Little RV Joys

(Click on each photo for a larger view.)

Strawberries

We had forgotten how tender and sweet the "real" ones are!

A good internet connection makes for a happy camper.

A new USB wireless card with antenna to boost the internet signal is a joy. (The huge medical bills we could do without!)




Pretty dishes make food taste better!

We love watching the palms swaying in the breeze with a backdrop of blue sky rimmed by fluffy white clouds......and there's just something intoxicating about the sound of the rustling fronds......

Happy B-Day, Anita

Happy Birthday to my dear and sweet sister, Anita!

MaryMay Angelil, Anita May Krull, Cousin Bill Freeman, and Philip May (Summer 2008)

Postponed

Ed went to the oncologist on Friday expecting to have chemo. His blood counts were not in a range that it would be safe to administer the chemo. So, much to his displeasure, he was given a shot of Procrit.

We'll go back next Thursday and hopefully, he'll be able to take his chemo then. That will be his 7th round. The doctor plans to take another scan the following week.

Ed asked him if he would be able to take a break from chemo for 6 months or so if the scan showed more shrinkage. The doctor wouldn't answer but said when he gets the scan results, we'll sit down together and plan the next course of action.

The Procrit doesn't seem to have made Ed quite as lethargic as the previous ones. We have been taking it pretty easy but doing some things, too. This evening we went to a Potluck at the clubhouse, which was enjoyable and as always at Potlucks, we ate lots of good food. The park is clearing out......several RV's are heading out daily. Many people head back North before April.

Our NC friend, Preston Mintz, recommended a guy to fix some things on our RV. He replaced the propane hose (now we can get it filled), took down one of the awnings and got it sewn, and, much to Mary's delight, reversed the bathroom ceiling fan so that it blows out instead of in. This fellow is coming back this week to look at another few items. It's nice to have someone who can do things, be timely about it, and doesn't charge an arm and a leg (only an arm's worth).

We saw the space shuttle go up this evening. It was amazing that, even with the clouds and Cape Canaveral being a couple of hundred miles away, we could clearly see it go up. The lighted trail had the sunset pinks reflected in the lower part.....it was beautiful. Like the lift-off we saw last year when we were staying near Cape Canaveral, people all come out and it's like a big bunch of happy kids oohing, and aahing together.

Pepper's Big Day

Hi, it's Pepper again and I wanted to share my BIG day with you. Daddy put my pink harness on me with a leash and took me OUTSIDE! It was my first time EVER to go out, except for a few foiled escape attempts in the past. I really wanted to go under the RV, but they wouldn't let me. Anyway, I'll have lots of new things to dream about tonight!

Pepper's Perceptions

Hello, I am Pepper, Queen of this RV.

You may think I look rather strange and many folks say, "Oh, a cat with no hair!", but that's not true.

Cats usually have two coats, the top coat and the down coat. I have only the down coat and, if I do say so myself, I feel like velvet. I am a Cornish Rex.

I came from a North Carolina breeder called Tribetta Cattery. My grandmother, Frances May, was shocked that my parents would drive all the way to N.C. and PAY for a cat!! Ed has had Cornish Rex for years because we don't shed and we are people lovers.

My parents were nice enough to make several nests around the RV for me, that's a good thing because, as you probably know, we cats sleep about 18 hours a day.

Does this mean I'm a closet queen?

They close the door during the day or else I'd sleep there all day!

But, hey, I do help out.

Bye, bye for now.

Blood Gone Bonkers

As is typical with someone going through chemo, Ed's blood reports are bonkers. His lab printout showed results for 15 items. At least his red count came up slightly since last week so he got off with a procrit shot rather than a transfusion. He reported to the nurse that, on her advice, he's been drinking 64 ounces of water daily and isn't quite as dizzy. She told him he needs to tell Dr. Harwin about the dizziness next week at his appointment. It's nice to have a nurse who explains things.....like why the procrit shot hurts so much.....it's subcutaneous (right under the skin) as opposed to intramuscular, like most shots. The pain did subside in about 10 minutes.

