BC Becky

Never thought I'd want to be a breast cancer survivor

Tag: Yosemite

  • Yosemite and snarky comments on Facebook

    Yosemite and snarky comments on Facebook

    As I write this, I’m thinking about our last vacation. I really noticed over Christmas that my posts were missing something. I kept thinking about the snarky comments my father used to leave on my Facebook posts. I find myself checking for the comments that don’t come. I miss you dad.


    Tunnel View

    Last weekend we went up to Yosemite to experience some winter. Last January at Epic Experience I tried out cross country skiing for the first time since cancer treatment. I had no idea if I could do it. I was impressed that I managed 7km and could have skied longer but we were running out of time. So, I was encouraged to think that I could cross country ski at Yosemite, this time with my husband and no limits on our time.

    Badger Pass Cross Country ski area

    Becky taking a picture of Scott taking a picture

    It was warm out, and we forgot the wax at our condo, which meant we opted for a no wax skies. This turned out to be a really good choice as the conditions were typical spring skiing conditions – which means the snow in the shade is much colder than the snow in the sun, and this variability makes it really difficult to find the right wax for wax skies.

    Not exactly well marked or used trails.

    At one point during the ski we decided to explore some of the trails in the woods, rather than the groomed roadway. we expected the trails to be a little more defined and a little better marked. At several points we got lost, and had to backtrack to find the trail. Eventually we turned back the way we came, and tried another route.

    Becky navigating a small hill on an unmarked trail (another word for being lost)

    It was a lot of fun but turned into a much longer ski that planned. In the end we skied 16 km (10 miles). I was exhausted and very much pushed myself to the ends of my energy. But I did it. I was a lot stronger than I’ve been in a long time. I skied further than I would have the first time out before cancer. My regular 2-3 hour hikes and hour long swims are making a difference.


    Upper and lower Yosemite Falls

    On the second day it was overcast. It has rained in the night. Rather than skiing, we opted for a hike. Again, we ended up on a path that was more challenging than I expected. Because we were hiking in snow, we were wearing winter boots – which turned out to be useful when negotiating various puddles and small streams of snow melt that crossed the path. At one point we came to an area where the path was completely flooded out. The route around the path involved climbing up a large rock (about 12 feet tall) and then down the other side. The hiking was technical but I managed it quite well. I certainly pushed myself. We hiked 9km around Mirror Lake. It was a beautiful hike, made very pretty by the snow.


    Mirror Lake


    Where’s Becky?


    Mirror Lake from the other side

    Feature image and all photos taken by my husband (c) Scott Drennan

  • Revising my stretch goals

    When the oncologist told me not to wait to have surgery – that I should plan to have surgery 2-4 week after chemo. His words were “don’t waste the chemo by waiting”, I had to make a choice – triathlon after chemo or Hawaii. It was a pretty easy choice. The triathlon was proving to be challenging, as I wasn’t finding any newbie friendly events. So, I revised my plan.

    One of the ladies at one of my support groups had walked in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. She was very inspired by the experience. I have known others who have done similar walk’s in Ottawa (known as the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers). I wasn’t so sure about the whole idea. Does the money go someplace useful? In looking into here, the answer is actually yes. Without socialized medicine, much of the money goes to provide programs for women who otherwise would not afford screening or whose treatment options would be limited by their finances rather than their choice. I am lucky, in that when I was diagnosed, we were in a good financial position, but also we have decent medical insurance. As much as we fight occasionally to get prescriptions covered, I’ve never had to make a treatment decision based upon finances. I am very lucky, and many other women are not. So, I’ve been seriously considering the Avon Walk … so much so that I will probably sign up this weekend! I’m just waiting for some answers to questions relating to international donations.

    The next Avon Walk in San Francisco is July 11-12, 2015. The other coolness factor about this is just walking around San Francisco. The walk will necessary involve crossing the Golden Gate bridge at least once. Last year’s walk involved walking through Sausalito – which always reminds me of Starfleet Academy as well as walking through several interesting areas of San Francisco! For me, this event will come at a time of transition. I will be transitioning from ‘in-treatment’ to ‘survivorship’. The walk provides a great symbolic activity, and I can visualize myself walking through the finish line as if it were a bridging ceremony marking the end of treatment and all the healing from the trauma associated with treatment, to begin my life as a breast cancer survivor.

    To help me start training for the walk, I’ve set a new post-chemo stretch goal of being able to do the hike down from the summit of Haleakalā on Maui. The hiking trail is 18.1km. That is double the furthest distance I’ve ever walked. It also involves altitude, so I will need to get in some altitude training.

    Screen Shot 2014-08-01 at 21.58.21To help with the altitude training, we have booked our anniversary weekend (September 28) trip up to Yosemite National Park. Yosemite has some nice high altitude hiking trails, so I should be able to test out my abilities for hiking at altitude that weekend. It should also be a lot nicer weather in the fall – as Yosemite in the summer is darn hot! We may do an additional Yosemite trip (or Tahoe) to celebrate the end of chemo (November 17) with one more weekend of higher altitude hikes before we go to Hawaii. We shall see. It seems like a lot of time away, but awesome healing time, spent largely in the wilderness, so definitely worth it 🙂

    So there you go, my new stretch goals. Right now, I feel that they are very achievable!

     

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