Florida!

(The best dog traveller on the planet, Chili Carr!!)


(My Bro's! Ramil left, Dan right)

Here in Michigan rubbing my eyes after an exhausting 16+ hour drive yesterday! I wanted to see my family here in the D before I fly back to Seattle for my scan...

Had a great time in Florida! It's definately tropical there right now with the afternoon downpours and the thick humidity. So great to see all my old friends and meeting some new ones too :)

I had the honor of meeting 4 other members of the Exclusive Hodgkins Community! First, I took a drive down to South Beach Miami and met up with Alison/Adrienne from Vegas and Bekah all the way down from Boston. Adrienne and Bekah are battling refractory cancer and are currently on trials. Both women are very successful pursuing degrees that will allow them to make a positive impact on young peoples' lives. I am inspired, comforted and empowered by the both of them for their courage and spirit. Not to mention Adrienne's Mom Alison who has been very active in the Hodgkins Community and a generous wealth of knowledge to other HL survivors.


(From left, Alison, Adrienne and Bekah at this great seafood restaurant on Ocean Blvd. in South Beach Miami)

Also had a chance to meet Anastasia from North Florida who is 3/4 of the way through front line therapy and doing well! She's a very talented musician and just released her first CD "Of the Resurrection"! Here's the link if you would like to purchase some beautiful music and help out a fellow Hodge Survivor! You WILL feel good after spending the $15.00 and Anastasia pays for the shipping!

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=JiWnjaR3shzAaI1bx3SWfVLSmjexwtsq8XQ4jpu-gaP9sufe1NwwTqMX_4a&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f998ca054efbdf2c29878a435fe324eec2511727fbf3e9efc



So besides meeting these lovely ladies I was able to take in some good ole Florida sun and indulge in some great Florida seafood! In fact, quite a bit of the fish I was able to catch myself :-D Some generous friends invited my buddy Dan and I out when I first arrived and we went out and caught some Snapper and Dorado (Mahi-Mahi) which were absolutely delicious! Also went out with Dan's brother Mike right before I left and we landed 4 keeper Mutton Snapper, a nice little Kingfish, Rainbow Runner and a couple of "Boneheads" (Bonita) that we ended up using for bait! We got back that day and had the King for lunch, delicious :-p After a swim in Mike's pool we rested up and ended up going to some friends' house for a big fish cook-off! I guess every year this guy has a party where everyone brings over their fresh fish and they do an Iron Chef style cook off... It was incredible! It started off with fresh Yellow Fin Tuna Sashimi with just a squeeze of lime, melted in my mouth! Next was a full table of cooked fish from beer battered Mahi, grilled Cobia, baked whole Snapper (I caught that one, still had the hook in his mouth! ;), and seared Tuna with ginger sauce. Mike, the host, even went out and bought a bunch of Alaskan King Crab Legs :) We ate for 3 straight hours, no joke! Had to work off the food with some epic ping pong matches... Great time to say the least!


(Me and Dan with dinner, Mutton Snapper!)

It was really nice just hanging out on the beach too... The water was so blue and warm! In fact, the water seemed to be the same temperature as the air, somewhere in the 80's. I just floated on my back with my ears under the water so it was quiet and stared up at the fluffy clouds in the sky. It was a very spiritual moment...

No matter what happens with my upcoming scan, I feel at peace with everything and feel lucky to have experienced all of the incredible things on this trip. I have so many great memories and will cherish every one of them.



So, I leave tomorrow from Michigan to fly back to Seattle. I have a scan on the 8th and will find out the results on the 11th. I wish I could just get in over with tomorrow as the waiting is the hardest part. I may post again before the scan but likely will wait until I get the results.

Hope to have some good news