The money involved with all this is appalling. The procrit shot (for the red blood cells) is $700 but Medicare only allows about $400.00, so Ed's 20% co-pay is $77.00 for each shot. The neulasta shot (for the white cells) is $7,000.00 but Medicare allows only so much so Ed's co-pay is a mere $400.00 +.

We stopped at Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Ed treated himself to a bag of their fries. (He doesn't like their burgers because they're dry and expensive.) They really are THE best fries and they give you a brown paper bag filled to the top! They're even better than McDonald's used to be. I ate a few fries, then got a salad and 2 wings when we went to Walmart for a few groceries. Ed also got some wings so as to add protein to his lunch. If you know Ed at all, you probably know he's the "Protein King" AND you know he's very particular about his food!

He and Pepper are having their afternoon nap now. It's 78 degrees with a light breeze blowing through the RV and it's so quiet....hmnn, I might go take a nap myself! ZZZzz!

p.s. Ed just got up because his restless leg syndrome has his leg ajumpin'. RLS is another medical mystery but he feels that his isn't bad enough to want to take any drugs for it. We have observed that tomatoes at supper will usually set it off, but often, we have no clue what makes it "kick up." Sometimes he'll go for a long spell with no problem.

We look forward to hearing about what's going on in your lives and appreciate your comments and/or emails....so please, let us hear from you now and then! We might not be able to respond to every note but this blog, hopefully, is keeping you updated.

A Free Lunch - Who Says There Isn't One?

Wednesday was another glorious weather day AND a free lunch! There are about 300 rigs in Tamiami RV Park, so there were lots of people there. We went to the clubhouse at noon and got fried chicken, beans, potatoes, applesauce, cookies, and lemonade.

I couldn't imagine that we could sit at tables in full sun and be comfortable. My dermatologist will be proud of me for remembering to slather on the sunscreen before we went.

Butch and Lynne, from Greenbay, Wisconsin, sat by us and we enjoyed talking to them. They have a 33 foot 1980 Beaver RV and have been looking at larger RV's, as they're finding that to be pretty close quarters for long-term traveling. They like the Holiday Ramblers, which opened a whole realm of conversation as Ed shared the latest on the dying RV industry. We hope to see more of them. We also talked to Preston and Mo (from North Carolina), the ones we met when we were driving around the park a couple of weeks ago.

Then, off to get a therapist to help me adjust my CPAP machine so it doesn't leak air all night. That hissing wakes Ed up as badly as my snoring did! The adjustments did seem to help. We also had to fight Verizon and Ed got them to remove the $40 charge, as had been promised several weeks ago. After a stop at Lowe's for a few light bulbs, we came home and enjoyed an evening of reading, computing, and TV.

The End of an Industry by Ed

ED'S REPORT:

I spent the afternoon looking up the state of the RV industry on the web and am astounded at my findings. Monaco, which makes Monaco brand RV's, Holiday Rambler (the brand of our RV), Safari, and Beaver, is out of business. Elkhart, Indiana has the highest unemployment rate in the country - one of the 2 cities that President Obama visited recently - because most RV manufacturers are situated there and a lot of them have gone out of business. It looks like Winnebago can hang on for a while. Fleetwood shares closed on the NYSE at 16 cents a share and will probably be out of business before the end of the year. So it appears that the RV industry will virtually be gone by the end of 2009.

Obviously, if the companies are out of business, anyone who owns one of the brands involved, which is most of them, will be unable to get parts. We need several parts for our damaged RV and a local dealership told us that parts are no longer available. Now we have the challenge, as will all RVers, to find workarounds.

First or Second Half-Century

Today was a gorgeous day......high 60's with sun and a slight breeze. I walked across the street to finish looking in the stores at the Shell Factory. I was there for a long time and could spend another day. There are so many different rooms and such a variety of merchandise from clothes, to shoes, to a Christmas shop, to jewelry, to chocolate, to Subway, to bear stuffing, to a room of stuffed large animals, to a U.S. Post Office, to shells and more shells.

