Bixby Year in Pictures 2007

See my Tabblo

I can see!

This past Tuesday I had CustomVue lasik surgery with Dr. James Bryan in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. You can view a short video of what the procedure is like at the Visx site. From my point of view, it was a relatively pain-free process.

After a computer and reading free morning, I arrived at the office at about 8:30am thanks to a ride from our friend Pete. Next was the customized mapping for the CustomVue procedure, a matter of staring at a red light as the computer tried to take three identical photos of each eye.

That was followed by a general medical consultation, administration of many antibiotic and numbing drops and the extremely helpful Valium. I was almost more nervous about the Valium than the lasik because of my not-too-pleasant history with pain killers and nitrous oxide. But 15 minutes later I was in a chair having the astigmatism in my eyes identified with green marker by Dr. Bryan and then shortly after, going under the gigantic arm of the HUGE computer in the procedure room.

They gave me a stuffed fish to hold onto and gently taped one set of eyelashes back. With the combination of Valium and many numbing eye drops, this was less bothersome than you would think. The other eye was covered by a black patch. Then a suction cup was put onto my eyeball, the only challenge of the day, as my eyes were smaller than the physician expected. So after some manipulation, it finally stuck and the suction started. Everything faded to gray as if in a horror movie. After a few clicks, the suction cup was released and my vision returned. Then a small plastic spatula type thing (from my point of view) was used to flip my cornea back. The ticking? That was the sound of the excimer laser. After that is was easy. The lights were turned off and I was told to stare at the blinking light above me. The laser started flashing and a slight burning smell filled my nostrils as my eye was being reshaped by the laser. Ten seconds of counting down from the tech and Dr. Bryan telling me to keep still and then it was over. The spatula appeared again and my cornea was flipped back over. Dr. Bryan tugged at it with the instrument until it stayed in place. Then we switched to the other eye.

This was a bit more of a challenge from my perspective as my brain knew what to expect. The pressure from the suction cup and the excimer laser was quick but tough to take. From Dr. Bryan's point of view, things were much easier with the second eye and the overall process was faster. But the results show today as I have a pretty bruise in the first eye from the initial manipulation with the suction cup. When I sat up after the procedure, I could actually see the clock. I thanked Dr. Bryan in my stupor, received my instructions for the second time and waited about three minutes for W to arrive. I could see! It just looked to me like I was wearing my glasses with Vaseline smeared on them. Already an improvement from my normal inability to really see my own feet clearly without glasses or contacts for going on 21 years.

We drove home and I was already reading street signs. At home I settled in with my iPod, water, funny protective goggles and two dogs in the club chair. About 20 minutes later I feel asleep. By the time I woke up four hours later, I could see the TV!

Almost a week later, my brain is almost caught up with my newly found existing peripheral vision. The nausea caused by the change in my vision connecting with my stomach has faded. And I just realized in the shower yesterday that I no longer need to squirrel my eyes shut for fear of water washing away my contacts. Now I need to get to somewhere that I can snorkel, water ski, camp or river raft!!!! As of my one day follow up, I have 20/20 vision. My left eye sees perfectly, while my right is still healing and adjusting. It is nearly perfect. This was probably one of the better investments that I have ever made in my health or quality of life.

Lots going on

It's a busy week here in Mebane. On Tuesday I will undergo lasik surgery in Chapel Hill. Hopefully by Wednesday morning when I emerge from my Valium induced stupor, I will be glasses free! I am extremely apprehensive and also excited about the process. Future 5K runs, camping trips and water sports are calling my name....

Also on the docket is the Mebane on the Move 5K and Family Fitness Festival. Somehow I ended up race director for the 5k portion. We seem to have it all together...now we just need to see how many people from Mebane decide to participate!

And during all of this I begin planning training events for my upcoming national meeting at work, as well as continue training for the 3-Day. Less than 28 days until the event!!!!

So what did you do this weekend?

Typical early week conversation between two friends...

'So what did you do this weekend?'

