as I was brushing my teeth for bed and the water pump died.....yes, deep 6 and nothing was bringing it back to life. On a boat without the water pump working you have no water from the faucets. We would have to fix it for sure but not last night.

In the morning we came up with the plan for the fix. Since I cannot bend or get down on my knees and stomach right now Angela was going to have to be my hands. So I directed and she installed.

To the left, Angela crawls into the hole and pulls out the bad pump. To the right is the dead water pump.

Then it was to West Marine to buy the new pump and they even had it in stock! Score 1 for team Hakuna Matata today.

Angela with new pump installed on top of the accumulator tank and bolting it back in place.

Then it was onto the check and yes it worked! Score two for the day....we can now shower and brush teeth again!

The second project of the day was the new Bose System for the salon that came in. This is something that we have been wanting (I am still a AV nerd at heart) but decided it just was not worth the expense. Since we got delayed with my current problem we decided over Christmas that this would be the consolation prize. When I emailed my good friend Casey today he said, "wow guess you had to give your left nut for that one"! He was almost correct as it was not the left but the right!!

Pics of Angela checking out the new system......it sounds sweet!!

So that is our day of recovery today.......all in all a good one......got to go now and watch movies!

The Captain

Admiral's Note:

Many of my friend girls ask how I got so handy with wrenches and such. Here is what you do:

1. Buy a 50 year old house. Accelerated plan if it has been a rental property and/or only one bathroom at time of purchase.

2. Dont' have a boyfriend and have your daddy living 1500 miles away.

You will be amazed how quickly you too can develop home/boat repair skills...

A.

January 4:Postop Day2

The surgery went well. The pathology report is still pending as frozen section biopsy was deferred. We will get the path report Friday at our postop visit. During the procedure, the urologist incidentally found an inguinal hernia and repaired that with a teflon graft. The general surgeon, who we initially saw in December and happened to be finishing a case himself, saw Craig in preop and was on the scene for that repair. Sweet.


As you know, the salon setee converts into a queen berth, so that is Craig's nest for the time being. He is generally feeling good, up and about and eating well, with even a short visit to the cockpit yesterday afternoon. His pain is well-controlled with the generous supply of Percocet, although getting up tweaks the incision pretty hard. He has been keyed up with the Percocet and is finally sleeping solidly today. Craig remains wildly hopeful for a complete bed bath with me in a saucy nurse get up. Dream on, precious captain! :)

For those clinically oriented:
This presents a strange case so we are anxious for the final pathology report. The ultrasound that started all this showed heterogenous echo pattern and vascularity for which malignancy could not be ruled out. No well-defined tumor, per se. The tumor markers are interesting. LDH mildly elevated, consistent with energy requirements for any tumor. However, the bHCG and AFP, specific to germ cell tumors, are stone cold normal. These are all done not only for staging but also as a baseline, with the expectation that they drop dramatically after the tumor is removed. So, there is nothing to drop. ??

With all this and other small details/decisions to date, we are hopeful that this is either very early in a malignant process, or some kinky nonmalignant tumor. However this works out, we are grateful that the hernia was found. I can't imagine being deep in the islands or on a passage and and having a little gut ache turn into incarcerated bowel loop.

All in all, we will keep you posted. We are so thankful for our family and friends and for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.