Costa Rica - Hot Springs, Zip Lines, and Beaches!

Just barely out of chemo and off to my next tour!

Excited because I will be celebrating my birthday in another of my favorite places, but also feeling very tired and worn out – not quite sure I am up to it. Asked work about sending a replacement, but seeing as my co-worker hasn’t been replaced yet and I am the “trained” one – I was off again! No complaints because after all, it’s Costa Rica!

This was my second time on this tour and I was super excited to have the same guide – Sergio – again! He loves his country and that makes the tour so much more special! We started in San Jose, and headed to the Poas Volcano, however it was so socked in we had to ask the group to use their imagination! From there it was off to a hot springs resort (yes – I get paid to do this job), the Arenal Volcano, the Cano Negro river reserve, the Monteverde cloud forest with a finish in Guanacaste at an all-inclusive beach resort!

Amazing! Everything from hot springs, to beaches – zip lines to nature preserves! At the very end the group even through me a surprise birthday party! How fun!

I recently wrote an article about this trip with a lot more details! You can read it at:
http://www.worldmarktheclub.com/destinations/pdfs/DESTSep2008.pdf (page 22-25)

Also, I had the opportunity during some off time to try out a new career option - check out the video!

4th and LAST Chemo! It’s OVER!

WOW! I made it! Done! Done! Done! It was a celebration around here! This time the cancer posse included my parents (where would I be without you guys?), Super Sheryl and Shawn!


I have to thank EVERYONE who supported me through all this! My running group has been taking turns on who “has me” for each of my chemo trips. Right before each one they bring me bags (I am talking bags) of snacks and foods that I can actually eat. Everything in small little portions. You guys are so generous!! Thank you!! This time Tami included “Miracle Bubbles” so I just had to take them with me to chemo!

Eating has been a struggle for me so having things that I actually liked (tomato products for some reason, spicy foods because I could actually taste them, Crystal Lite, etc) was a huge help. It also helped that my mother was there every day practically force feeding me… I swear it brings you back to being a little kid again… “just one more bite”! As much as I wasn’t stoked on eating, I sure appreciated the effort and help – at this point I sure wouldn’t have cooked for myself.

A New Home and Unexpected travel – Italy’s Greatest Cities!

(Trevi Fountain)

So here I was at home, recovering from chemo round 3, thinking that I had a good few weeks home before my next trip when I receive a call from my boss informing me that my co-worker (the one who has my back during this crazy cancer thing) is no longer with the company! YIKES! To top it all off I am in the process of moving to a new apartment (yes, those of you who keep my addresses in pencil get out your eraser!) and planning my gpa’s 90th birthday! If there was a wall to hit, I think I may have done it! Chemo, moving, dbl work load and additional travel – nope - nothing stressful going on here!
First – The New apartment – I had been temporarily staying with my totally awesome and supportive friend Diane since last July. I was supposed to be buying a condo and moving out within a few months, then I got cancer and that sort of changed the plans. She has been incredibly generous with her home and her love and let me continue living there (and all my caretakers in and out) through the cancer stuff. Now that I am almost through the woods, she is looking to sell her place (something she talked about doing since I moved in with her) and I needed to find a new home. I found a cute little cottage much sooner than expected and ended up moving this month! Now in the midst of chemo (at my most tired and unmotivated time) I am trying to unpack and move in – crazy!

Second – Italy’s Greatest Cities – So, since my co-worker is no longer with the company, someone needed to jump in and take her upcoming trip to Italy. Since I am trained and have been doing well it was decided that I would take the trip. Prior to leaving I had only a day or so in the office to prepare for the trip because my chemo recovery is taking a little longer each time. I hear it is cumulative and I get that, but I am ready to be done feeling tired! I used to be able to push through just about anything with or without sleep and now I am finding that even with sleep I still feel tired – geesh! Oh well – almost done! Tired or not, I would NEVER pass up the chance to return to my favorite country – Italy!

Our trip started in Rome, went to Florence, Pisa, Verona and Venice (my FAVORITE city). The group returned to Rome; however I departed from Venice one day before the group in order to make it to my last chemo appointment. It was a fantastic trip with an amazing group and a great guide - Mario. I was a little more tired than usual so instead of enjoying cafes and city life on the leisure time, I spent more time in my room enjoying the bathtub and room service! Not so bad!