Thought I'd get a few large shells for my front hallway - until I saw the prices......conch shells started at $20.00. Maybe if I were in the first half-century of my life when I was acquiring '"stuff", I would "shell out" the $20 bucks. However, I'm in the second half-century and am trying to size down (in more ways than one!).

Moving Day

It's cloudy and windy here and supposed to go down to the 40's tonight. Our site at the new place in Tamiami RV Park isn't open until tomorrow, so we're sort of boondocking in their overflow area tonight. Actually, boondocking means you "dry camp" with no hookups. We will have 20 AMP service electric so we can use our lights, TV, computers,......... and furnace, if needed.

The park we've been in for February, Raintree RV Resort, is nicer than our new one in that it has a lot more landscaping and palm trees, plus it's laid out with curves and half circles, making it appealing to the eye. However, we have several reasons for leaving:

6. There is no trash service here so we have to haul our garbage over to the dumpster. Guess we got spoiled by other parks so this irks us more than some people. I will give them credit that they recycle most everything. It will be pleasant to put our trash out each morning and have it disappear!

5. When we went over there a couple of weeks ago and were driving around, a guy staying there was outside and talked to us for a LONG time. Preston was really open and friendly (bald, too). We stopped another day and visited with his wife, Mo, who was also friendly. We sort of feel we already have friends there. (The people around us at Raintree were nice but there were about 5 couples from the same hometown in Indiana. Even though they were friendly, they were a closed circle who did everything together.)

4. The place is about 3 miles south of Raintree, still on US 41, which puts us that much closer to Wal-Mart and Ed's doctor. It's directly across the road from The Shell Factory, where we had that good fish on Tuesday when George and Kay were here.

3. We don't have to turn north and make a hazardess U-turn to go south each time we leave the park. Tamiami RV Park has an opening in the median, probably thanks to The Shell Factory. A nice turn to the right when we leave is so much safer, not to mention, easier on my nerves!

2. The internet is sporatic and when we least expect it, it shuts off. It might take us 10 minutes or more to get back on or we might not get back on for several hours. (It will be a relief to my ears not to hear Ed fussing several times a day!) This internet cut-off is especially annoying when I've worked for an hour or more to put something on our church's website, only to have it quit on me......guess patience is a virtue but I sometimes run out of it.

And the #1 advantage to moving is.....

1. The new place is over $400.00 less per month - we can put up with straight roads for that much money!

Labwork Today

Ed had blood work today and both his red and white cell counts are low. They gave him a shot of Procrit to help rebuild the red cells and if things aren't better by next Friday, they'll give him a blood transfusion.

This was a good nurse who explained some things to us. Ed said that by the 6th round of chemo, the medical workers probably think we know it all..... but we don't. He told the nurse about his dizziness and lethargy. She asked him several things and suggested he wasn't drinking enough. He needs to help his blood cells and kidneys flush out the poisons. I've been telling him to drink more but everyone knows that men never listen to their wives!!

Our First PJ Party

George and Kay Angelil, Ed's brother and sister-in-law, came from their Port St. Lucie home to visit us yesterday. Ed had chemo on Friday and felt more lethargic than he had after his other treatments, so it was good for us to have a diversion.
We took a chance on an unknown restaurant and went to the Bonefish Grill, which is part of The Shell Factory, and happens to be about 2 miles south of our RV resort. Well, we lucked out.....we all had the all-you-can-eat fish and chips. It was just delicious, without all the heavy breading some restaurants use on fish. George and I chose sweet potato fries, rather than French fries and they were yummy. We went to Beall's Outlet store, where we girls split from the guys. Kay and I looked at everything in the store, visiting all the while. She bought a seersucker pants outfit and I bought a fish sundress. Then we walked over to Beall's Clearance Center and looked at everything in there, too. By that time, we were beat so we called George and Ed to come get us.

