South Dakota: Day 5 & 6

Day 5

Our last morning in the family lodge was a quick one. We scarfed some breakfast, said our goodbyes, and got on the road. We weren’t doing the drive back to the Twin Cities in one shot like our drive out, but we wanted ample time to enjoy our main goal for the day - Badlands National Park.

As I mentioned on my write-up from the drive out to the Black Hills, one can just catch glimpses of the Badlands from I-90. Conveniently, there's a scenic loop just off the interstate - South Dakota Highway 240 - that lets you enjoy the Badlands scenery without driving very far out of the way. (It must be said that if we had more time we would have gone hiking or in fact gone out of the way to explore the less visited areas of Badlands National Park. With a lot of driving in front of us, this was a good way to experience the park as best we could.) While every lookout was of course very busy, the driving itself wasn’t bad. People were much more sane than on Custer State Park’s Needles Highway.

If it wasn’t for the impending storm rolling in (which did catch us just as we were finishing the scenic drive), Dr. S and I could have just stayed at each overlook all day soaking in the scenery. Words can’t really describe it… so here’s a picture dump.

We got back on the interstate system heading west, then north. To change things up a bit for the drive back - so we didn’t see the exact same eastern South Dakota / western Minnesota scenery - we took a different route, with Brookings, SD as our overnight town. A strong thunderstorm caught up to us a half hour outside of town, but thankfully ended basically when we arrived at our hotel. We checked in, caught a bite to eat, and settled down early for the night.

Day 6

Honestly, there’s not much to say about our last day of the trip. We had a decent breakfast in the hotel and got on the road. It was just uneventful driving. Well, except when we drove through a swarm of some kind of insect. The windshield was peppered with big splats. Yes, that was our excitement for the day.

We did stop briefly in New Ulm, MN, in hopes of hitting up another knitting shop. We couldn’t be sure from what we found online, but it seemed like there was one in it’s downtown area. Well, maybe there was at one point but not anymore. We hit up the local Burger King for lunch (which wasn’t the greatest Burger King) and hit the final leg for home. Of course we hit some traffic, but we finally made it back home to a cat who was very happy to see us again.

South Dakota: Day 4

On day 4, we headed south. Dr. S is quite the knitter (and I only encourage it), so when we read the town of Hot Springs had a knitting shop, we had to go. We made a day of it with other members of my family (also containing some knitters).

The drive to Hot Springs was much more exciting than we expected. While it eventually went onto a more traveled highway, it first meandered through woods and rolling prairie. As we discovered, this area of prairie had many more bison than any parts of the Wildlife Loop. Hundreds of them. Day already made.

Upon getting into town, we found that the knitting shop shared a building with a local artisan market. We all poked around in there for a bit and bought fun more meaningful souvenirs of the trip or presents for family members. If possible, Dr. S and I like finding Christmas ornaments on bigger trips. Mission successful.

When we finally made it next door to the knitting shop, our day was made - and so was the day of the woman working there that day. She really was a hoot and she enjoyed having us there - a group of passionate knitters and/or those that enable it. We probably also made her day on the sales front as well. For our part, Dr. S but a few skeins of yarn, one of which being a bison (wool?) blend. This will eventually be made into a winter neck gaiter for me.

After spending a looong time in the shop, we were all starving. We couldn’t find the restaurant that was recommended to us by the knitting shop employee, so we just hit up the local Dairy Queen. From the large group of local older men, the full parking lot, and the amount of traffic going in and out the door, you could tell this was the place to go in town for grub. A burger, fries, and an Oreo blizzard really hit the spot. Additionally, I can’t really think of a nicer Dairy Queen I’ve been to in a long time.

Next up was the Mammoth Site. This is a museum and ongoing dig site of mostly wooly mammoths. At current count, 61 mammoth skeletons have been discovered. As best they can, they leave the skeletons in the ground where they find them (a building has been built around the dig), making the site the largest in-situ collection of mammoth skeletons in the world. While the museum and are crazy young tour guide were a little hokey, the dig site was quite impressive. It’s not everyday you are able to see that many woolly… er I mean Columbian mammoth bones. 

