Thanksgiving Happenings at HB

It has been a long time since we have written a blog but it seems with so many things going on this time of year a blog is a good place to put it all in one place.

In October, Bonnie went for her annual trip for "crush" in Napa and came home with many ideas for new and fabulous wines. She has put these wines on the front end of the wine aisle with great notes and of course her recommendations for Holiday wines to be used as gifts or on your dinner table.
Some of the new wines Bonnie is recommending are from the following vineyards*:
Chateau Montelina
Keenan
St. Clement (Of course!)
Louis Martini

Bill Harlan's Bond Estates (these can be special ordered)

*Another blog will be dedicated just to Bonnie's trip and the specific wines she has brought in.


Now on Thursday, November 18 (tomorrow) from 5pm to 7pm, there is a wine tasting along with a dinner to sample with the wines. The theme of course is Thanksgiving with a lovely selection of appropriate wines for a turkey dinner. The dinner we are serving is of course a turkey dinner with a side salad and desert served all for $10.99 (the tasting is as usual free!)Call to make a reservation 967-5762.

We are still taking orders for a complete Thanksgiving dinner for 6 if you are not inclined to prepare the meal yourself. It comes with a large turkey, cranberry walnut stuffing, herbed mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans almondine, gravy, cranberry orange relish and rolls. You can get it on Wednesday and just heat it up on Thursday (and pretend you made it!!) or pick it up on Thursday morning all hot and ready to eat. Please call to order by Friday, November 19. 967-5762

Also we are still taking orders for pies, until Monday afternoon, that can be picked up as late as noon on Thanksgiving. Choose from pumpkin, apple, blueberry or mincemeat pies. We also have frozen pies in our new freezer that can be baked in less than an hour and will make your house smell as good as it does here at HB!!

Our store hours for Thanksgiving are 6am to 12noon.

Mary's Walk

As many of you know I was diagnosed with stage 2- her2 breast cancer in August of 2009. My treatments began right away with Mercy Hospital’s oncology team. And that is thanks to the support and guidance of Louise Hurlbutt who many of you know as well, has gone through the same diagnosis and is in her completion of successful treatment. I will speak for myself but know that Lousie feels the same way that our community has been our strength, our guidance and our support. We know that this was not an easy time for either of us. For me I am reminded daily of how grateful I am to live here and to have such wonderful friends and family that has kept me going.

Over the past 7 months I have endured Chemotherapy, 2 surgeries, and now in the completion stage of radiation treatments. I would love to say it was easy but many of you know through either your own personal experiences or through other friends it is not. However the out come to date has been incredible. I am feeling good and on the quick road to feeling great. I have worked at the store throughout most all of this time and have kept my friends and family close to my heart and soul. And as some of you also know I opened a second business during this time called H.B. Café 2. Because I didn’t have quite enough going on in my life I needed to add one more thing.

Helen has been my biggest cheerleader and support person and I know that I could have never done this without her being here everyday walking me through it. She has kept all of you posted through my web site with blogs. She has also kept the store running and now manages the new H.B. Cafe2.

As a gesture of continued support for Louise Hurlbutt and me we are asking you to now join us in Mary’s Walk and Maine Cancer Foundation- a local event that since its inception in 1999 has raised over One Million dollars for cancer research in Maine. This Walk began in Saco as a way to recognize the life of Mary Libby and has evolved into a community event to remember friends lost and to encourage and support those dealing with Cancer.

Louise & Bonnie

That being said Louise and I have formed a team and am asking you to support and join us on March 14^th to either a walk or run. Those who do wish to join us can learn more on line by going to www.maryswalk.org. You can pre-register by March 5^th and join our team, which you will see how to do so at that web site. Latecomers can register to join our team Sunday morning at the event. Others can sponser our team if you cannot join us. You may contribute on line in the name of Team Hurlbutt/HB Provisions. Don’t forget to memo our name. You may also send a check to Mary’s Walk, P.O.Box 746, Saco, Maine, 04072.

Please do this today and help us go for gold in walking or running for the cure of cancer.

It's all good!

Just wanted to give a quick update on Bonnie's pathology report and her progress.

There were still some cancer cells found in the second tissue removal but there was a clear margin which is the good news. The radiation oncologist, Dr Godin and the breast surgeon, Dr. Molin consulted and they determined that all the remaining cells could be blasted away with the radiation. Dr. Molin explained that those few cells were really not worrisome to them and with more concentrated radiation in that area it would all be taken care of.

Bonnie is feeling much better and has been out walking most days last week. Next week she meets with Dr. Godin for the breast mapping where they determine exactly where the radiation will go. Then a couple of weeks after that and when she has had more time to heal from the surgeries, she will begin radiation.

Helen

One more time....

Well.........we went to see the oncologist yesterday and the pathology report had just come in which showed that there were still a few cancer cells found in the tissue. The real issue is that the cancer cells were right on the edge of the margin (the tissue they took) so they are now not sure if there are more cells further out in the breast because they were at the edge of the sample taken or if they got all the cells. So to find out the answer to this question (did they get all the cancer cells) is to do another surgery, take out another centimeter of tissue around where the tumor was and have pathology determine if there are more cancer cells there or not.

Dr. Molin only took a small amount of tissue because of Bonnie's dramatic clinical response (doctor's words) and that there was no sign of any cancer cells where the tumor once was. Well that was using ultrasound, feel and sight but the pathologists did find a few cells (remember it only takes one cell to wreak havoc for someone) which I think was a surprise to everyone.

So on Friday Bonnie will have another surgery. This will be a quicker surgery since there is no lymph node work to be done and this time it will be going into the same place which is now clearly marked with the sutures. The hard part will be that it is more anesthesia which is hard on her and then of course the extended healing time.

Bonnie is in good spirits about all of this although she is sick of being sick. I will write more to let you know how she is doing after the surgery.

Helen