They had looked at some 55+ communities. George is in real-estate, and as with most realtors, he likes to get a feel for the market in different areas. Plus, they might be interested in moving over to this less-crowded area one of these years.
Dinner was easy to put together because Ed and I had made Chicken Divan ahead of time. Ed got a bit bent out of shape because the biscuits sort of burned, but who cared, we just cut the burnt bottoms off. Look on the bright side.......that helped cut down on the calories in each biscuit. This was the first time we've had overnight guests in this RV and we learned one thing - anyone who sleeps over needs to have one quality - they MUST be very short if they want to stretch out on the sofa bed!

This morning we visited Old Bridge Village, a resident-owned waterfront community. What a wide range of prices and styles of manufactured homes - some new and some quite old. Kay and George headed home after our tour. I think all of us enjoyed our time together.

p.s. Ed is feeling better, although not quite the ball of fire that he usually is.

Oh, What a Beautiful Day!

Today is one of those days that entices people to come to Florida for the winter. This morning was a bit nippy at 42 but by lunchtime it was about 70 with sunshine galore. It's pleasant to open the windows and not have heat or air conditioner motors running.

There was a big drive-way sale here in our RV park so I got up at the crack of 8:00 a.m. (what a shock to my retired body's schedule) in order to go shopping. Ed slept (his chemo yesterday went fine but he's usually lethargic for a few days afterwards) and I didn't bother him. I covered every street (there are 340 RV's here) so got some good exercise and spent a grand total of $2.50! Ed had been looking for some small white Correlle saucers and Wal-Mart doesn't have them. I found 4 for a buck - can't beat that, huh? (Beth, you would have enjoyed it.)

This afternoon we visited our neighbors across the street, Rod and Betty. They're from Vermont and are hobby photographers who do nature photos, especially birds and flowers. They've been all over the world taking photos including Antarctica, Norway, Africa, and especially enjoyed the polar bears in the Arctic. I hope to see some more of their pictures and we plan to go out to eat together soon. This year is their 50th anniversary and they gave each other a new fifth-wheel. They plan to take a trip to Nova Scotia this summer, following the route they took on their honeymoon.

Ed sat in the sun and read part of the afternoon. Now he's taking another wee nap and I'm just enjoying being here, listening to a few birds. I can't get over how quiet it is and there are 2 reasons for that........first, this is a 55+ park and secondly, we have double-paned windows in the RV. It's a tough life but somebody has to do it, right?!!

Sharing Shell Labors of Love

A Small Scare

On Friday, Ed had a slight sore throat and a swollen area just above his collar bone and slightly to the left of his Adam's apple that was painful. He was scheduled for his routine blood work at a different office that was closer to our RV park. His doctor wasn't at that office that day and the doctor on duty was too backed up to see him. At my insistence, we made an appointment to see his doctor on Monday.

Sunday, the throat was better but he had an earache all day. Monday, everything was better except I could still see some swelling. The doctor checked him out and said it definitely had nothing to do with his cancer, and the fact that the symptoms went away so quickly indicated it was nothing to be concerned about. Whew! I feel much better and though Ed would hate to admit it, I know he is relieved, too!

By the way, his blood work indicated that the procreate shot from last week had helped with his anemia so he got another procreate shot. If his red cell hadn't improved, he would've had to have a blood transfusion. It appears that he'll be ready for chemo this coming Friday.

Valentine Greetings

Happy Valentine's Day
to each and everyone of you!

We appreciate your support and encouragement as Ed goes through chemo. Your love helps us to cope and keep optimistic. We're greatly encouraged by the shrinkage of the tumors in his lungs and hope these next few cycles will shrink them even more.

Several people have said that "Ed's too ornery to die" and the laughing from that and other funny comments is therapeutic for us both. With our sporadic internet service, I don't have time to email personal notes as much as I'd like to. But your email notes and comments on this blog page really help.

Love and thanks,
MaryMay and Edmond

Sentimental Journey to Sanibel Island

We took a "field trip" to Sanibel Island, Florida today. This is special to us because it was the first place we ever went for a Get-away Weekend over 10 years ago. It's known for its shells. We had a nice lunch, went shelling and returned to our Tastee Freeze to share another banana split. The weather was in the 70's with limited sun so it was a perfect day for driving and for the beach.

