Epic adventure awaits

PHOTO: I took this from the top of the Tokyo Tower. What a city! Amazing.

PHOTO: I took this from the top of the Tokyo Tower. What a city! Amazing.

Guess what? I just got back to my "normal" life (with brain cancer), after enjoying a four week vacation (in which I still had brain cancer).

Before the vacation Brett and I were met with a variety of reactions from friends and family members about taking an exorbitant amount of time away from work. Some were excited. Some seemed jealous. European friends balked that Americans could even entertain the idea of a vacation lasting longer than two weeks. But we survived.

Advocating, again

PHOTO: Brain tumor friends at Head to the Hill. May 2014

PHOTO: Brain tumor friends at Head to the Hill. May 2014

The first few days of my vacation were spent in Washington, D.C., advocating with the National Brain Tumor Society for their annual lobbying day, i.e., Head to the Hill. This was my third year in D.C. with NBTS, and what made this year different was THE PEOPLE.

There were so many more people this year than in previous years, and I guess I finally convinced some of you guys--either through this blog, Twitter, the Internet, whatever--to join me. I met many people who I have only interacted with through this computer of mine and I have to say, I am impressed with all of you.

Read about Head to the Hill in 2014 on the NBTS website.

Three weeks in Japan

Brett with the floating Shinto shrine off the island of Miyajima, Japan. May 2014

Brett with the floating Shinto shrine off the island of Miyajima, Japan. May 2014

The remaining three weeks of my vacation were spent with Brett in Japan. Yes, three weeks in Japan!

Japan has been on my list of places to go since I was 20, so I am glad to finally say I've been to Japan and had the best time ever! I took a semester of Japanese in college and I fell in love with language, culture, and the differentness of the county.

We visited Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, Hakone, Hiroshima, Kyoto and Okinawa. I could dedicate an entire new blog to posts about Japan, so I will just be short and sweet and say it was worth it.

Moral of the story

This may sound dark... or maybe beautiful?... but lately I have been seeing my life as time that needs to be filled with as much awesomeness as possible.

And if my next MRI shows tumor growth I can say, "Well, I am sure glad I took that crazy trip to Japan." 

Liz Salmi

Liz Salmi is Communications & Patient Initiatives Director for OpenNotes at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Over the last 15 years Liz has been: a research subject; an advisor in patient stakeholder groups; a leader in “patient engagement” research initiatives; and an innovator, educator and investigator in national educational and research projects. Today her work focuses on involving patients and care partners in the co-design of research and research dissemination. It is rumored Liz was the drummer in a punk rock band.

https://thelizarmy.com
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