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If you’ve ever gone through chemo and/or radiation, you know you barely have enough energy to breathe, let alone get out much or take a vacation. I marvel at cancer patients who continue to work while going through treatment. You are my heroes! I realize many of you have no choice, but where do you find the strength? I know paying the rent is a huge motivating factor, but for me, just going to the grocery store was more than I could handle. Now that I’ve recovered from 10 surgeries and eight rounds of chemo, James and I are traveling a bit more, but on this trip, I’ve decided I don’t get out enough. <PREVIEWEND>
Once again we’re in Las Vegas while James plays in the World Series of Poker, and I stay in the room and work on my laptop. Mind you, that’s not a complaint. Since I’m not much of a shopper, I don’t gamble, and it’s beastly hot outside, I’m quite content to occasionally go downstairs and people watch as I walk through the Esplanade, the shopping arcade that connects the Wynn and the Encore hotels. Also, last night I went to a Sting concert at the MGM Grand.
While Las Vegas has always been an adult Disney land, the adults seem to be getting younger—or maybe I’m just getting older—and their choice of clothes, or lack there of, is rather surprising. Men wear flip flops, shorts and no shirts at all, and women look like they’ve piled out of bed and put on the first thing they found on the closet floor. The real people watching, however, comes when the midnight crowd emerges from their rooms. Young carbon copies, jockeying for entrance to A-list clubs walled off by velvet ropes and burly bodyguards.
This is a different crowd than the ones you see in the daylight. The locals refer to them as the "Vampires." These guys wear jeans, straw fedoras and enough bling to open their own jewelry store. The chippies appear to be drunk and/or high and wear vacuum-packed strapless dresses, which barely cover their butts, and six-inch gladiator shoes in which they can barely walk. The girls are all self-conscious, constantly tugging at their outfits, pulling them up to cover their boobs, pulling them down to cover everything else while the guys treat them like they're steak on a plate. Sometimes I think today's young people are following Britney Spears, Milely Cyrus and the rapper d'jour straight off the edge of the cliff and into their hotel rooms with nary a thought to the consequences.
The world may still be spinning on its axis, but we seem to be going in a direction I don’t understand. Many of those directions are counter intuitive to having a healthy society. Sometimes I think we need better roles models, for males and females of every age, who will forge a more self-respecting path for all of us to emulate. I realize this isn't my typical blog about surviving breast cancer, but perhaps it's because I'm overwhelmed with the razzle dazzle of sin city. It's a lot to take in for a girl who lives in the middle of nowhere.
Like most of you, I’ve had to make a lot of physical and emotional changes and have come to terms with life the way it is, not the way it was, and that’s OK. It’s more than OK. I’m still here, and I’m blessed beyond reason. Like Dorothy, in the Wizard of Oz, I’ve battled my way through terror and enlightenment, and I realize there’s no place like home. While I’m not sure Las Vegas is part of my new normal, I am sure the bleary-eyed guy wearing the “Party Till You’re Homeless” shirt is not.
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Kim commented on 22-Jun-2010 05:35 AM Brenda,
Just wanted to say thanks for your encouraging post. Good for you to get out and travel more! The one comment I have about working and treatment for those of us who didn't have the choice, I think it may take a bit longer to recover from the side effects of fatigue, etc... With that being said, the whole journey is such a unique one for all of us!
I have never been to Las Vegas, so it is interesting to read about it through your eyes.
Great job on this post and I agree, regardless of our treatment journeys and our new normal....there is no like home!
Just wanted to say thanks for your encouraging post. Good for you to get out and travel more! The one comment I have about working and treatment for those of us who didn't have the choice, I think it may take a bit longer to recover from the side effects of fatigue, etc... With that being said, the whole journey is such a unique one for all of us!
I have never been to Las Vegas, so it is interesting to read about it through your eyes.
Great job on this post and I agree, regardless of our treatment journeys and our new normal....there is no like home!
JBBC commented on 24-Jun-2010 04:06 PM Really enjoyed this post Brenda. Like you I am a real people watcher too :-) It is so funny that you should also reference Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz and my favorite line "there's no place like home"..there are so many lessons to learn from this classic movie!