Those Bowmans just turn up all over the place,
don't they? (My Grandmother was Ruth Bowman May.)

The shells were not unusual ones today but
there were gazillion of them!

Ed's New Doc in Ft. Myers

Choosing a oncologist from the yellow pages, which is what Ed was planning to do here in Ft. Myers, isn't my idea of a good way to go about it. We appreciate Joan Benson, a dear friend from our condo in Ft. Lauderdale a few years back, getting us in touch with the Pat and Norman Nybert. They recommended the doctor Norman is seing. Norman also has lung cancer and is on his 4th cycle, Ed's on his 5th. Ed met with Dr. Harwin today. At first he seemed to be a bit bland but when I remembered the Nybert's name, he really perked up and turned out to be very pleasant.

Ed's white cell count is good, thanks to the neulasta shot last week, but Dr. H. said he looked pale and perhaps he was anemic. Blood tests confirmed that, sure enough, his red blood cell count is low so they gave him a shot of procreate. He'll have lab work next week and his next chemo is scheduled for February 20th. Dr. Harwin pointed out that he'll have 2 weeks for his blood count to stabilize and to feel better. This anemia could also be a reason that he feels rather draggy.

The routine at this cancer center is pretty much the same as the other 2 centers he's been to......It goes like this: Do paperwork, go back to waiting room, get weighed, take BP and blood, go back to the waiting room, see the doctor, go to the waiting room until a chair opens, or go to the chemo waiting area to get a shot or take chemo, go back to the waiting room to check out and pay, pay, pay.

RV Park Attributes

Ed and I have learned that when we travel in a car and look for a motel, we want to be sure that they don't just have "Breakfast". Instead, we look for "Hot Breakfast". One involves a stale donut or one dry muffin with coffee; the other includes eggs, bacon, pancakes, juice, fruit, coffee, and more.

The list of desirable features for our RV accomodations grows as we experience different RV Resorts. First of all, the word "Resort" is used loosely and sometimes "Trailor Park" would be a better description.

So far, we know we want 50 amp hookups, internet service (not slow, not sporatic - but that's hard to judge ahead of time), bathhouses that are clean, near our site, and are heated/air-conditioned. We often use them as our shower is a tad tight for Ed and it's easier for me to wash my hair in a larger shower. Ed's now looking for concrete pads under the RV AND the picnic table area, not just under the picnic table area. Oh, and sites that aren't so tight that our awning overlaps the awning of our neighbor (as it did in one place in Ft. Laudedale).

I'm sure as time goes on, I'm sure we'll refine and add to our list of desirable attrubutes and tighten up on what is absolutely necessary. Sometimes, boondocking (dry camping) in a Walmart or Sears parking lot is better than wasting money on a lousy campground.

One more thing we're learning is that it's hard to tell from an internet website or from talking to an employee of a resort what a place is like.

Famous First Cousin Offers Help

When Stever (Ed's nickname for his son, Steve) was arranging the tickets to see Celine, he let them know about Ed's cancer. Rene (Celine's hubby and Ed's first cousin) called Stever to let him know how sorry he was. Also, he offered to have his oncologist take a look at Ed's medical records for another opinion. (You may remember that he had throat cancer about 10 years ago.) When we were in the room backstage with Celine, I gave the records to Rene.

The oncologist is in Palm Beach and called Wednesday. After reviewing Ed's case, he felt the treatment being given is appropriate and the shrinkage of the tumors is a good sign. Ed had questions about the long-term. We had been told that they usually give 7-8 cycles of chemo and if the tumors have shrunk, the patient gets a break. Regular scans would pick up when the tumors start to grow, then more chemo would be given. This doctor said another approach is the patient keeps taking chemo until the tumors disappear. However, the more chemo, the more severe the after effects. This explains why Ed has been feeling more yucky and that feeling lasts longer after each treatment. He had been hiding his reactions from me after former treatments but after the one last Thursday, he couldn't hide it.

I thank Stever for following up with this and I appreciate Rene's thoughtfulness.