It was getting to be late in the afternoon (mostly because we spent so much time at the knitting shop), but we had another stop to make on our way back to the lodge. Back through the prairie again, this time stopping to take in the thousands of prairie dogs. We stopped a few times for pictures, typically being able to hear their squeaking. Eventually we made it to our last destination of the day, our third fire lookout of the trip - Rankin Ridge. It was a quick drive and then a short hike up to the only fire lookout of the three we visited that was an actual tower. Like the Mt. Coolidge lookout, we couldn’t climb up and go inside, but we could at least take in the views from ground level.

Prairie dog hills, as far as the eye can see.

We hopped back in our cars for what we thought would be a quick drive to the lodge. Nature however had other ideas. First we spied a small group of pronghorn grazing. Then we spied a family of burrowing owls (I disappointingly only got a quick glimpse because I was driving.) Then the bison took over. That large herd we saw by the road earlier in the day? Their numbers seemed to have increased… and now they were on the road. We just settled in, took all the pictures we could, and slowly inched our car through the herd. The best moment was when we were distracted watching a mother and a calf on the right side of our car, only to be surprised by a giant bull walking past us on the left, nearly grazing the car.

We were late for family dinner, but it was definitely worth it.

My Cancer Adventures: The (Sort of) End

Looking back at my last cancer specific post, I really shouldn’t have subtitled it “The Finish Line.” As I’m finding out, there really isn’t a set end so much with cancer. Checkups and other appointments continue for awhile. It’s sort of a fade ending. Life just goes on. 

Speaking of all that, I had my 3-month post-chemo checkup a week ago today. Everything checked out as normal. I am still cancer free. Besides that good news, I also got the all clear to have my port removed. I'm going in early this afternoon for minor surgery. It will be weird to have it gone, but also a relief to no longer have a super sensitive bump (or as I sometimes called the “third nipple”) on my upper chest. 

Without getting too sappy, I’m finding myself quite retrospective today. While I wasn’t diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma until late November, the medical adventures started way back in late September. It’s been a hell of a ride since then. I’ve been looking back at this myself, so here’s an updated version of the brief storyline I originally posted back in March:

• Late September 2016
• Terrible neck/shoulder pain and a lump on the left side of my neck/shoulder
• Visited my regular doctor. Two possible things were coinciding - an inflamed lymph node (my body fighting an infection) and muscle pains. However, if it didn’t get better in a week they would give me a referral to an ear/nose/throat (ENT) specialist. (It didn't get better.)
• October
• ENT doctor - Suspicions were that I had may have an extra rib causing issues. (Yes, a person can apparently get an extra rib on their neck.) I was scheduled for a CT scan.
• The CT results - Not an extra rib but some very inflamed neck lymph nodes. Prescribed a strong regiment of an antibiotic and steroid. (These didn’t help.)
• November
• Needle biopsy
• Needle biopsy results - “inconclusive but suspect” for cancer. A full biopsy was needed.
• Full surgical biopsy.
• The pathology results were positive for cancer, specifically Hodgkin lymphoma.
• December
• Began preliminary tests with my oncologist:
• Blood work
• PET Scan - revealed that I not only had lymphoma on my known neck area, but also on the lymph nodes in between the lobes of my lungs (the mediastinal nodes). That put a stage label on my Hodgkin’s – stage II.
• Received my chemo plan - 12 treatments (or 6 cycles) of ABVD chemo, every other Monday.
• Chemo treatment #1
• January
• Chemo treatment #2
• Chemo treatment #3
• Chemo treatment #4
• February
• PET Scan
• PET Scan Results - Basically clear of cancer. Possibly some remnants, but small enough that they couldn't reliably be picked up by the scanner.
• Chemo treatment #5
• Chemo treatment #6
• March
• Chemo treatment #7
• Chemo treatment #8 - My doctor threw us for a loop, telling us that he was scheduling me for a PET scan the following week. If all was good, no more chemo.
• PET Scan
• April
• PET Scan Results - All clear! No more chemo. No onto radiation.
• Radiation treatments #1-5 (& a port flush)
• May
• Radiation treatments #6-20
• June
• (Port Flush)
• July
• 3-Month post-chemo checkup
• Port removal surgery
• August
• 3-Month post-radiation checkup

There were a lot of smaller things, but two big things got me through all of this. First and foremost was and is Dr. S. This wasn't just my battle with cancer, it was ours together. Like much of what we do in life, we did this hand-in-hand. There were times when she was the stronger one (like most of the time, but especially on chemo treatment weeks), but there were times that I held her up as well. (Cancer takes a toll on the caretaker, just as much as on the patient. It’s just in a different way.)