We spent our time in Rome seeing the key tourist sites – The Colosseum, the Vatican, the Trevi fountain, etc. I love this city! During our tour of Florence, I joined our guide for coffee instead of visiting the museums again! Yes – I know some of you (Sheryl) love and appreciate museums…I dread them because I have to appear interested for the group even if it is the second or third time there! No Academy for me! This time we dropped the group off at the museum and then went to a café – something of much greater interest to me! On our way to Venice we stopped in Verona and saw the balcony of Romeo & Juliette. This was a cute little town completely overrun with tourists! YIKES! Get me out of this crowd. We finally arrived in Venice – MY FAVORITE! I love walking the streets and passing over the canals of this beautiful place. On a boat trip to Burano, I ran into my Venetian guide from a few years ago – Vanessa! She is so much fun it was great to get caught up. The trip was a success and the group members were so awesome and supportive that it almost didn’t feel like work!

Chemo 3 - Almost there!

(Dr. Kaplan & Me)

So needless to say life has been a bit crazy busy! Between Chemo and my travel schedule this has gone by pretty fast! Hard to believe I am almost through with the chemo part! In some ways it has been a lot easier than I thought it would be and in some ways much harder. I am lucky in that the type of chemo I am getting hits hard initially, then gives me two pretty good functional weeks. I am thankful to be able to keep up with my job and continue to travel – yeah for that! Yes – I am a bit crazy in that I scheduled my chemo around my work trips!

Chemo has been a weird ride. Sort of knocks you down, then you get up and feel good again just to repeat the process. At least the good weeks are longer than the bad days! Also, so happy for the good drugs because I haven’t really gotten super sick like I thought I would. Thank God for that because I HATE to throw-up. Sometimes chemo makes me feel a little nauseous and food certainly doesn’t taste good so I am not too interested in eating (if I needed a diet, this would work), but overall not too bad on the sick thing.

I think the worst part of chemo is that it makes me tired and unmotivated… those of you who know me, know that this is WORSE than being sick! It’s hard to explain, but after chemo, I feel tired, sometimes so tired I just want to sit there… it’s like thinking -hummm a cup of tea would be nice right now, but it seems like too much effort to go get it so I’ll just continue to sit here on the couch instead. At the same time, since I am not physically sick (just this crazy tired, unmotivated haze) I feel guilty for just sitting on the couch…. I think of all the things I could be or should be doing with this time off. Sometimes I try to do things, then find myself too tired to actually accomplish much. – I know in my head I should cut myself some slack, but for some reason I have this problem with sitting still! I guess because in my head I don’t really think of myself as sick. Nope – I am not sick!

A little note on the pictures - my parents took me to this chemo and I wore the pink hair! Think I will wear it to the next one too because it made such an impression on everyone else in the chemo room. The chemo room isn’t the most fun and exciting place to be so if I can make people smile or think of something else for a moment, then I am all for it! Bring on the pink hair! Prior to chemo, I meet with Dr. Kaplan – the best chemo doc ever – to discuss where things are at, check my blood work, etc. before he sends me off to the treatment room. He was so entertained by the wig he now wants pictures of it for the office.

Steamboat Colorado – POW! POW! POW!

Back to work again and this time leading a group of skiers, snowboarders & snowmobilers to Steamboat, Colorado (yes, I get paid for this job….seriously, someone has to do it). I have wanted to get to Steamboat for years and this was my chance. I met up with my super cool group (including a few that make it to the ski event annually) for a few days on the mountain. We started with a welcome reception the first night, then split off into two groups for the first full day of activity. The skiers/boarders were off to the mountain guide and fresh powder day up on the hill while the snowmobilers headed off on their own adventure. Super fun! I headed out with the skiers/snowmobilers and had a great day. Think the powder just about wiped everyone out.

Day two we again split into two groups and headed out – this time with more sun! Nice! We had a crazy pot luck Mexican night in which I sported the pink wig followed by a day at leisure, which for most of us (me too!) included another day on the mtn! How fun! The trip concluded with a farewell dinner at a local restaurant.

