A beautiful sky on the Mass Pike

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Boston, postaday2016

Our son and I went off to Mass. General Hospital today to get my staples, all 37 of them, removed. Doctor Mullally had told me it wasn’t going to hurt, and for the first time ever, he got it wrong, it did hurt. Was it angonizing? No, of course not, it felt more like the annoyance of several paper cuts which can be quite aggravating instead. I kept my smile on because it is pointless to complain, the nurse practitioner worked as quickly as she could and we were out in no time, better yet we were able to get out of Boston before rush hour, happy day for us!

Anyway, before we got my staples out, my son and I had Thai food, it’s always fun going out to restaurants with our children, they both appreciate it very much, no matter where we wind up eating. We stumbled on the King and I on Charles Street, we were lured into the restaurant because they had a picture of Anthony Bourdain. Was it the best Thai food? No but it was adequate, convenient and we liked most of what we ate. We just thought that having Anthony Bourdain as a guest would have meant the food was more refined and flavorful, less bland. 

We still had a wonderful time together, laughing and talking, and that is all that counts. And my head is staple-free!

Searching for the super moon

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Boston, postaday2016, super moon

We arrived in Boston at 2:00, I was already looking for the super moon, the sky was blue, but in the distance I could see some clouds heading out way. 

Now that it gets dark at 5:00, boo, we left the hotel to capture the super moon and we couldn’t find it at first. We walked to our restaurant with our heads pointed up at the sky, scanning the night for our super moon, but it wasn’t there, so I took pictures of Boston by night.

We found the super moon at last, the cloud cover broke and across from our hotel, there it was hanging in the sky, beautiful and large.

A view from Massachusetts General Hospital

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Boston, Massachusetts General, postaday2016

Massachusetts General is right off Charles Street and Beacon Hill, it is such a lovely area. My son and I were very excited thinking of lunch after my visit with the neurosurgeon. I have to say my journey is definitely not boring, it’s quite the adventure. My second MRI has shown a new tumor, I hadn’t even noticed it, I literally have a new bump on the top of my head, they showed it to me today, it doesn’t hurt so I was blissfully oblivious. The tumor is mostly in the bone, some in the brain’s barrier, nothing major, the neurosurgeon was confident that it can be excised. The neurosurgeon also gave me hope for my headaches, he is sure that my headaches are due to a faulty absorption and release rate in my meninges, the brain’s lining and that is causing pressure, so he while he’s in there taking care of the tumor, he plans to put in a shunt to drain the excess fluid buildup and headache gone, hooray for me!

Now back to lunch, my son and I went to Ma Maison right down the street from Mass. Gen. on Cambridge Street. It was wonderful, I started with a butter cream and wild mushroom soup, my son had a lobster bisque, we then split a foie-gras poêle with red wine poached pear, to die for, and lastly for the main course, I had moules frites and my son had a coq au vin. We enjoyed everything, the ambience, the decor, the food, the coffee and the service. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone in the Boston area.

Boston in the rain

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Boston, Brasserie, postaday2016

My husband had business in Boston today, I never mind visiting Boston, despite the rain it’s a beautiful vibrant city. He also took me out to lunch at Brasserie Jo, a brasserie, strictly speaking, has Alsatian origins, serves beer on tap and has a long menu with with a variety of seafood choices and the invariable Alsatian choucroute. This brasserie was more casual than what you would find in Paris, but the food was just as good. We both started with their onion soup, it’s been a while since we have enjoyed a good onion soup gratiné, the ratio of croutons, onions and gruyère cheese was textbook, my only criticism was with the broth, it was a little too sweet for my taste, a shot of Pernod would have given just the bite it needed, at least in my opinion. Afterward, we shared escargots en cocotte, I adore snails however they are prepared, but the key in any preparation is the sauce, the sauce here needed parsley and armagnac to cut through the butter’s richness, again just my opinion. I’m picky aren’t I, lol. I had moules/frites as a main course, they were served in a Riesling cream sauce alongside excellent fries, my husband had crepe Newbug for his main course, he really enjoyed it, it had a healthy portion of salmon, spinach and lobster with the classic Newburg sauce, after all this we were happily satisfied. 

Boston, home of Dana Farber Cancer Institute

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Boston, Dana Farber, postaday2016

Today was my meeting with the medical oncologist, Doctor Giannakis, at Dana Farber, it went well. The doctor was beyond prepared, he had been brought up to speed by Sean, (Doctor Mullally), he spent time going over my chart and scans, explaining what his impressions were, how he agreed with Sean and Doctor Guennier, my medical oncologist from Mass. General, in regards to immunotherapy and he said that now I could count him as another member of the team. He also told me his goal was to turn the word incurable into the concept of a chronic managed disease, it does sound better if you ask me. My son and I spent about an hour with him and we left feeling good. He established a plan of action with other options on the back burner in the unlikelihood that I get rejected for immunotherapy, as with everything in our health system, I will be at the mercy of the health insurance company. Sean is going to have to persuade the health insurance company to cover the immunotherapy off-label, which means that even though the FDA didn’t approve the treatment for esophageal cancer, there is data from recent trials that support this treatment’s efficacy in helping esophageal cancer, so it’s up to their discretion to cover an off-label treatment. I should know in the next two weeks. It sounds complicated, but it’s not really, Sean is a persuasive doctor, he’ll get the health insurance company to see it his way. (Keeping my fingers crossed)

So I now have three oncologists and I like all three. Today was a long day, but it had to be done. I agreed to be a part of research at Dana Farber, I agreed to let them use whatever is left over from tests, biopsies and blood work to further their work in r&d, I feel good about my small contribution to science. Anything to help in the battle against cancer.

