Hi all --

Barry and I got back last night -- almost midnight, arggh! -- from Mexico -- 9 days birding, some of it in pretty rugged terrain in the Sierra Madres. He did great, it was our 10-years' younger friend who could barely make it up the Barranca Rancho Liebre trail. Barry agrees that his energy level is pretty much back to normal and that maybe the 15 pounds he shed during treatment made it easier to slog up and down the mountains.

He had to avoid spicy foods which he still can't handle, but otherwise ate pretty much normally except for dry, hard things like corn chips. It's a dry climate, he drank a lot and chewed his gum and was OK. Salivary function not as it was but bearable and hopefully, it will continue to improve over time.

A good trip because Barry now knows that he *can* travel and do the things he loved to do before the cancer. Which was one of his main fears before starting treatment.

Couple more appointments with doctors at Hopkins in next few months, and he plans to enter a HPV vaccine trial, probably in March. Butmostly, he wants to get on with his life and try to spend every moment worrying about the future...

Gail

Oops, I meant to type -- in my last message --
"he wants to get on with his life and try NOT to spend every moment worrying about the future..."

Big difference in meaning!

(Must be jet-lagged...)

Cheers, Gail

Welcome back Gail and Barry

I am interested that Barry was able to adapt to travelling successfully. That is something I have often wondered about - food, dry mouth, energy etc.

What is 'birding'?? Is it bird watching?

Love from Helen

Great,,,Good news is always welcome here...
Darrell

Hi Helen --

Birding is *serious* bird-watching -- travel to seek out and look at (and list) birds. We have been to 6 continents (and would have been to the 7th, Australia, last summer if it had not been for Barry's diagnosis) and maybe 35 countries (or more). Guess we have seen almost half the world's birds (there are about 9500 species known).

However, it doesn't have to be an energy intensive hobby, you can do good birding from a cruise ship deck or from a safari bus in Africa, or by sitting on the lodge verandah in Costa Rica sipping rum punch and watching the hummingbird feeders. It is a hobby that gets you out into the world and makes you concentrate *completely* on something to the exclusion of other thoughts.

There is a great book out called "Birding on Borrowed Time" by Phoebe Snetsinger, who was dx'd with advanced melanoma in her 40s and was given 6 months to live. She decided, "wow I had better start *living*" and so she took off around the world birding. Two decades and 8500 species later (a record never topped) she was killed in a car crash in Madagascar after seeing her last "life bird." People who asked about her cancer were told, "it never caught up with me because I kept moving."

Well, we are redoing our plans for Aus in the summer -- seriously going to make it this time!

Gail

Hi Gail

What a wonderful interest you share with your partner. Six continents! You'll enjoy aussie birds - I have many species visiting my garden to enjoy the fresh water which I leave in various bowls and bird baths. It is great that people like you record the existence of wildlife populations for posterity. Spring (Sept-Nov) is a good time to visit Australia, not too many weather extremes then.

Snetsinger's book sounds inspirational - I will order it.

Love and light from Helen