The other thing that pulled me along can be boiled down to the phrase “defiant optimism.” Early on, basically right when I got my diagnosis, I was defiant that being diagnosed with cancer would not change me. I would not let cancer define my life; I would define my life with cancer. Yes, it affected my day-to-day living, but I still lived on my terms. I drove on and did so with continued positivity. There was no use in being negative about my situation. What would that help? I just continued being my normal happy-go-lucky self. I had a few friends or coworkers mention to me that they often forgot that I even had cancer because I was so positive. There of course was also the nurse who said to me, “You know you’re here for a chemo treatment, right?”

I’m not quite sure how to end this post, so with no better ideas here’s some music. For those that don’t know, I picked up the ukulele a few years ago and while I can’t play all that well, I can at least play this song. It’s always been a favorite, but when I play it now after these months, it always catches me deep down at some point. The video is a bit odd (so just listen if nothing else), but here’s Israael Kamakawiwo'ole's great combo of “Over the Rainbow” and “What a Wonderful World” -

South Dakota: Day 3

The third day of our trip was a bit all over the place. We saw some sights as a whole big family and Dr. S and I did things on our own. There were some very touristy stops and there some drives amongst more Black Hills wildlife.

A trip to the Black Hills would not be complete with a trip to Mount Rushmore. Big touristy places with lots of people are really not thing for us, but we felt like a visit to the national monument was required. As a big family we loaded up multiple vehicles and hit the road. We took another one of Custer State Park’s scenic drives, Iron Mountain Road (Highway 16A). This road has tunnels through the rock like the Needles Highway, but it also has the added feature of multiple “pigtail” bridges. These bridges loop around a full 360 degrees to not only make a turn in direction but, almost more importantly, a quick change in elevation. There were also multiple lookout spots along the way where we could see Mount Rushmore in the distance.

Once at the actual monument, it was already full of people by late morning. We snapped our pictures of the giant presidential faces carved in rock, visited the small museum, bought a patch (I like getting them from National Parks / Monuments, and then we were kind of done. Don’t get me wrong, we’re both glad we saw Mount Rushmore and got to learn about it’s history and carving. It’s a grand feat of human engineering and hard work. In all reality though, it’s really kind of a big nationally funded tourist trap. It wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for some businessmen and politicians that wanted something to bring people (and money) to South Dakota. Anyway, I digress…

After Mount Rushmore, some of my family visited the still-in-progress Crazy Horse Monument. Instead, Dr. S and I just drove on past it (but still seeing a great - and free! - view of it from the highway) and visited the town of Custer. There wasn’t as much in Custer as we expected, so we didn’t stick around for too long. We poked in and out of a few shops but nothing was really grabbing us. Other family members went the following day and had a better time, so I think Custer just wasn’t for us. Additionally, after seeing all the people at Mount Rushmore I was surprised by the lack of people in Custer. It was a Tuesday, so there would be fewer tourists and it’s further of the interstate than Rushmore or Crazy Horse. But still, it was weirdly quiet.

We headed back to the lodge for a quick lunch and then hopped back into the car to drive Custer State Park’s Wildlife Loop. This is yet another one of the park’s scenic loops, but this one goes through large sections of prairie or other less rocky areas where the much of the park’s wildlife like to hang out. Fairly quickly we saw a few mule deer, but then not much else for a long time. We were starting to worry if we would see anything. It was a hot day and in the early afternoon, so we wondered if the animals would be far away from the road in some nice shady areas. Luckily, we came to a grove of trees where the park’s wild burros were hanging out. These donkeys are the descendants of the original donkeys that were used for treks up to Black Elk Peak. Essentially they were no longer needed and just set loose. The donkeys or burros are quite tame and apparently often go right up to cars begging for food.