Vivian Smith commented on 19-Sep-2010 04:09 PM Thanks, Brenda. Been sharing -
Chuck commented on 19-Sep-2010 04:31 PM Brenda- Just to let you know I really enjoy the way you write. Both content and style. IT is not just sin city. IT is all over the country. Chuck
Michele C commented on 19-Sep-2010 04:34 PM Brenda, you are an incredible writer... I enjoy your blog so much! I am still trying to get my sister to get the Internet so she can see what's going on in the world outside of Elizabeth road and my mothers bedside.......can you imagine not having an email address or only communicating via phone calls! She is slow to change and finds comfort on her own small world!
Randy is having surgery on July 20.... Please keep him
in your prayers!!!
Keep in touch! Hope James won in Vegas!!
Randy is having surgery on July 20.... Please keep him
in your prayers!!!
Keep in touch! Hope James won in Vegas!!
Vivian Smith commented on 19-Sep-2010 04:35 PM Good article in the Austin American Statesman last week.
Vivian K. Smith
Executive Director
The Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas
Vivian K. Smith
Executive Director
The Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas
Glen Markham commented on 19-Sep-2010 04:36 PM Brenda,
Saw your blog today...
I had some blood work done yesterday and as I sat waiting for the results I just watched people. What struck me was that almost all of them were smiling. It did not matter how young or old the were or how feeble they may have seemed, they all seemed to be happy.
I thought about that and realized it is a choice. As surely as I chose to wear a pink polo shirt and black slacks I chose to be happy all day. It helps even more to know God is on my side and will bring me through this.
I must admit that my only side effect so far is a bit of fatique (went to bed Friday night and slept 16 hours).
All the best,
Glen
Saw your blog today...
I had some blood work done yesterday and as I sat waiting for the results I just watched people. What struck me was that almost all of them were smiling. It did not matter how young or old the were or how feeble they may have seemed, they all seemed to be happy.
I thought about that and realized it is a choice. As surely as I chose to wear a pink polo shirt and black slacks I chose to be happy all day. It helps even more to know God is on my side and will bring me through this.
I must admit that my only side effect so far is a bit of fatique (went to bed Friday night and slept 16 hours).
All the best,
Glen
Nancy N commented on 19-Sep-2010 04:38 PM my feet have been fat swollen & numb for at least 2 months--last chemo May 27---fingers numb too but not fat/swollen Please help me with any suggestions Thank you for the warning about infection danger--stubbed left big toe 3 weeks ago nursing it ever since lump/lymphectomy sched'd fri 6/25
Brenda Coffee commented on 19-Sep-2010 04:40 PM Nancy,
I would suggest you call your doctor or speak to his/her nurse as soon as possible, and tell them about the swelling. Please let me know what they say.
XOXOXO,
Brenda
I would suggest you call your doctor or speak to his/her nurse as soon as possible, and tell them about the swelling. Please let me know what they say.
XOXOXO,
Brenda
Nick commented on 19-Sep-2010 04:42 PM Just want you to know I love your writing. Thinking of you. Nick
Alli commented on 19-Sep-2010 04:43 PM Hi Brenda,
You know when you go into the doctor a day or two after you hear the news? Well they handed me all this info but the nurse wrote down your site and handed it to me. I love my surgeon and her nurse so if they tell me to try out a site then I am right there.
I am navigating your site and will definitely let you know if I see something that would be nice to have added.
Thanks,
Allison
You know when you go into the doctor a day or two after you hear the news? Well they handed me all this info but the nurse wrote down your site and handed it to me. I love my surgeon and her nurse so if they tell me to try out a site then I am right there.
I am navigating your site and will definitely let you know if I see something that would be nice to have added.
Thanks,
Allison
Cindy commented on 19-Sep-2010 04:46 PM Brenda - Actually I'm just starting the journey. I had a mastectomy 3 weeks ago and am waiting to heal before I start treatment. I'm so happy to have found your site. I think I will benefit greatly from it.
No golf for now but I'm hopeful it's in my future.
Cindy
No golf for now but I'm hopeful it's in my future.
Cindy
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I love your twist on the Wizard of OZ. Great minds think alike. I used that in my blog this week, Lions and Tigers and Bears OH MY, and Kim used the Yellow Brick Road at her work, Follow the Yellow Brick Road to good Health!
Any way you are a very good writer Brenda, thanks for sharing!