August - October 2023
July's fun at Pajaro Dunes was tempered by Barbara's discovery of a Merkel cell growth under her left eye. When various doctors in Chico were taking too long, in our estimation, to take swift action against this rare, fast spreading, and dangerous form of skin cancer, we sought the best treatment at Stanford. We requested a staff member of Barbara's dermatologist to make a referral. As soon as Stanford received the referral, they were quick to act. By August 1, we were staying at an Extended Stay motel in Mountain View to be near Stanford for Barbara's surgery to remove the growth and to apply some plastic surgery.
Before the surgery, we attended Mass and prayed at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church. In the evening we went to dinner at P. F. Chang's. We were encouraged by the fortune cookie message below:
After the surgery, we drove back to Paradise to wait for some healing before returning to Stanford every few weeks for checkups with Barbara's doctors.
At the end of August the Old Folks gathered in Roseville:
A few day later we visited Joyce and Mike in Campbell to celebrate Joyce's 80th birthday. We put together our pictures with her family's and her friend's celebrations along with pictures from a lunch gathering with Mike and Zoe, Joyce and Mike, and us in Cupertino:
Jack, Robert, C.J., Joyce, George, Siobhan, Taryn, Lovi, Lava
Joyce with party group
Cupertino lunch
By early September we staying at an Airbnb on Easy Street in Mountain View close to Stanford. Barbara was facing three weeks of radiation to ensure that any cancer cells missed in the surgery would be eliminated. The Airbnb wasn't spectacular but within our budget. After daily radiation treatments we drove to favorite beaches and forests, or we explored trails by the Bay to spend time together enjoying nature. In the evening we were back in Mountain View to rest before the next day's radiation treatment.
Life on Easy Street
Carmel house hunting:
Pacific Grove for dinner:
Aptos Redwoods:
Muir Woods:
Henry Cowell:
Trails by the Bay:
After three weeks, the radiation treatments were over. Barbara posed by the bell where patients celebrate the end of Stanford treatments. Life on Easy Street wasn't as easy as pictures of our trips portray. The radiation caused an intense sunburn around Barbara's eyes at first. Several weeks later the sunburn changed into swelling and a running sore area worse than a black eye of a boxer after a fight. The radiation also caused stabbing pains at times, a watering eye, and an eye infection. Healing is expected by the middle of November. Additional plastic surgery may be needed as well as periodic PET scans to be sure the cancer has not returned. Loss of energy may also occur at any time.
Before returning to Paradise, we headed to Santa Clara to visit my Mom and Dad's gravesite:
In early October we were back on the road to Ventura for a beach birthday party for Ashley and Alex and a visit to Rachel and Milan's nearby golf course to celebrate Rachel's birthday:
Arnold with Adam, Araceli, Sadie & Annie:
Spanish Hills Country Club, Camarillo:
