(l-r) back row: Lauren, great-niece Kennedy, me, niece Crystal, sister-in-law Linda (mother of the groom), niece Liz, Liz's daughter Natalie, niece Tabitha.
(l-r) front row: niece Karyl, mother-in-law Dorothy, great-nieces Kealy and Dawson.
I didn't get a bride/groom pictures so will add these.
Lauren dancing with her new father-in-law Jeff!
Love my nieces!
Love my sister-in-law Linda too!
Following the wedding festivities, Dorothy and I visited Linda and Jeff in Gothenburg and then returned to Chadron leaving me with friend Virginia for another evening of catching up. Virginia and I traveled to Chadron State Park to visit with high school friends Steve and Ruth Baker.
I returned to Carefree for blood work which did allow me to start round 2 of the new drug treatment of Temodar. I take the drug daily for five days and am off for 3 weeks. Round 2 went smoother than the first round and again allowed for quick recovery which was good because we then left - Harrison bound for the Sioux County Fair. Okay, also for Larry to help his brother Wayne with a project at their mom's home. Linda and nieces Liz and husband Monty, and Crystal and great-niece Kennedy and Karyl and family came back as well.
Weather was extra special - cooler than usual. We woke to fog several morning.
Best of all though was that because the weather was nicer, Larry and I actually ventured out to the fairgrounds to finally watch niece Karyl compete in the Sioux County Hog Wrestling competition! Truly an experience! I loved the build-up to the event. We arrived to watch a water truck empty its load into the hole creating a disgusting muddy setting for the hog wrestling to take place in.
The stands steadily filled and then the teams of three paraded in front of the crowd and an auction took place where people bid on each teams ability to win in the shortest amount of time: three team members catch a pig that has been released into the pen and drop him/her butt first into a 55 gallon drum located in the middle of the pit. Teams went for as high as $800!!! There were 3 person teams of men and women. One of the teams of women called themselves Classic Cougars and were all well into their 50s. I can't remember what they went for in the auction but they definitely lost.
I have to share a picture of a men's team too as well as a picture of the kids looking at the pigs. Pigs were picked for teams by a lottery. That is niece Sophi and great-nieces Dawson and Kealy watching the event up close.
Here are Sophi, Dawson and Kealy checking out the pigs.
Below are photos of niece Karyl's team utilizing team-work to win the women's competition putting that pig in the barrel in less than 15 seconds. Skill or luck - or a bit of both. This is their 3rd year of competing. It cracked me up. It was cold too! I'm still chuckling....
We drove up Rapid City way while back for a drive through The Hills and to see friends Brad/Ann, Brett/Miss and Danny. I didn't get a picture of the friends but did get a picture of some of the many motorcycles we saw on the road that day -- Sturgis Bike Rally was in full swing. I liked this picture of Harney Peak although somewhat surprising to see the number of dead trees.
Before heading home, we enjoyed a drive into the canyons outside of Harrison at dusk - always a pleasant thing to do while in Harrison.
So, our trip (my second in a month!) to Nebraska came to a close and we returned to the warm (actually hot) Arizona summer temperatures although I can't complain too much since I missed out on a fair amount of it.
I returned for my monthly doctor appointment and blood work was once again good so I started round 3 of Temodar. Interestingly enough, Temodar was FDA approved for brain cancer. However, a genetic analysis done (late 2011) of the tumor removed during surgery (June 2011) indicated that this cancer would respond to this particular drug. Why I was on two other drugs before this one? - I don't know and haven't asked. I decided it doesn't matter at this point since the first drug did work, and I am on this one now and appears to be working. But, interesting that Atypical Neuroendocrine Carcinoid cancer can respond to a drug for a totally different cancer. Although, as I think about it, the Afinitor I was on originally (for nearly 1 1/2 years) was FDA approved for kidney cancer. Another interesting fact is that the copay for this drug has been $100 (and sometimes $200 when I need two prescriptions to get the prescribed dose) but the drugs actually cost the insurance company $8000 to nearly $10,000 a month - yikes. The drug I'm on now costs between $3000 to $5000 and where I'd normally pay $200 copay, I was told this time that they found a generic form of the drug and copay was -- $14!! Amazing. Should I have been asking all along if there was a generic drug available? I really shouldn't go that direction but will know in the future to ask, even when it is a cancer drug which we tend to think of as too new to have a generic equivalent!!
Oh, and, I finish this round of drug therapy this Sunday and we leave Tuesday for a 16 day trip to England/Ireland/Scotland!!
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