Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[Lois R]

Hi Terry, wonderful photos...nice to hear from you.

[UpstateJan]

On 2/11/2020 at 4:28 PM, Lois R said:

Hi Jan, nice to see you and glad whatever health issues you were dealing with are now better

Thanks Lois, and same to you.  I was happy to read that you were diagnosed at stage 0, not that radiation is a fun thing.  Here's to your continuing travel, enjoy your retirement.

[UpstateJan]

On 2/11/2020 at 5:21 PM, jpalbny said:

Welcome back from us as well, Jan. Happy to see you here at the Cooler!

Thanks JP & Chris.  I was luxuriating at the Albany Med ICU for 3 weeks, very happy to be home, not thrilled with the haircut I ended up with .... it's a bit cold to be sporting a Sinead O'Connor.  Happily, I was given an official clearance to travel for our May adventure - 4 days before final payment is due.   What can I say, we live on the edge 🤣

[Lois R]

57 minutes ago, UpstateJan said:

Thanks JP & Chris.  I was luxuriating at the Albany Med ICU for 3 weeks, very happy to be home, not thrilled with the haircut I ended up with .... it's a bit cold to be sporting a Sinead O'Connor.  Happily, I was given an official clearance to travel for our May adventure - 4 days before final payment is due.   What can I say, we live on the edge 🤣

OMG.....you were in ICU for 3 weeks??…..so sorry to read this!!!! But so happy to know you are ok!!!!

[mysty]

2 hours ago, UpstateJan said:

Thanks JP & Chris.  I was luxuriating at the Albany Med ICU for 3 weeks, very happy to be home, not thrilled with the haircut I ended up with .... it's a bit cold to be sporting a Sinead O'Connor.  Happily, I was given an official clearance to travel for our May adventure - 4 days before final payment is due.   What can I say, we live on the edge 🤣

Great news Jan!  Enjoy the hell out of your May adventure!

[jpalbny]

3 hours ago, UpstateJan said:

Thanks JP & Chris.  I was luxuriating at the Albany Med ICU for 3 weeks

 

That's a place I'd rather not be! My last stint there was in 1997 but that was on the right side of the doctor's station (meaning, I was there as an employee, not a patient!). You probably met a bunch of my colleagues; hope they treated you well, and very glad to hear that you are on the mend!

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great day all!

[UpstateJan]

13 hours ago, mysty said:

Great news Jan!  Enjoy the hell out of your May adventure!

Oh I  plan on it!!!!

[UpstateJan]

12 hours ago, jpalbny said:

 

That's a place I'd rather not be! My last stint there was in 1997 but that was on the right side of the doctor's station (meaning, I was there as an employee, not a patient!). You probably met a bunch of my colleagues; hope they treated you well, and very glad to hear that you are on the mend!

I was in the neuro-icu (ruptured aneurysm that the urgent care first diagnosed as the flu, then two weeks later as migraines). I honestly was in the best place for this kind of issue, unfortunately I don't remember some of it.  The docs were great, the nurses and aides were greater.  Well cared for, and they put up with my inability to stay in bed and do what I was told, bless their hearts. Happily, I was discharged to home, no rehab, and on our way out, they wished Jeremy luck in taking care of me!  Sarcasm?  He and the poodle pup have done an amazing job, I am thankful.   Only 4 1/2 more months before I am allowed to drive!

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, UpstateJan said:

I was in the neuro-icu (ruptured aneurysm that the urgent care first diagnosed as the flu, then two weeks later as migraines). I honestly was in the best place for this kind of issue, unfortunately I don't remember some of it.  The docs were great, the nurses and aides were greater.  Well cared for, and they put up with my inability to stay in bed and do what I was told, bless their hearts. Happily, I was discharged to home, no rehab, and on our way out, they wished Jeremy luck in taking care of me!  Sarcasm?  He and the poodle pup have done an amazing job, I am thankful.   Only 4 1/2 more months before I am allowed to drive!

Hi Jan, well, what you went through makes what I am doing really minimal...….I will try to take a better attitude

going forward (I have sort of been feeling sorry for myself lately)  but it is what it is. 7 more treatments.

....this coming week and then Monday and Tuesday of next.  I know it could be way worse and I will have

 to continue to remember that fact. 

 

So glad you are ok!!!

[UpstateJan]

Lois, you are entitled to feel how you feel.  Be grateful that you are going thru this now, as opposed to 40 years ago, over even 10 years ago.  The survival rates are so much higher than they were.  My mom had BC in the late 1990s, and she said it was by far the easiest treatments compared to Hodgkin's in the 1950s, Uterine in the 1960s, Stomach in the 1970s (somehow she took the 1980s off).  You are very lucky, but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with.  I consider myself extremely lucky, as my uncle had the exact same thing I just went thru in 1963, his outcome was not as good as mine.  I'm trying to convince my siblings to get tested, since there is a possibility it's a genetic thing, as I had none of the common triggers for this (high blood pressure, smoker, head injury, etc).  You do the best you can do, and roll with the things you can not change, and look forward to the next vacation 😀.

