[Oe List ...] Salmon: Reply

Sat Sep 1 15:08:17 PDT 2012

Del--
    Thanks for sharing the family catch-up as well as your journey to a new healthy start. Some times it is just best to make a clean breast of things and start again. 
    Inner Peace, 
    Bill Salmon
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Del Morril 
  To: Order Ecumenical 
  Sent: Friday, August 31, 2012 6:48 PM
  Subject: [Oe List ...] update on Del's journey & the Morrill clan

  Dear family and friends,

  This will be redundant to some, and maybe some of it new to others.  The delete button is handy.

  As some of you know, at the end of August I had major surgery after being diagnosed with breast cancer. I'm doing this update because of a number of people who contacted me, indicating they had not known of this and wished for more information.  Unfortunately, lumpectomy was not an option, due to an MRI having discovered 2 different types of cancer in the right breast, one quite virulent. I found out that my left breast also had cells that were malformed. So between the doctor, my family and me, the decision was to go for double mastectomy. Despite the difficulties, doctor and family and I all agreed the decision has been the best, in light of the aggressiveness of at least one of the cancers and the high risk regarding the other breast. My daughters and friends have had fun with listing the various reasons that flat-chested is beneficial - can't trip on your boobs or get them caught in your belt the older you get, no more bras (which I hate anyway), no more being flattened like pancakes in mammograms, etc. I'm sure others can add to this list.  There were considerations of games that could be played at a special party, including how many words you can think of for "breasts. The humor of it all was really beneficial in getting me through the first stages of waiting for appts, tests, biopsies, and other dates, the surgery, follow-ups with doctors, and other aftermath.  

  I'm doing better each day, though still uncomfortable under the arms.  That will soon subside I'm told.  Weird thing is always seeing my stomach! As I recover, some days are difficult for me, but mostly I'm coming along pretty well, especially after I got rid of the drains and we got the news that I don't have to have CHEMO!!!  It helps to be reminded by friends that it takes several months to fully recover, and my daughters who remind me that I haven't anything that can't be fixed. This includes doing some further work to deal with what is fondly called "dog ears", but I choose to call "elephant ears", under my arms - a kind of residue from the surgery. It also involves, as soon as is possible, re-doing my left knee with a total replacement (due to a fall causing broken bone in the right foot and torn ligament in the left knee), and something related to my spine which has some anomaly (also from a fall).  So who knows what these next months will hold? Right now, I'm learning to deal with a different body, a different way of walking (flitting is now out of the question), different shoes (no more heel-less shoes , and my daughters and Justin are adamant that I do not go downstairs anymore. Also, I'm learning to rest and not worry about what isn't done. I spend some time at the computer, but try to keep the sitting time down, breaking with rests. I'm not taking clients yet, and probably won't for awhile. I still don't feel much like getting out a lot or sitting for long periods at baseball games or concerts.  That will come, in time. I do get out on occasion - Justin takes me to a restaurant now and then and has packed picnic dinners to take to the park on our warmer evenings.

  Other info on the family:  Justin is near the end of raising 26 million (5 million away) for a new health clinic that will serve the uninsured, minimally insured and insured.  This is the third one, thus far, that he has been responsible for since joining Community Health Care.  We like their medical services so much that we have left Group Health and taken doctors at these clinics. It is through these changes that both Justin and I have gotten new leases on our health - Justin with the discovery of the reason for the pain he was getting in his gut, and the discovery of my cancer.  This particular clinic will also house in-house training for doctors and nurse practitioners.  He is taking a sabbatical from his many years on the board of the Northwest Sinfonietta, until we get past a few things in our lives.

  Some of the other things on the family have been sent out in pieces - Eileen and George are moving to New York.  Starting October 1, George begins his new job as the Deputy Secretary for Mission and Evangelism for the United Methodist Church's General Board of Global Ministries. :   http://www.umcmission.org/Learn-About-Us/News-and-Stories/2012/August/Congregation-and-Community-Developer-Nominated-to-Lead--United-Methodist-Mission-and-Evangelism-Efforts .  Eileen, who had been so worried about being a little fish in a big pond regarding her work in the theatre and jazz, already has been given a role in a musical in NYC.  Their eldest, Kathryn, and her family will spend at least 2 years in Uganda, where Kathryn is responsible for a cadre of lawyers whose concern is to enable widows and other women to receive their rights in a country where they are often taken away when no man heads the household.  Jennifer, their youngest, continues to enjoy her first year as a local pastor.  Anita continues as principal of a grade school and Sam continues to teach in the Highschool where he has spent most of his teaching years.  Both of their girls, Courtney and Emily, are in college - Courtney has another semester (I believe) at the U of Wash and a part-time job at the reception desk in a hotel. Emily will enter her 2nd year at Univ. of Portland. We are most grateful to have them live only 4 blocks away.  Gen is in her third (I think) year as CEO of the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, and her husband Mike is working on some special projects as a professional chef. So here we are in a nutshell, still going strong.  We're very proud of our various family members; and they have been real god-sends in ways we never had expected! 

  Again, I have appreciated so much your kind good wishes, visits, calls and cards, etc. which have been encouraging and uplifting, including those that allow me to keep my humor intact.

  With much affection,

  Del (and Justin, too)

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