Going home

Surgery was a success and I'm feeling good. I'm going home already! Thank you for all the good wishes :-)

Surgery

I'll be having surgery tomorrow,  November 30th. There is good news and bad news: the bad news is that I'll be having a mastectomy, but the good news is that I shouldn't need radiation or chemotherapy. The other good news is that the plastic surgeon will be there and I'll have breast reconstruction immediately. I'll be staying in Colorado for the 6-8 weeks of healing and then I should be good to go back to France. 

Patrice had to return to Paris without me. He hates it, and wishes he were here by my side. We spend a lot of time communicating via Skype.

In the meantime, I am spending lots of time with family. I've been staying at my brother's house in Arvada, and will go to my mother's house in Lakewood to recuperate for the first few days after surgery. My mom and my sister, who is a nurse, will be taking good care of me. 

My sons are also supporting me. My younger son, Eric, who lives in Taiwan, has extended a visit to the U.S. to be by my side. He'll return to Taiwan on December 4th. My other son, Philippe, who lives in Portland, Oregon, will come to Denver for a visit December 7-9. I feel very lucky and very much loved.

Thank you to all who are reading this. I appreciate your kind thoughts and prayers. I'm sure I'll be fine. 

Love, 
Elaine

Thanksgiving

I missed Thanksgiving the last two years while in Paris. This year I was able to celebrate twice. The first time was last Sunday when I attended a Thanksgiving dinner at the home of friends Greg and Sarah Amorese. Greg has been hosting dinner for friends on the Sunday before Thanksgiving since 1980. He started the tradition back in his college days.

Greg offering a Kir Royale to a guest

This year there were 51 people.

Some, but not all, of the place settings

 Greg cooked two large turkeys and the guests brought the rest of the side dishes, appetizers, and desserts. 

Turkey ready for carving

Benefits of a large American kitchen

 Dinner ended with an impromptu cello concert by Greg & Sarah's son Peter who is only 13 years old.  This is the Bach Cello Suite No.1 - Allemande.  Listen for yourself.

Breast cancer

Early stage, slow growing, but cancer nonetheless. Stopping me in my tracks, preventing my return to France - at least for the time being. I'll be staying in Colorado for as long as it takes to heal. I'll be exploring a new world for a while, having joined a club populated by many sisters around the globe. 

I will be forced to slow down, to take time to reflect, and to spend some time alone. Sadly for him, Patrice had to return to France without me.

I'm not frightened. The cancer was caught very early and should be very treatable. But it will alter my plans for the next several days, weeks, and months.

Garden of the Gods

We're spending our last few days in Colorado taking advantage of the warm weather to explore the state. Today's ride took us south towards Colorado Springs and the Garden of the Gods. We took the long way - over a dirt road with scenery like this.

Garden of the Gods offers spectacular photo opportunities. See for yourself.

The rock formations are also much appreciated by climbers such as these two

Becoming Van Gogh

We took a break from hiking to go the Denver Art Museum last week. We visited the excellent exhibit "Becoming Van Gogh" at the Denver Art Museum. The exhibit traces the origins and development of van Gogh's talents. It offers a fresh look at van Gogh's early work - much of which is unknown to the average museum-goer.

This one-of-a-kind exhibit will be in Denver only until January20, 2013. Go and see it if you can.

Royal Arch

"Let's take a hike tomorrow" said Patrice.

"Great!" I responded. "One of my favorite hiking trails in the Boulder area is Royal Arch. It's not too long, only 3.2 miles round trip. Oh, and there are a few steps to climb . . . "

We read trail descriptions, and although the trail was marked "moderate to strenuous," we decided that the trail would be just the right length and level of difficulty for an afternoon outing. We packed a couple of sandwiches for a picnic lunch and set off up the trail which is located at the base of Boulder's famous Flatirons (the flat red rocks that rise up west of town).

About an hour and a half later, Patrice was sweating hard and cursing me for not being more explicit about the difficulty of the trail.

Yes, there is 1,400 feet of elevation gain -- and a few rocks to climb
 

But the arch and the view of Boulder down below is well worth the trip.