Headin' South

A good friend of mine, Jennifer, goes to Mayo Clinic in Arizona for her annual physical each year.  Last year when she told them her vertigo had "changed," they did a brain MRI and "accidentally" found a tumor on her pituitary gland.  Pituitary tumors are generally benign and fairly common . . . ten to fifteen per cent of the population have them and don't show symptoms.  So last year, she started seeing an endocrinologist in a nearby town, who put her on a couple different kinds of drugs to shrink the tumor. She had another MRI at the end of the year and neither drug worked . . . so, she had to return to Mayo Clinic for a consult about the tumor, and I offered to go with her.

We had a pleasant drive down there, although we lingered in Tuba City too long at a Native American trading post and so had to change our route slightly.  We spent the first night in Prescott, because Jennifer had been told by a psychic that she was going to move down there in a few years, so she wanted to check it out.  That first night we went square dancing in Prescott.  As in most square dance groups, there was a shortage of men, but several of the women gave up their partners and we ended up dancing almost every "tip."  It was fun.

Cactus garden outside Mayo Clinic.

The following day we got up and went to "service" in Prescott - - I can't say it was a church service, although that's close to what it was.  It was a spiritual community and the "sermon" was excellent.  In fact the whole service was excellent.  I told Jennifer that I could move to Prescott on the basis of that alone!  She agreed.  On our way out of town, we kind of got lost.  As it turned out, though, it was a blessing because we were able to see a lot more of Prescott.  It didn't take long to get back on track, though, and we were headed farther south to Scottsdale.

We met her friends in Scottsdale . . . she had edited his book and become friends.  He writes about UFOs and is somewhat of an expert.  Needless to say, it was an interesting afternoon!

The following day we went to Mayo to see her doctor.  He said the tumor had not grown at all, but he wanted her to see the brain doctor and talk to him.  She also had to take more tests.  It meant staying in Arizona longer than we had anticipated.

Since Tuesday was a free day with no tests, we decided to go to the Phoenix Zoo.  I always have mixed feelings about zoos, but this one really caters to the animals.  They have a breeding program for endangered animals and then reintroduce them into the wild.  That's pretty neat.  All in all, it was fun.  Bummer was that I didn't bring my camera, so had to buy one of those cheap throwaway kind . . . and most of the pictures turned out to be the cheap, throwaway kind, too!  Aw, well, I got a few good ones.

Can't resist a giraffe kiss!

We went to see the brain guy and Jennifer asked him about the alternative therapy she was using to shrink the tumor.  He didn't say yea or nea to that, but he said that someone had shrunk their pituitary tumor—although there was no proof that was it, he qualified—with urine therapy.  This is probably more information than you want to hear, but urine therapy is drinking your own urine!  I know it's gross, but if you look it up online, there are some really amazing stories out there.  Needless to say, however, Jennifer is REALLY hoping the alternative therapy she's using now works!!

After the last of the doctor visits, we drove to a bookstore that the UFO guy recommended to us.  Since Jennifer and I are both bookaholics, this seemed like a good idea.  Turned out it was a GREAT idea!  AFter checking out all the books, I picked out a couple of crystal necklaces, and was about ready to check out when Jennifer said she was going to have a mini-psychic reading.  Oh!  I forgot to mention that it was a New Age woo-woo book store!!  I decided that depending on how hers went, that I would have one, too.  Hers went great, so I had one, too, and it was awesome.  I can't remember where I put my notes to that session, but one thing that I remember is that she said I had to eliminate some of my criteria for a man!  What!  I didn't think I had that many criteria.  But, the really terrible part of that is . . . that my friend, Jimmy, who I call my personal Shaman, told me this same thing about a year ago!  At the time, I didn't believe what he said.  After this reading, I told Jimmy about it and apologized to him!! Serves me right not listening to my personal Shaman.

On our way home, we stopped in Sedona to have lunch with my brother and sister-in-law.  The psychic had told Jennifer to go to Sedona and walk one of the labyrinths there.  So my brother and sis took us to one.  As Jennifer walked, my brother and sis hugged me and said good-by.  I walked the labyrinth, too.  I actually love those things and walk them whenever one is around.

Jennifer walking the labyrinth.

While we were in Sedona, I had been thinking of leaving Durango for no particular reason, so I looked at a place to rent in Sedona.  It turned out to be a trailer!  The woman said, "Oh, come take a look at it, it's not really like a regular mobile home.  No, it was much worse.  Not only a mobile home, but a really crummy mobile home.  It made me sick to my stomach just looking at it.  Next!

We stopped for the night somewhere outside of Flagstaff.  And the following day, we finished driving home sweet home.