'Went to the movies....cleaned up the house a little...ran errands. You?'

'Walked 33 miles. My feet hurt. But otherwise I'm good.'

So the latter answer is pretty much my life right now. One my friends this weekend said her husband has been extremely supportive of her preparation for the 60 mile walk, but just said that he 'wants their life back.' I'm in touch with that emotion. Right about this time during the training, I usually ask myself why I'm doing this...again? And then I remember...breast cancer...and then I promise myself that I'll crew instead of walk next year.

This weekend I organized a Back to Back training weekend for North Carolina Breast Cancer 3-Day participants. Over 30 people attended one or both days, which included lunch, volunteer supported pit stops with food, water and Gatorade, lots of maps and trekking in VERY hot weather.

I think those who participated found out a little more about what to expect on the event, how to pack and how to prepare in the remaining month to go before we walk. One person swept and one voluntary trip to the urgent care for a sprain or foot problem. Not bad overall! At least we'll all have a few more familiar faces to see when we're in Atlanta!

Our Atlanta's Asphalt Angels team was finally able to come together! All but two members met up....it's exciting to have such a spontaneously formed team of 8. One great benefit of the 3-day....new friends!

This week the Mebane Enterprise published a front page article about my participation. I was sort of hoping for a random donation or two to come in.....so far, nothing. Talk about underwhelming.

The other big thing in my life right now, besides my job, my family, the 3-Day and others, is Mebane on the Move. A Mebane Women's Club healthy living initiative, the inaugural event is September 22nd. Somehow I ended up as a sort of unofficial race director for th 5K. The day will include an 8am 5K run, 9am family fun run / walk and an 8am - 1pm healthy living expo. Pretty cool for our town but I will be very relieved when it is over. There are just not enough hours in the day right now!

Summer Update: Travel, Work and the 3-Day

With the passing of the 4th of July, it occurs that I have not updated my blog! So here is the summer update:

Travel - LOTS! For work at least. W and I spent most of June switching cars at the airport, with his attendance at three different sports psychology, sports medicine or education conferences and my trips to California, Florida, Connecticut and Montana. We did have a chance to spend Memorial Day in Newport for the Bixby Family Reunion and to visit old friends and members of our bridal party. So we have actually been somewhere fun this summer. Our thanks to Sousa and Canning for allowing us to crash at their respective homes during our visit. While in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island areas, we hung out in downtown Newport, saw a polo match, caught up with Tanis & George, saw Paul, Colleen and Mary and had lots of other fun adventures.

My other summer travel involved attending my cousin Laurel's high school graduation party. I can't believe she's heading off to college. She was born on my birthday around 18 years ago!!! I feel old.

July will see visits to St. Louis, Oklahoma City, and somewhere in Ohio. Hopefully sometime in August we'll be able to visit my parents in Annapolis and see our nieces and my brother and sister-in-law, as well as see some old friends in DC and do some kayaking.

Work - not much to report from my end except for the above travel. All still going well. W just finished his summer online class and is spending the rest of the summer on research, his bike and his golf game. We can't all be teachers.

The 3-Day - Training is in full swing with my activities as an official Breast Cancer 3-Day Training Walk Leader taking up a significant portion of my free time. Training this year is far different from 2002 and 2005. In Washington DC I led a group of about 25 regular walkers who were all participating in the local event. In Lubbock my training was solitary and painful as it comprised of flat, windy West Texas roads. Here I am with a group of usually 5-13 walkers all participating in different 3-Days across the country, ranging from Boston in less than a month to San Diego in November! It is wonderful to train with a group again. While the speed is slower than normal for me, the time goes much faster. And I'm meeting some wonderful women (and men) along the journey. We walk regularly on the American Tobacco Trail in Durham and around the Carrboro and Chapel Hill areas. So far this week I'm up to 32 miles.

Fundraising is a bit different this year as it is the first time that it has not coincided with my holiday cards. I always thought that fundraising would be slower around Christmas or Hannukah with all of the money spent for presents and general time obligations. But perhaps around that time people want things off of their list and feel obligated to be generous at the holidays. This year the fundraising is going much slower. Many friends keep asking...when is your walk again? What is the deadline? Despite the slow pace, due to the generosity of friends, family and colleages, I'm up to about $1200. Near to my required $2200 to participate but barely 25% of the way towards my personal goal. I am hosting a fundraiser at Top of the Hill in Chapel Hill on Tuesday the 31st of July. Hopefully the $1 from every charity beer and soda ordered all day will help me get a little closer to my goal. Also the matched donations from my company won't clear until the middle of August, so I have no idea how much that has raised. I estimate at least another 300 dollars. If you want to help raise fund for breast cancer education, prevention, research and support through Susan G. Komen for the Cure, please click the link below to donate online or come to the fundraiser on the 31st and order the charity beer!

Hope your summer is going well. More news and updates later!

Click Here to Donate

I'm going to need a new pair of shoes (Otherwise known as I've signed up for another Breast Cancer 3-Day)

It's time for another 3-Day! This time, my friend Liz and I will be walking our 60 miles over 3 days in October in Atlanta. Proceeds from the 3-Day benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation and breast cancer awareness, treatment and research.

I will raise at least $2200, train by walking or running over 300 miles, purchase at least 4 pairs of running shoes and ingest who knows how many Power Bars in order to prepare for the event over the next six months. During the event, I'll sleep in a tent, use many a port-a-pottie and learn to love Gatorade and Spenco Second Skin (for the blisters.)

The past 3-Days I've walked in Washington, DC and Dallas, TX were some of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I'm walking once again in honor of Brenda and Peg and in memory of Jane, Spring and many others who have fought against this disease that strikes 1 in 9 women. If you'd like to join our team Atlanta's Asphalt Angels, give me company while I walk or want more information about crewing or volunteering, please contact me directly. To support me through a donation, visit my 3-Day webpage. I'll be keeping you updated on my training and fundraising progress here on my blog, so visit often.

In the meanwhile, wish us blister free walks and clean restrooms!

27:28

This weekend marked the second 5K of the year for many members of the Mebane Running Club, including myself. The extremely run was part of the Mebane Dogwood Festival, an annual weekend of vendors, food, kids rides and general great weather fun. Running club members Stephanie and Jack each placed in their age categories. Sarah ran her first race ever and finished in less than 25 minutes. W ran for the only the second time this year and finished in under 23 minutes. And I ran a new PR of 27:28. Even better, a friend and I ran the first mile in 8:13!!! That may be the fastest I've run in my life. Initially I did not know my time as the last nearly half-mile long hill had me in such pain that I didn't stop my watch or hear the announced time as I crossed the finish. Plus there was no large time display or a chip time. But W came around the corner a little late with the camera and my watch still said two plus minutes left out of 30 right before I crossed. I found out via the Mebane Business Association website my actual time. A rest day today to paint and prepare for family coming in next week and I'll be back and running again tomorrow.

#3 (in my age group)

Members of the Mebane Running Club participated this Saturday, March 31st, in the 3rd annual Capitol Bank Loaves & Fishes 5K run in Burlington, NC. The race is held to raise money for the Loaves & Fishes Christian Ministry, Inc., a faith-based non-profit organization that provides groceries to food insecure individuals and families in the Alamance County area of North Carolina.

Mebane Running Club member Stephanie Rankin placed 3rd in the 50-59 female age group with a time of 26:21. Her husband, Bob Rankin, also placed third in the 50-59 male age group with an event time of 24:31. They were joined during the race by their daughter Kaylea, a Burlington resident, who finished with a time of 26:26. EB finished third in the female 30-34 age group with a time of 30:15. John 'Jack' Mignosa finished first in his age group and fourth overall with a time of 18:08. Congratulations Jack!