Great group! I was worried what people might think of my bald head (I don’t ride with a wig), but it hasn’t been a problem so far! Everyone has been super cool Great groups to travel with – haven’t had a challenging one yet during the chemo – recover – travel – chemo again schedule that I am on…

Dinner Parties, Ski Bowl & Mtn. Biking

Those who know me, know that I tend to live life a bit on fast forward…. That in mind, I really haven’t let cancer slow me down!

Once I recovered from Chemo #2 and was ready to rejoin the world again, we celebrated in true girly fashion with an “Italian” dinner party hosted by none other than Super Sheryl! Two things impressed me about this dinner party - #1 SHERYL COOKED – and as far as I know it didn’t involve a microwave!!! Wow! Living in Italy for the past year must have rubbed off on her. #2 SHERYL’S FUN, CLEAN APARTMENT – Wow! Who would have known that we could have dinner with a Wookie, Elvis & Captian Kirk! Michelle, Brittany, Sheryl and I all have a special place for Italy in our hearts so this was the perfect party! Thanks ladies! Ps. Did I mention that SHERYL COOKED?

The next weekend following the dinner party gathering, I was off to P-town to visit my buddy Gary Fergus! We took advantage of a super saver coupon and the chance to ride at Ski Bowl instead of Hood Meadows…hummm – Good thing we had a coupon! Not sure if we need to go back, but it was still a fun day riding with buddies. Ski bowl leaves a bit to be desired as far as terrain goes, but it was still fun to ride with Gary, Harley and his lovely girl Anna. Even sported my new bald head! Take that, cancer! The question now becomes - Who has more hair - me or Gary?

This was a great play weekend for me! I was feeling better, showing cancer who’s boss, so I thought why not throw in a little mountain biking while I was at it! I met up with a good friend in Hood River and took on some sweet downhill sessions! Even spent sometime in the terrain park building my free ride skills! Pretty fun until the “Teeter totter” got the best of me. I tried a few times and after falling right on my chest (unfortunately on the stupid portacath) it was time to call it a day.

HALF WAY THERE!!!! Chemo Round 2!!!

So I made it this far and seem to be doing well. Talked with the doctor and hope we have adjusted the after chemo meds to avoid the crash I had the first time. I was hesitant to invite too many people to chemo this time seeing as I pretty much slept through it the last time. Mom was hit pretty hard with a flu bug so she was unable to take me or even being in the chemo treatment area (our immune systems can’t take it). Steve drove me up to the Swedish Cancer Center and waited while my support crew showed up. Thankfully Shawn and Charis were able to make it in and Shawn was my driver home.

Only my second time here but know I know what to do like a pro… pick up your lab sheet at check-in, get your blood draw (the only good thing about this stupid portacath is that they don’t need to prick your veins) and then wait for the doctor. We chat about what went good and bad
since chemo and he makes sure I have meds for the time following chemo. From there it is up to the treatment center where they hook me up to all kinds of drugs… we start out with the prep ones like Pepsid, Benadryl, Ativan - some sleep inducing anti-anxiety drug, hydration, etc… then we move on to the big ones - Taxotere and Cytoaxan! This whole process takes about 4-5 hours. I seem to only stay awake until the Ativan and Benadryl and from there pretty much don’t even remember the rest of chemo or even getting home. Lights out for me!
Charis is a good sport and always brings entertainment such as cards – I was winning until the Ativan – I swear! Talk about taking advantage of the chemo girl!

Crazy Last Minute Whistler Trip – Gotta get my ride on!

So, what does one do when they get a last minute call from a buddy saying – hey let’s hit whistler this week, I got a condo? Well when one has been DYING to get on a board since this whole stupid cancer thing hit - you say YES! First it was 6 weeks off for surgery, then another 2 weeks off for the portacath surgery – geesh that’s a lot of winter riding time GONE! Time to make up for my lost activity time!!

The crazy part of this trip is that I flew in from Orlando at about noon on Wednesday, raced home (was locked out of home and had to wait for locksmith – but that’s another story) changed out my luggage for warm clothes and a snowboard, then headed for Whistler that evening with my buddy Shawn who had gotten the condo. Got in late, but up early to meet up with Brian for a FANTASTIC day on the mountain. Well fantastic except the part where I almost kill Brian – maybe he shouldn’t have followed me??

