New Year, New Challenges

It’s time to put 2023 in the rear view mirror and start looking forward.  But first, a recap of last year.

I made it out turkey hunting and shot a beautiful tom turkey, with Brent at my side, he too shot one.  The hunt was reminiscent of my  first ever turkey hunt with Jon Bronsdon in Wisconsin.  Lots of gobbling, lots of birds, birds coming in textbook perfect, and an opportunity to shoot more than one. One of those hunts you wish was taped as it was TV worthy.

Fourth of July brought a visit from Samantha, Earl and the kids.  Fishing, swimming, going to the parade and watching grandpa goat shoot off fireworks was definitely a highlight of the year. Nice to have them visit, just wish we were all a bit closer (but I’m not moving back to sub zero winters and hot and humid summers with too many bugs).

As fall rolled around I was able to see several family members who either were here just to visit (my mom and dad) or came out to try their hand at elk hunting.  Brent’s brother, nephew, 2 cousins, and good friend from Wisconsin all came and stayed anywhere from a week to a month at camp up in the mountains.  I visited elk camp when I could and brought Xena along to do a little bit of grouse hunting, forgetting that we never really trained her on grouse, and foregoing the golden rule of always shoot uphill, I got a nice grouse down an extremely steep hill.  Xena ran through the woods happy to be out and about and ignored the grouse.  So I slowly made my way down then had to crawl back up the embankment.  It was so steep that while standing my hands were touching the ground in front of me.  After a few looks from Xena, who was either trying to encourage me, but more likely wondering why I was taking so long to get back up the hill, I finally made it. Another check marked off on my road to recovery list.

After elk season for Brent and the boys, my deer and elk season started up. Walked away with a small buck and was happy as a clam.  That too made me reflect back to the days of Wisconsin deer meetings where folks would argue over the quality of a buck and what was deemed a trophy.  Even back then I would tell them that a trophy is in the eye of the hunter.  This might be someone’s first hunt, or last, or they were more interested in eating meat than horns, regardless it was that individuals harvest and they were proud of it. So for me, I shot a trophy deer.

After hunting season came to an end Brent and I flew back to the Midwest to see family and friends. And boy did we get to see a lot of them, but unfortunately, not all. The ones we were able to see made the trip a wonderful one. It was nice to spend time with both sets of parents, all of whom are getting to the age that medical issues are a main point of conversation.  We saw all of the girls and all of the grand kids and had great Christmas’ with them.  Fun to see the girls excel in their lives and families. I also was able to have breakfast, dinner and drinks with a variety of friends over the course of the time we were there. A nice surprise was bumping into a crew of retired state patrolmen at Kwik Trip.  For those of you who don’t know, WSP was in an office right next door to me, and I’ll tell you the story sometime but I got one heck of an initiation by them on my first day working for WiDNR.  Since that day I have always enjoyed seeing and catching up with them. So after a great year of small accomplishments, visits and returning to work I’m ready to face 2024.

I did gloss over my medical year as it is a bit of the same ol’ same ol’. The big news was me wanting a new experience and slipping on wet tile resulting in a broken wrist.  First bone I have broken in my life and hopefully the last.  Cast life is not for me. Aside from having me visit a hospital for the first time in over a year, I still do infusion treatments of both chemo and immuno-therapy drugs to keep the cancer at bay.  Scans occur every 3 months and I am now a pro at PET and MRI scans. My doctor gave me a 3 month break from chemotherapy, which was heavenly.  Chemo was really affecting my feet with neuropathy so the break gave my feet a chance to heal.  Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and at my end of December scan-o-rama, my PET scan showed a very small tumor on my lung.  This is one of the reasons I do scans every 3 months, it allows us to catch anything that may crop up while it is still early and small. I also knew that the break from chemo was never going to be permanent (unless a cure was found), so I immediately went back on my chemo drug.  But dang, I’ve forgotten how much chemo wipes me out. 2 days of struggling to keep my eyes open, stomach issues, and lack of focus, but it is a necessary evil. During that scan-a-thon I did get good news from my MRI. That scan showed no change (that’s all we’re looking for) in the 2 remaining lesions in my brain, in fact, one of them looked like it slightly decreased. So ending the year with a new obstacle, but excited for 2024. I’ve booked several stays at Airbnb’s to go ice fishing with Brent, family and friends, and a 9 day trip to Mexico late spring to do some ocean fishing.

Happy New Year to all.  Here’s to good health, wealth and happiness.