Mebane was well represented in this charitable event with resident Jill Fricke finishing as the third overall female with a time of 21:41. Caleb Barker finished fifth in the under-19 male age category with an event time of 23:08. Barbara Taylor finished fourth in the 35-39 female category with a finishing time of 30:29.

The Mebane Running Club began last summer with a group of recreational runners who wanted to meet some neighbors and have fun while working out. The club meets each Saturday morning in front of Sweet Tooth Heaven on Clay Street to run approximately 3-5 miles. New members of all fitness levels are welcome. For more information and meeting times, contact the club via email at mebane-running@usa.net.

PSA: Skin Cancer, Tattoos and Medical Mishaps

February was an interesting month for the extended Bixby family. We received a call from W's mom letting us know that our brother-in-law Matt had been diagnosed with metastatic malignant melanoma. Matt is the husband of W's sister, a former Navy man, air traffic controller in California, a groomsman at our wedding, cyclist, photographer and all around great guy. Do a simple google search or take a look at wikipedia and either way, it didn't look good for Matt. What began as a skin 'thing' that started to bleed and caused a visit to the physician, turned into the removal of one of the lymph nodes under his arm, the insertion of a drain and the beginning of a long, strange trip.

February 6th email:

'The good news is I am drain free. The not so good news is the sentinel group of lymph nodes that were removed showed signs of discoloration. "All three nodes appear involved with metastatic malignant melanoma." The next step is to have a PET scan. This will detect any other metabolic activity in the body. If no other activity is detected, then it's safe to say that the cancer is only in the lymph nodes in the left underarm. This is what we are hoping for. If the scan picks up something else, then chemotherapy is in the near future. I'll know more after the PET scan.'

February 10th email:

I am finally able to report some good news. The members of my lymph node army (Company L, 124th Infantry, 1st division, CEF) that sacrificed themselves have already received full honors. The PET scan report is very wordy and most of them we had to look up. So the short of it is "No evidence for residual regional metastases, and no evidence for distant metastases." Our battle isn't over, but we are very close to having an course of action. Tomorrow we are meeting with an Oncologist that my surgeon actually sent his mother to for treatment of colon cancer. I have also asked for a referral to ____ Melanoma Clinic. So far it sounds like surgery is going to be the number one option for a cure. This means I could possibly undergo further removal of the lymph nodes in the left underarm. We will know more very soon.

On February 27th we received news from Matt detailing the February 23rd surgery to remove his remaining sentinal lymph nodes and photos of his support team, comprised of his wife and the members of operation sofa recovery, their two dachshunds. He also sent photos of his underarm and the drain tube leading to a collection bag ace-bandaged to his chest.

Here is Matt's overview of the event and the shocking finale:

January of this year I was diagnosed with a melanotic melanoma on my left forearm. I underwent surgery to remove the melanoma and had the sentinel lymph node removed for testing. During the surgery the doctor noticed discoloration to a couple of lymph nodes including the sentinel node. He removed all the ones he could see that were black. The initial pathology report said that the nodes appeared to be metastaic melanoma. This was based up on the black granular color of the substance that was throughout the lymph nodes. The lymph node slides were sent off to ____ for a second opinion. I visited with an oncologist to discuss further treatment options and discuss trials that I qualified for in the Bay Area. After talking to the surgeon that performed the first surgery, I took both his and the oncologist's advice and had a second surgery to remove the rest of the lymph nodes in my le ft underarm. The second surgery was on 2/23. On 2/27, I went in for a follow up to the second surgery. After the doctor took a look at my drain, he prepared me for more news. At this point I wasn't sure if I could handle any more "bad" news. He discussed the _____ pathology report with me, and I was shocked. The black granular substance that the first pathologist thought was metastatic melanoma was actually tattoo ink. I was confused. The doctor had to explain it to me again, and he emphasized that there was no evidence of cancer in any of the lymph nodes from the first surgery. It is all very surreal. Hopefully, this will help someone.

Final statements:

• Yes, Matt had a cancerous growth on his left forearm that needed to be removed. Removal of his first lymph node was a given considering the proximity of the growth to the node. Prescription for life for this outdoor man....sunscreen and REI clothing with built in SPF.
• Yes, Matt has a tattoo.....a rather large one that the first physician actually talked to him about while removing the first lymph node. (In fact, I think he has several.)
• Yes, Matt is delighted to be cancer free and healthy.
• Yes, someone in the medical community missed something. Whether someone neglected to read their medical literature or forgot to write down in the H&P (history & physical) that Matt has a large tattoo or took their first view for fact instead of performing a histological lab assessment, that is for Matt to decide if he would like to investigate further.
• Yes, the tattoo link to a misdiagnosis of malignant melanoma is well documented in medical publications. A ten second google and pubmed search yielded numerous citations. The following are from the Dermatology Online Journal.

“Black pigmented lymph nodes can occur by carbon deposits of tattoo pigment as in our case. It is prudent to seek a history of tattooing and tattoo removal in all melanoma patients.”

“Metastatic deposits of malignant melanoma in regional lymph nodes have a poor prognosis that worsens with the number of positive lymph nodes. The finding of a pigmented lymph node during lymph-node dissection may entice the overzealous surgeon to progress with radical surgery of the draining area. Extreme caution is recommended during surgery in patients with a tattoo or with a previous tattoo and presenting with malignant melanoma and pigmented lymph nodes. Histological and immunohistochemical confirmation of metastatic malignant melanoma in the sentinel lymph node is imperative before proceeding to complete regional lymph-node dissection. This decision would avoid unnecessary radical surgery and subsequent patient morbidity.” Chikkamuniyappa S et al. Dermatology Online Journal 11 (1): 14.

Heroes Fans

I'll confess. I've never seen a full episode of Survivor - my gag reflex kicks in watching people spin the wheel of bugs. CSI doesn't enthrall me. And I couldn't tell you the plot outline on 24. But I love HEROES.

One complaint - Claire just mentioned visiting the Lubbock Aquarium. From personal experience I can tell you that there is NO Lubbock Aquarium!!!

January Travel

So where have I been in January?

• West Haven, Connecticut
• Bronx, New York
• Poughkeepsie, New York
• Winchester, Virginia
• Bethesda, Maryland
• Key West & Summerland Key, Florida (Vacation with W)
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Chicago, Illinois
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Whew, I'm tired! Next month - Birmingham, Nashville, Orlando and more!

Song of the Day: See the World - Gomez

Tax Rant

I HATE tax time. W and I don't have rental property, sell stocks yearly or have the necessary amount of children to merit spending hundreds of dollars to have someone else file our taxes. So we fork over the $75 or so to file our taxes online through TurboTax. And this is the second year in a row that several glitches in the system have caused us to call in to the customer support center for Intuit. (You would have thought we had learned from last year. You'd be wrong.)

Several non-English speaking call center employees later and we still can't file our taxes. Can we just go to a fair tax system in the U.S. for everyone who makes a wage large enough to feed and clothe their families? Then we wouldn't have to go through all of this mess!

Next year I'm using TaxCut or a CPA.

London Day 7: Greenwich

After sleeping in, we awoke to what was the clearest day of our week in London. We decided to take a city cruise from the Tower of London down to the town of Greenwich. This was a half hour journey on the top deck of a riverboat cruiser. We'd taken one during our first London walk but this was a little different due to the fact that it wasn't raining!!! Under the Tower Bridge, past Canary Wharf and on to the home of the town that we all set our clocks by - Greenwich, England.




W and I visited the Old Royal Naval College, a masterpiece of English architecture originally planned by Sir Christopher Wren as a resource for seamen and their families. In the Royal Hospital for Seamen is found the most elaborate dining hall in the entire world, the Painted Hall. Of course like nearly all British historical sites in the winter, the Naval College hosts an ice skating rink for kids and families!!! After that we viewed the Observatory, the keeper of Greenwich Mean Time and the big red ball that has been dropping faithfully at 1pm since 1833.