 

All those who have done Canadian Rockies, what is your #1 do not miss?  I am personally thrilled that I will have an opportunity to see Buchart Gardens in Victoria before the train adventure, I'm all about the plants.  Jeremy has been to Vancouver before, so we figure the 2 1/2 days we have between flight in, embarkation, debarkation should be enough to see what we want to.   We'll be hitting Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff, and have a half day to spare for Calgary.  Any & all recommendations are appreciated.

[Lois R]

Hi Jan, thanks for the kind and informative post

 

Have you been to Buchart Gardens before? It is AMAZING!!!!!! The flowers/plants/everything......all the different

areas have their own flowers and they are all beautiful!

[UpstateJan]

No ma'am, this will be my first time to this part of Canada.  I'm well versed with Montreal & Toronto, as that's where my inlaws are.  This past September, I got to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.  I'll have all the Canadian provences ticked off before I get the US states, to be fair there are a lot more states.  Oh, I will click off one of our more remote states, yay me!  That leaves only 19 more to go.  This is a cool trip we're both looking forward to.  Next year will probably be further out, as we're planning on travelling with his siblings, i think the consensus is the Mediterranean since none of them have been there yet (that was our first cruise)

[jpalbny]

Wow, Hodgkin's in the 1950s. The treatment was barbaric.

 

First they did a staging laparotomy, where they opened the abdomen fully, looked for swollen lymph nodes, and removed the spleen to see if the lymphoma was there. Then they radiated the entire chain of lymph nodes from the armpits and neck, down through the chest and abdomen. Everyone got premature coronary artery disease as a result, because the technique was primitive, and adjacent normal tissues got bombarded with radiation too.

 

Then they followed up with nitrogen mustard as chemotherapy. Yeah, that stuff, chemically similar to what they used in trench warfare in WWI...

 

It is a miracle that anyone survived. But whenever I get smug about how much progress we've made in the past 50 years of medicine, I stop and think. What do we do now, that they will roll their eyes about in 50 more years? You do the best that you know, with the knowledge that you have today.

 

Scary stuff, and glad you are feeling well enough to travel. Neuro stuff like ruptured aneurysms scares the crap out of me. Usually it happens in younger folks (20s, maybe 30s) so after a few decades of worrying about whether I had an aneurysm that was going to rupture some day, I had finally gotten over my fear. Thanks for bringing that back!

[mysty]

How much time do you have in the Victoria area Jan?  There is a gorgeous spot on Vancouver Island...Tofino.  It is on the west coast about 4 hours from Victoria by car.

 

 

[TLCOhio]

2 hours ago, UpstateJan said:

All those who have done Canadian Rockies, what is your #1 do not miss?  I am personally thrilled that I will have an opportunity to see Buchart Gardens in Victoria before the train adventure, I'm all about the plants.  Jeremy has been to Vancouver before, so we figure the 2 1/2 days we have between flight in, embarkation, debarkation should be enough to see what we want to.   We'll be hitting Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff, and have a half day to spare for Calgary.  Any & all recommendations are appreciated.

 

WOW!  Jan has been through a challenging medical roller coaster.  Glad things are improving and headed in the right direction.  Hopefully!!  YES, have lots of Number One's for these wonderful areas in Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, the Canadian Rockies, Vancouver, etc., from our adventure last summer.   We did Buchart Gardens and Victoria a number of years back.  All super great!!  Below in my live/blog, there are many, many pictures and details for these varied and spectacular areas.  Are you going to be traveling by a combination of car and using the Rocky Mountaineer rail?     Below are a few visual highlights/samples.  Fire away with any and all questions.  Happy to share more background and details.  Jan deserves a first-class break and adventure!! 

 

In Auckland, getting ready to board our Oceania Regatta ship at noon for the 18-day sailing to Papeete/Tahiti with stops in locations such as New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, Bora Bora, etc.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Completed last summer a Calgary, Jasper/Banff National Parks, Western Canada Rocky Mountaineer rail adventure, Vancouver, sailing up to Alaska, post-cruise excursion to Denali, etc.  Lots of visuals and details from our first visits to these scenic areas and being on then Silver Muse!!  That live/blog is at: 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2682584-live-terryohio-silver-muse-alaska-canadarockies-pix’s/

 

Here is just one sample at Banff National Park early at the start of our adventure, enjoying dinner at the classic Banff Springs Hotel, lots of mountain drama, rainbow thanks to scattered rain, etc.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger/better!)

 

At Lake Louise, here is the breath-taking view of these blue waters, plus the dramatic mountains, the snow in the distance, etc.  Then we had “Afternoon Tea” with excellent views of the scenic action.  Very international crowd here at famed Lake Louise as we also dodged some rain and cloudy conditions.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger/better!)