After visiting the burros, we continued the loop and continued to see more wildlife. We next came across some pronghorn grazing and then sighted a herd of bison in a wooded meadow just off the road. A little further down we also spied some bachelor male bison taking dust baths to keep the flies at bay.

Heading back toward the lodge, the Wildlife Loop joins onto a more traveled highway, one which happens to go near another fire lookout tower. The Mt. Coolidge lookout tower is just a 1.75 mile drive up a gravel switchbacked road (without any guardrails). It’s another tower built by the CCC, but, unlike the Black Elk Peak tower, it is still an active lookout. You can’t go inside the tower but you can still go onto its lower viewing deck and take in the impressive views. From its vantage point, you can see Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the Needles, and even the Badlands. We squinted through the slight haze to try to make things out, snapped some pictures, and then headed back to the lodge to end day 3.

South Dakota: Day 1 & 2

As I mentioned previously, Dr. S and I ventured to the Black Hills of South Dakota for a vacation with my family. While there and during our drives to and from the area, we were able to fit in a few adventures.

Day 1
Our first day consisted of a long 10 hour car journey from the Twin Cities to Custer State Park where my family was renting a lodge. Leaving at 6am, we drove southwest through Mankato and down to I-90, which we were on basically the whole rest of the way. A few coworkers warned me that the drive would be boring and that as much as you think you don’t want to, stops at Wall Drug and the Mitchell Corn Palace would be a much needed break. Dr. S and I were hellbent on not stopping at these places - and we didn’t! We fought off the thousands of signs for Wall Drug successfully. (We were quite happy once we were past the town of Wall and the signs for Wall Drug ceased.)

I honestly didn’t think the drive was too bad. Southwest Minnesota seemed to drag on a bit - lots of windmills, grain silos, and trains hauling grain - but things got much more interesting once we crossed the border. The landscape became drier prairie, with much fewer trees. We also were not expecting the dramatic river valley of the Missouri River and the change of landscape thereafter. We were both captivated by the rolling prairies and grasslands of western South Dakota. Neither one of us had ever seen ranch country before. As I-90 swept just north of the Badlands, we could see little glimpses of that landscape as well. We were gawking all over the place, which at times was a bit dangerous considering the interstate speed limit in South Dakota is 80 mph. It certainly made the drive go quickly however. By 4pm we were settled into our room at the lodge.

Day 2
The one activity that was an absolute must for Dr. S and I on this trip was the hike up to the lookout tower on Black Elk Peak (formerly called Harney Peak). We broke in new hiking shoes, bought a new backpack (and Camelbak) for Dr. S, and read up on the hike beforehand. Looking at the weather for the week, the very first full day of the trip was the chosen day. Not too hot and no chance of rain. Besides the two of us, a handful of my family also decided to do the hike.

Before I get too far with detailing the hike I should mention the wildlife we saw not even a mile down the road from our lodge. Custer State Park is home to a huge amount of animals (which I’ll list on a later post) but the most iconic is the bison. The park hosts a nearly 1500 head herd that roam freely. (There’s fencing and cattle guards to keep them in the park). Sure enough, our first full day in the park we venture out and see a bison nearly immediately. The car traffic was stopped to allow a bull bison to just nonchalantly mosey down the road. We slowly rolled past and snapped a few pictures. Quite a way to start the day!

Switching back to the hike… We were using the shortest and most used way up to Black Elk Peak, which starts at Sylvan Lake. This apparently is the most popular place in the park by a long stretch, because it was packed with people and we had to hunt for parking spots. With that said, if you visit the Black Hills and want to do the hike up to Black Elk Peak or do anything else by Sylvan Lake, either do it super early in the day (which we should have done) or avoid the summer tourist season.