Next on to our final pub of the trip, the Spanish Galleon. We finally watched a football match in a pub with the British! W enjoyed a new beer, a Bishops Finger Ale. I finally got out the postcards I'd been carrying around in my backpack all week! After fish & chips, we took the Docklands Light Rail (a driverless subway style train) back to central London and our flat where we packed up. Later that evening, we took our final London Walk, a Ghost Walk! Unfortunately, it was SOOOO cold that the walk wasn't as fun as it might have been. But we got one last look around St. James Park, Buckingham Palace, Whitehall and Trafalgar Square. One last beer at the flat and then off to bed for us. Farewell to London! We've enjoyed every minute!

London Day 6: More rain and more great walks!

New Years' Eve in London 2006

After a late start on Sunday morning, we headed off to the Imperial War Museum on the south side of the Thames. This is a museum we could have stayed in for days, there was so much of interest to see there! Since we had plans to join a London walk in our neighborhood of Little Venice later that afternoon, we stuck to a few main sections. The Childrens' War showed the Second World War through the eyes of British children. The Trench Experience was a walk through recreation of a front line trech on the Somme in the autumn of 1916. It is brought to life with special lighting, sound and smell effects (really). We saw the War in the Air exhibit of large aircraft in the entrance gallery, as well as the Holocaust Exhibition.

After a rather somber morning, we joined Shaughan and about 15 other people for a London Walk through Little Venice, the area around our Elon flat. Were we surprised to find out all that our area had to offer, including a complete canal system that runs throughout Great Britain for over 2000 miles! We passed the hotel where Sigmund Freud wrote upon arriving in England, as well as the former home of poet Robert Browning. Down the street from our flat is the location where Fleming identified the power of penicillin!


Later on a very RAINY evening, we joined up with Femke, Jacob, our tour guide Peter G, two more tour guides and about 110 people for our Auld Lang Syne on Old Father Thames pub walk for New Years' Eve. This was a special walk for the London Walks organization and W and I were not sure what to expect. I think many foreign tourists, including French, Australian, and American visitors, decided to join this walk and see where the night took them. After separating the tour into three groups, Peter took us from Blackfriar's Tube across the Thames, sharing information about the history of London all the way. We worked back in time along the Thames, starting from the youngest pub, the Founders' Arms, and then moving onto some history surrounding the Globe Theatre, and the oldest food market in London, the Borough Market. We also journeyed by the site of London's oldest prison, the Clink, which is now the site of a prison museum. Vinopolis is down the street from all of this fun, one place we didn't make it to but will try to visit upon our return. Peter informed us that London and Great Britain make almost no wines, but drink more wine and champagne than any other country in the world. Next we went to a pub called The Anchor, a lovely spot with large wide wood beamed ceilings and some good ciders. It was a quick stop and off to more history like the Southwark Cathedral. Luckily it had stopped raining while we were in the Founders' Arms, so the whole of the trip was windy but overall pleasant. We finally ended up at The George, the city's oldest existing coaching inn. By this time our tour was finished so our little group of four wandered off in search of food and a place to watch the fireworks. After some rude response to food requests at the Anchor, we found food and outdoor tables back at the Founders' Arms. We enjoyed the company, the drinks, and the hordes of people walking down river towards the London Eye. Eventually we joined the mob and walked down until we reached an empty bench near Waterloo Bridge and a small crowd who could all see the Eye. We could see the crowds of people across the river lined up to watch the events of the evening. Ten minutes later we were treated to a spectacular fireworks show! We ended the night at a Thames side restaurant stand selling burgers and brats (with lots of onions.) Great sustenance for the walk to the Underground later.

To control traffic, several Tube stations were closed and others had traffic control via police on horseback. We travelled with some other smart London folk to St. Paul's Tube station and went quickly home, saying goodbye to our new friends. After calls home to the States, we fell fast asleep around 2:30am.