 

 

From riding the Rocky Mountaineer rail for two full days with super first-class food, sights and experiences through the Rocky Mountains, here are just three samples.  The third picture is of Mount Robson, Canada's tallest peak in the Rockies.  It is 9,760 feet to its summit.  We had great weather on this rail trip.  As an example, this mountain can only be seen clearly total about twelve days a year.  Fortunately, we hit one of those magic visibility days!!:

 

 

[TLCOhio]

As mentioned, I am in Auckland now.  Below is one item of photo proof, plus a couple visuals from an excellent dinner last night.  From a friend in Ohio, she just sent me this link to a London/UK Independent news story this morning with this headline: “Elton John leaves stage in tears after walking pneumonia diagnosis” with these highlights: “Elton John left the stage in tears on Sunday night (16 February) after he lost the ability to sing.  He was forced to stop performing midway through the concert, which took place at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.”  This concert was a big, BIG deal last night here, but obviously things did not turn out well for the 70,000 fans and Elton.  This concert jammed up local hotels for this weekend, plus made getting a cab last night very challenging.

 

Full story at:

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/elton-john-leaves-stage-tears-crying-walking-pneumonia-auckland-new-zealand-a9338001.html

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling/details with many exciting visuals and key highlights.  On page 23, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 229,023 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

 

Below is a night view from our hotel of the famed Sky Tower in Auckland. Lots of cranes and building activities in this busy town that is getting ready to host the America's Cup sailing competition later this summer.  They are expecting 200,000 visitors just for this event.  Second is the wonderful lamb shank super enjoyed last evening at Parnell 149.  Had to have lamb in New Zealand, right?  So tender and tasty!  For dessert, it was a shared treat with a duo of crème brulée.  The flavors?  Spectacular with limoncello and grand marnier as the two different flavors, plus vanilla ice cream in the middle ad a "chaser"!  Loved it!!  The food and wine in NZ are so wonderful.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger/better!)

 

 

Edited February 16, 2020 by TLCOhio

[Stumblefoot]

3 hours ago, UpstateJan said:

 

 

All those who have done Canadian Rockies, what is your #1 do not miss?  Any & all recommendations are appreciated.

Bug spray.  Lots and lots of bug spray.  The further north you go, the larger the swarms become, specially when visiting Jasper.

[Tothesunset]

Here's another from the occasional series 'Where am I Today' :

 

[jpalbny]

16 minutes ago, Tothesunset said:

Here's another from the occasional series 'Where am I Today' :

 

 

Kyiv. The friendship of nations monument on Volodymryska Hill.

[frantic36]

On 2/16/2020 at 5:49 AM, UpstateJan said:

not thrilled with the haircut I ended up with .... it's a bit cold to be sporting a Sinead O'Connor. 

 

Jan, your beautiful hair. As a retired neuro nurse I am so glad you are well and home. Those aneurysms are scary stuff. 

 

With regards to Buchart gardens they are truly beautiful. We splurged and took an early flight over from Vancouver in July 2017. We then went straight to the gardens. I am so glad we did this as we had almost 1.5 hours with the gardens fairly empty before the tour buses arrived. We were there almost four hours but we love plants and there was so much to see. 

 

We then headed back to town for lunch and a wander. We didn't hire a car as we aren't comfortable driving on the opposite side of the road but I have heard there are many amazing places to visit with a hire car on Victoria Island.

 

Banff is lovely to walk around the town and we enjoyed taking the Banff Gondola and doing the mountain top boardwalk. Again we found going when it opened best to avoid crowds. The interpretive centre was interesting and coming from Perth which has many flat land and hills, the mountains were just so beautiful.

 

Heal well Jan.

 

Julie

[frantic36]

Mysty thanks for posting your funnies. It starts my day well.

 

Terry sounds like you are having a great time in New Zealand.

 

Julie

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great day all!

[UpstateJan]

22 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Wow, Hodgkin's in the 1950s. The treatment was barbaric.

Yup, to complicate things, Mom was 4 months pregnant when they realized what was going on.  My sister was born premature and then they started on treatments.   I was born 7 1/2 years later 🤨 and remember going to Albany Med as a little kid to "be looked over" - yeah, they didn't exactly know what they were doing with radiation, but she lived another 49 years.   Pretty sure that was a contributing factor to her eventual death with a gigantic tumor in her lung that they couldn't see thru the massive calcification from the radiation treatments ala 1950s.  That being said, she had a pretty good life, and lived it to the fullest, she was an excellent role model. 

[UpstateJan]

22 hours ago, mysty said:

How much time do you have in the Victoria area Jan?  There is a gorgeous spot on Vancouver Island...Tofino.  It is on the west coast about 4 hours from Victoria by car.

 

 

That looks stunning.  I'm writing that down as a possibility - we'll figure out what we can do in about a month - have to get thru taxes first.  Plan vacation final details 1 1/2 months prior to departure - according to the husband.  Right now, I can dream, although I can't seem to get past the visions of Buchart Gardens in full spring bloom.