With a large gain in elevation and a round trip of 6 - 8 miles (depending on which source you were using), we knew the hike would be manageable but challenging. (The final distance of course ended up being around 8 miles.) What we weren’t prepared for were the effects of being in a higher altitude. The trailhead near Sylvan Lake is roughly 6000 feet. Black Elk Peak is at roughly 7250 feet. All of us in the hiking party live below 1000 feet. Quite a big change for all of us. On the way up, we weren’t getting physically tired, but cardiovascularly tired. Our breathing was more labored and we needed to take breaks for water and rest even though our leg muscles weren’t taxed in the slightest. The need for breaks was (mostly) fine however because it allowed us to take pictures and just soak in the awesome scenery.

Once (finally) at the top, Dr. S and I basically ate our small packed lunch right away. It was food first and then exploration. The views from the top were of course spectacular but so was the mountaintop itself. How the Civilian Conservation Corps ever were able to build the lookout tower so far into the wilderness and on this craggy peak of the Black Hills was just amazing. All the members of my family sampled the various viewpoints of the tower and a few of us hiked over to the nearby peak. This is the actual highpoint (and thus the top of the actual peak). I joked that it “was the highpoint of trip” and that “it was all downhill from here.” Groans all around.

After a good amount of rest, we headed back down the trail. The hike down was waaay faster than going up of course, but Dr. S and a few of my family members were just blazing back down. They started just moments before the rest of us but we never caught up to them the whole time. I found out it was because Dr. S really had to use the bathroom (the trail was far too busy for doing business in the trees) and the others with her had just been to Colorado a few weeks prior so the altitude wasn’t affecting them as it was the rest of us.

Once everyone was back down, we reunited with our vehicles and headed back to the family lodge via the Needles Highway. The Needles Highway is a curvy, switchback laden road that runs north-south in Custer State Park and runs through or near some of the tallest towers (or needles) of Black Hills craggy rock. There are also a few one-lane tunnels through the rock. It’s very scenic, but for the person driving it’s also a bit hellish. It’s not really a two-lane road but like 1 - 1.5 lanes wide depending on the section. This isn’t so bad when the people driving at you are considerate. When there are entitled idiots on vacation thinking they get to use the whole road for just themselves...well, you get the idea. The views were great though and we did get to see some wildlife. I did however need a few beers once we got back to the lodge (one for the hike, two for the drive on the Needles Highway).

Needles Highway wildlife - a very scruffy mountain goat

Ups & Downs

Dr. S and I were in western South Dakota for a family vacation two weeks ago so I have a few posts coming from that, but I first wanted to post a running update I meant to post before heading on the trip.

My fitness comeback continues and so does my progress with running. For over a month now I've been running my two mile routes without any walking. I've now even done a handful of three milers without walking. Mostly my pace has been slow, at or even slower than the pace I've run for marathons. I hit what felt (and still feels) like a turning point however on my June 22nd run.

For the first time since I started running again, I was able to run a pace below 8:30 per mile. Granted this was only for 2 miles but it made me feel fast-ish again. Dropping below an 8.30 pace just gives me that little bit of belief that I’ll get there, running will become easier again, and little by little I’ll get faster. Eventually I’ll drop below an 8:00 per mile pace, then maybe 7:30 per mile, and who knows what else. Until then, I’m supremely happy with my 8:30 pace.

I was (literally) brought down to Earth though on the following day’s run. My legs were feeling the previous day’s efforts and I was pushing them too hard. I shuffle-tripped and came crashing down. This was in the crosswalk of a roundabout so luckily no cars were around. Regardless however, I tuck and rolled beautifully right into running again without missing a beat. I had a scraped up knee and a few bruises but mainly it was my pride that got hurt. Like I said, I was just pushing tired legs too hard, but the lingering post-chemo neuropathy in my feet may have played a part as well.

Since then I’ve gone on the South Dakota trip (where I only ran once, really slowly). I’m trying to get back into a running rhythm again as well as continuing my to form a new habit of running first thing in the morning. I’ve typically been an afternoon runner, but I’ve realized that life and hot summer weather often likes to interrupt those late afternoon / early evening running plans. Thus, I’m waking up earlier in the morning and getting in my miles before the day heats up (figuratively and literally). My brain and body are still getting used to the idea of waking up at 5:30 and then running by 6:30, but they’re coming along. It only gets better - easier, faster, farther - from here.