Notes from Denise and Ellen

HI Mary: An update on Dianne, her lumpectomy surgery was on Monday, she was feeling pretty sore and beat up Tuesday, but she sounded strong and happy to have that behind her. Us girls have talked to her a few times and she is coming along pretty well. They took out the cancerous areas and surrounding tissue and they took one node. The node was clean (if that's the terminology) so they didn't take anymore. Dianne will see her oncologist and surgeon next Monday and Tuesday and she said yesterday (Wednesday) that she was feeling good and would probably go back to work Thursday. She's bound and determined to do whatever she has to do to put this behind her as quickly as she can.

I talked to SueMarie today and they're fine, but she said they have a
lot of smoke. I'm not sure about Ellen, but she lives fairly close to
us and it's mainly smoke, not fire in our area. Today has been the
smokiest for us also, but hopefully things are going to start getting
better. I'm off work today and tomorrow and when I return on Saturday
I will get a better idea of how many co-workers have been affected.
Yesterday as I was driving to work, I was driving towards the fire that
was coming over the mountain from the Palomar Mountain area. I
couldn't see flames, but there was lots of thick smoke. The Pala
Casino, where I used to work was evacuated yesterday and I talked to my
friends grandson, who works there now. Josh told me that they had kept
security and the table games dealers and supervisors up to the very
last because they didn't have any locks on the doors-- they're open
24/7. I think I might have just walked off the job!!
There are so many areas that are affected that it's really hard to keep
track of where the most active fires are and there seem to be new ones
still starting, whether man-made or not, remains to be seen. They have
already determined that at least 2 of the big fires are arson. It's
almost like a 911 event where you can't draw yourself away from the TV
news reports. There has been tremendous damage and it will take quite a while for the damage to be assessed and cleaned up.

I want you to know that I've been thinking about you a bunch. You have
a big battle to fight, but I know that you must have felt much better
when the DR told you to pack the bags for the Europe vacation. Stay
strong and know that you have many family members, friends and angels cheering you on and sending as much strength, hope and love your way. I'm one of them! Love you, Denise

Hi everyone,

Just a short to let you know that all is well in Lake
Elsinore, we are in the middle of all the fires, but
far enough away to be safe. San Diego County fires are
about 40 miles south. the ones in San Bernadino fires
are about 30 - 40 miles north, and the Orange county
fires are about 10 Miles to the west. But none in
Lake Elsinore.

Take Care,

Ellen