Boston under a blanket of clouds

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Boston, postaday2016, travel

Yesterday when I was taking pictures of all the lovely daffodils, I was wondering where the tulips had gone, if I had missed them because generally daffodils die back first followed by the tulips, not the other way around. Well today I found tulips and they are gorgeous, I love full beds of solid colors, it is so striking especially for pictures. I’d love to have a full bed of tulips at home, but my critters keep eating the bulbs, keeping me from realizing that little gardening dream, darn critters.

Boston is wet

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Boston, postaday2016, travel

Boston is wet today and will be wet for a few more days, but the rain doesn’t diminish Boston’s loveliness. I was quite surprised to see so many pretty daffodils still in bloom, we’re in Blandford where it’s colder on average and our daffodils dies back weeks ago. Boston had some rather warm days which normally speeds up the dying back process, apparently these daffodils didn’t get the memo, I’m happy because it made for some pretty pictures.

We’re back at the Intercontinental, our second “home”, the pictures outside our room are the same as I have taken in prior posts except that in those pictures the sun was out and shining, a different take than what I am showing today, a soggy waterfront. 

I haven’t been to Boston since before I got sick, I missed the place, Boston is such a lovely city, I feel very much at home here even though it isn’t my native city. We’re here because my husband has business, I have myself to entertain which means walking about, taking pictures and writing about it later. A nice way to spend the day, at least that’s how I see it.

Sunrise in Boston

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Boston, pictures, postaday2016

  
  
  
My husband took these amazing shots from our “second home” in Boston, I may be prejudiced, but I think he has a great eye and an excellent technique when it comes to photography. I’m fairly sure I’m repeating myself, but when the shoe fits…. I don’t think I have ever gotten as much detail on the waterway when I have taken similar pictures and I have taken quite a few, I also love the gradation of the hues in the sky, its subtlety is quite lovely.

With pictures such as these to look at, I will be getting impatient to be done with my treatments and to get back on the road again with my husband, visiting, eating out and taking pictures of both old and new places during our travels together.  

Beacon Street, Boston at night

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Beacon Street, Boston, postaday2016

   
 
Last night we went out to dinner at Moo, an American restaurant right near the State House on Beacon Street with friends of ours, Moo is a great place for steak if you hadn’t guessed from the name. LOL

   
   
We stayed at the Liberty Hotel, the old jail, once again because it is right next door to Mass General where my surgeon Dr. Morse is located, we met with him to discuss my overall treatment. He was so reassuring and positive, a welcome change of pace I have to confess, he displayed a cheerful confidence that the aggressive combination of chemo and radiation would be enough to eradicate the cancer, enough for him to pass on the esophagectomy, the reason he gave us was convincing enough for me to change my feelings on just cut it out. The way he described the procedure, a diagram and precise imagery, I feel comfortable with his recommendations. Essentially, we learned that the esophagus is a rigid tube and in order to cut out the cancer, he would be forced to remove my esophagus in its entirety and connect my stomach to my throat, I would literally have my stomach in my throat, that would be a life altering event, how do you live and eat “normally” after that? I would rather be aggressive in the chemo/radiation and then if something changes and it isn’t completely gone, we still have the option for surgery down the road. But as of right now, we are going to hope that this course of treatment will be the best one.

In the meantime, until the 18th of January, I am going to pretend that all is normal and eat to my heart’s desire. Last night as we walked around Beacon Hill, I took a few pictures, it is so beautiful, I only wish my pictures could have done the area more justice.

   
   
   

 

Pansies and pine

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Boston, postaday2015, Public Park

   
   
I loved the juxtaposition of blooming pansies and a decorated Christmas tree, but it threw me for a loop and it made me realize that I wouldn’t quite know what to do about Christmas in a warm climate.  The Boston Public Park was so beautiful this gorgeous sunny day  that my husband was inspired to take selfies.

  
   
 Boston was  calm and peaceful this Sunday, the last one of November. I can’t believe that December is already upon us, where does the time go???!!!!!!  Our son did us a huge favor and brought down the Christmas decorations, so by next weekend our home should be all ready and suited up  for Santa’s visit. lol  Time flies by way too quickly, thank goodness I write everyday so that I have a written account of what happens to make time seem to pass so quickly, I need a reminder that things actually get done. lol