Travelin'...travelin'...travelin'...

We've been traveling around the country, it seems, for the past couple of weeks. And we leave mid-day today, back to Seattle, and while I come home Monday night after Avastin; Faith heads on to Anchorage for work. We started with a trek to Salt Lake City, to attend the Mule Deer Foundation and present information on Sitka black-tailed deer in southeast Alaska in a beautiful booth (created by Faith, I might add). That was February 10th through 14th. Two of our friends and associates came along to help with the booth and explain SE Alaska's needs for deer habitat restoration. The booth and all our efforts were tremendously successful, from all we saw and heard. Here's a picture...

Faith then flew home on Monday the 15th, while I flew south to Houston, TX on the 14th. Yes, it was time to go help farmers and ranchers west of Houston reduce the number of feral pigs on their properties. My good friends and hunting partners Gary, Chuck and John flew in from Colorado the same day, picked me up at the airport, and headed west. It was great fun in beautiful weather, and at the end of five days happy farmers were dealing with about a hundred fewer destructive porcines, while I was happily shipping over 100 lbs of organic, free-ranging, very tasty pork north to Alaska. A pic from my first ever hunting effort with a slug-loaded 12-gauge shotgun...

Now we're both home, and headed to Seattle today and Virginia Mason Medical Center tomorrow, for my 15th Avastin infusion. Only eleven to go after tomorrow! Being more than halfway done is a very very good feeling.

So we're headed out of the house shortly -- here's hoping you're having a great week too...

Dennis and Faith

Some fun in Ketchikan, and avoiding trouble in Seattle

I'll start with the fun...Faith got us into the Wearable Arts Show in Ketchikan again this winter, February 4 through 6. She created the image of a spirit of pictographs of the rock faces deep in the canyons, while I played the role of an Alaskan cousin of archaeologist Indiana Jones. We've done this several times, play parts as different as a fisherman chasing, and failing to ever catch, a seven-foot-tall Mother Halibut, and an old, leather-garbed 18th century trapper pursuing a furry black bear that turns out to be a certain gorgeous frontier lady. The people who watched it certainly seemed to enjoy us, and of course we had a grand time.

The other good happening in my life recently is the signing of my 2010 contract with The Nature Conservancy in Alaska. I've been working on a regular basis with them since 2008, and I really enjoy it. They are doing great work with the Tongass National Forest and others down here in Southeast Alaska, and I'm very happy to be able to help out and make a little extra income.

Sunday Feb. 7th we flew to Seattle for my 14th Avastin infusion, in really nice weather and feeling good that we were over the top and headed toward the finish. I had a really good nurse, Mark, and met with a newly assigned doctor -- Dr. Malpass. Everything went very smoothly, on that side. So the Avastin part went fine -- but, as we were beginning to fear from having heard nothing, the Temodar supply was not good news. Normally, every other Avastin infusion in Hematology-Oncology is followed by a quick walk over to Neurology, where I pick up the five days worth of Temodar and start it that Monday evening. Michelle or Piper acquire it from Accredo by Friday, and provide it to me on Monday -- which is a truly great service on their part. Unless, of course, the company supplying it from the East Coast is having "winter weather" and and doesn't send it out to them. And doesn't tell them until they call back on Friday to see where it is. Thankfully, the crew at Virginia Mason went after it, and over the course of very hard work Friday and Monday, managed to get authority to acquire it in Seattle, and located an appropriate and sufficient supply, in time for us to pick it up and drive to the airport to fly back to Ketchikan. We were very happy, if a bit stressed, to have it work out. For certain, we cannot thank the crew at VMMC enough.

And tomorrow -- we fly to Salt Lake City to attend the Mule Deer Foundation conference, where Faith will set up and operate a booth to provide information and attract support for Sitka black-tailed deer and the Tongass National Forest. Should be great fun; then on the 14th I leave for a week of feral pig hunting in Texas!

So life is good, if occasionally stressful. Thankfully, we're getting some very good help, which makes life a lot easier. Hope your life goes well too...

Dennis & Faith