Seattle Trip Highlights

Beautiful Seattle Skyline from Elliot Bay taken last summer

Well the dust has settled finally after getting back from Seattle. It went by so fast it seems like a blur... Strangely, the trip almost didn't happen. I had a chemo brain moment and got the time and actual airline I was supposed to fly mixed up! So, my buddy Rob dropped me off at the McNamara terminal with me thinking I was flying Northwest. I went up to the counter and the lady gave me a puzzled look as I tried to check in. "Uh, Mr. Carr, I only show a flight for you on June 30th"... Well of course, that's when I flew back to Seattle on a one way to move my stuff back to Michigan. She had nothing for September 1st... Of course, I thought I was screwed. For the life of me, I couldn't remember what airline I booked! So, discouraged, I called my buddy back after he had driven halfway home and asked if he could come get me (thanks again Rob). He did, and having a big cup of coffee in me, I had to find a bathroom fast... We ended up at McDonalds down the road (to his daughter Julias delight ;) To buy some time to think, we grabbed a happy meal for Julia and I thought of a way to figure out what airline I was supposed to be flying to Seattle and what time (normally something you'd do a day or more before you fly but that's not how I roll these days I guess...). Anyway, I got my bearings and thought to call my credit card company to see what the most recent charge was by an airline. Sure enough, there was a charge for Frontier Airlines for Sep 1 at 9:52 a.m. Great!! The only problem however, it was 10:45, yikes! So I called the nice people at Frontier and the CSR said that as long as I was at the terminal within two hours of my original flight, they'd put me on standby no charge for the next flight out :) 5 or so hours later, I was on my way, thank God! So, it was great to get back to the beautiful Northwest. I love my hometown of Detroit but have to say that now that I've been away from Seattle for a few months, it really is a smart, tasty, interesting, beautiful place...


Beautiful Twin Falls Hike 20 mins. from Seattle. May need to pause my music player.


Twin Falls Hike, notice the moss! It's a rainforest...


Gold Mountain Golf Course in Bremerton WA. Great scenery and nice soft greens!

I took a lot of things for granted living there (plus I was pretty much in treatment the entire time). I got a chance to meet a fellow Hodge Warrior and fellow SGN-35 trial participant Kirsten! Her and Ian were down to catch Michael Franti and Spearhead at Bumbershoot (among others). We had lunch at my favorite sandwich joint, The Honey Hole in Capital Hill. We then took them on a quick drive around town and dropped them off at the festival. It's really nice meeting friends who are in the same fight... There are so few of us refractory Hodgers and it gives me strength knowing I have friends out there that are on the same rollercoaster as me ;)


My friend Kirsten and I "illuminated" at the Honey Hole!

So back to Bumbershoot... We went on Monday to check out Keller Williams and Modest Mouse (from Issaquah WA) and they didn't dissapoint. As usual, the atmosphere was festive and included people from all walks of life. Also had a chance to catch up with some friends :) Nice to see you Roger, Mandy, Leslie and Joshua!


One of the more interesting Bumbershoot attendees!


Keller Williams jamming at Bumbershoot!

So a quick update on my SGN-35 adventure... I went in yesterday for my required CT scan after two cycles. Hoping for stable disease or better to stay on the trial. Unfortunately, some of the possible side effects of the drug are starting to take effect. I can handle the fatigue for a few days after infusions but the muscle soreness is starting to get to me. I've got some serious soreness in my arms, shoulders, legs and of course back. I've read on my Hodgkins forum that a way to combat this is taking in a lot of Calcium. My sister gave me some chewables she had so I'm hoping this starts to work. I really don't want to take more pain meds than I've had to take in the past... I'll update when I get the CT results.

That's pretty much it for now. Just wanted to say GO BLUE to my Wolverines! Time to take some revenge for the whooping we took last year from the Irish.