Check out the pictures to see what an amazing day we had… the only blip (the almost killing Brian part) was when we climbed up Spanky’s Ladder to the back side and took a tiny shoot (Brian refers to this a the “goat trail”) to drop into the glacier bowl. Brian tried to turn and flew off the ledge back flip style and miraculously landed between the two huge boulders on his head before falling halfway down the bowl. I have the video here, but you can see as I get scared the footage drops to the snow! Thank God he made it ok!

Once the lifts closed, it was time to embark on our 5 hours drive home – chemo tomorrow!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Alyssabzis/LastMinuteWhistlerTrip

(And they survive!)

NASCAR for Dummies!

Daytona 500 here I come!! Having just finished my crash course in NASCAR, I felt it was my duty to share some of the pictures and adventures.

My co-worker, Brittany and I hosted 40 people at this massive event. The first thing I have to say is that they were probably the happiest, most friendly people I have ever encountered…this event sure does attract a certain kind of true fan! Maybe the fact that they can bring their alcohol in with them helps with this? Hummm…

For this event we hosted a welcome reception on Friday night, and then took the group to the races both Saturday and Sunday. I have to say looking back at Saturday’s Camping World 300 Race there was not as much going on leading me to wonder what about this sport draws the fans… Initially it was exciting to see Daytona’s famous race track for the first time and the people watching is AMAZING!

(VIEW FROM OUR SEATS - AND THE RACE BEGINS)
Once they started driver introductions and the race began, it was pretty exciting….. then you realize they are going to travel around this same track turning left for 120 laps!!!! Really??? I think maybe the first few laps and the last 8-10 are the most exciting…. All the laps in between – are they really necessary? Makes for a bit of a long day! Brittany and I (along with some avid fans in our group) took it upon ourselves to try and make this exciting or at least try to understand the draw. Our biggest fan, “Get Fired Up Ron” decided it was NECESSARY for us to get right down to the track by the fence and FEEL the cars…. Now that was FUN! They are so loud and intense when you are that close to the fence!

("GET FIRED UP" RON FEELIN' THE CARS)

Brittany and I attempted to walk around the track, but you can only go so far. You also learn at the end of the day that spending time by the track equals a face full of rubber and dirt! Nice look!

Sunday brought about the big event – the 50th Anniversary of the Daytona 500!!! Having sported my GI Jane bald head for Saturday’s event, I thought I would spice things up for the big day with my Pink hair!! Turns out it was a great way to get photo opportunities!

The first impression was - WOW! What a difference between the two races! The first being the CROWDS!!! It took forever just to get into the parking lot and the stands were packed. The second was that there was so much more going on at the track and for our group! We started with a hosted hospitality tent in Hospitality Village – this was pretty cool because a lot of drivers make appearances at their sponsor’s tents. Brittany snuck into see Richard Petty and got both an autograph and a photo! Sneaky! In addition to these passes, we also had passes to Pit Road and the track! That was impressive! We got to meet a lot of the pit crews, see the cars as they prepared and went through inspection, tons of live music and shows going on. The atmosphere was charged and super fun!

Eventually they move you off the field and into the stands for an amazing pre-race show… Brooks & Dunn, Kool and the Gang, Chubby Checker... just to name a few performers. Once the driver intro’s began, we were off to the races…..for 200 laps!!! Despite the excitement in the air – I once again found myself asking…. WHY SO MANY LAPS…. 200???? It took over four hours – that’s like a road trip of left turns! Don’t they get bored? Need some music, maybe some snacks or company? This race was a bit more exciting in that they seemed to trade places a bit more than they did Saturday, but overall the last 8 or so laps were again the best ones! The winner was unexpected – Ryan Newman (and you thought I wasn’t paying attention) – so unexpected, that in the post race video he looked like he didn’t realize he even won! Talk about shocked! Having not fully jumped on the Junior train (Dale Earnhardt Jr. – crowd favorite) or really picked a favorite driver, it was fun to see an underdog come in first!
































(NEWMAN WINS!)

To view all the photos go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/Alyssabzis/Daytona500