On August 20-22, 2010 I attended a young adult cancer survivors retreat in Austin, TX. Let’s see if I can get this right: It was organized by Planet Cancer, funded by Livestrong, and run by Next Step (I think). What a great event! Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), I got the phone call on Thursday that someone was unable to attend at the last minute, and I was next on the waiting list.
Thankfully, I only live a few hours’ drive away so I was able to hop in the car and go on short notice (like, the next day!). Day 1 involved a visit to the Livestrong HQ in East Austin to tour the facility. You know, I’m coming to the conclusion that a GPS is more or less useless in Austin. This is my second visit there, and I had nothing but trouble with my Nuvi 205w. At this moment, it had difficulty with the address to the Livestrong HQ. Not a terribly difficult place to find (as I was to learn), but the GPS had NO idea about the address. I’d punch in the actual address (something like 2201 E. Sixth St.) and the GPS would try to take me to 199 E. Sixth St. It couldn’t find the address, which is an odd thing, because Livestrong’s HQ is in a renovated warehouse. Not exactly a new building. The place is pretty cool, though.
The place would make an outstanding working environment. Nice and open, tons of natural light, and lots of artwork.
I really like this piece. The artist used actual Trek Madone frames and did not destroy them for the sculpture. The whole thing pivots around the middle so all the bikes rotate. Each bike has the symbology Lance used in his TdF bikes indicating various aspects of his battle with cancer.
This next one is one of the pieces Lance owns personally, but has installed into the HQ for one reason or another.
There really is a bunch of artwork here. I can imagine the people who work here enjoy the working environment.
This rather abstract-looking piece symbolizes the fight with cancer in many ways. The artist used a technique that involves putting layers onto the painting, and then removing them (which does sort of symbolize what happens during treatment, doesn’t it?). I think this one really shows how you feel as you’re going through cancer treatment, whether that’s surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or whatever else. The treatment really takes it out of you, and this painting really does convey that feeling well.
Interestingly enough, most of the staffers at the HQ don’t really like this piece, and would rather it not be placed near their cubicles.
This next shot really is a special piece of Livestrong history. It is the table and the menu from the restaurant where Lance and his partners conceived Livestrong and its mission. The restaurant donated this material when the new headquarters opened up. It’s a nice touch.
Oh, and there’s still more art. I only took one more picture of the art, but there’s still more I didn’t photograph. I got there a shade late, so I missed some of the early work. This one is around the corner from the main entrance.
And of course there are going to be yellow jerseys from the Tour de France. Lance won 7 of them, after all, so why wouldn’t you expect some to be hanging at the Livestrong headquarters?
We also got a sneak peak of the new SurvivorCare facility, which will soon be opening its doors to walk-in visits (in addition to taking phone calls). There wasn’t a lot there to photograph except a small waiting room and some tables and cubicles.
After the Livestrong HQ tour, we headed to The Crossings where the retreat was being held. This is the second time my GPS failed me on this trip. The stupid thing didn’t know where FM 2769 was. Again, it’s not like it was a new road or anything. Maybe the road had a second name? But the directions I was given used the FM road designation, so that’s what I had. I wound up asking for directions in a gas station nearby, where the employee pulled out his iPhone to look up the address. Came right up in Google Maps…of course.
To be completely honest, I didn’t take many pictures here because I was enjoying myself too much – socializing with other cancer survivors close to my age for the first time since my diagnosis. It really was helpful to talk to people who have been there, to joke about the embarrassing things that only other survivors could understand, and making new friends while forgetting about cancer for the moment.
My room at the retreat center had quite a view from the balcony. To be honest, the Infinity Pool had a better view, but this wasn’t shabby to wake up to in the morning.
We played lots of goofy introduction games on Friday evening to break the ice. The Next Step staff did a great job of helping everyone to feel welcome. Thanks to them, I know how everyone prefers to use their toilet paper (fold, roll, crumple, or all of the above). FYI, I’m a crumpler. I also won a couple silly rubber ducks in the BINGO game that required us to have other retreat attendees answer questions for us. Somewhere along the line, I became Kyle.
I dragged my butt out of bed in the pre-dawn hours on Saturday to go for a jog and continue the Cancer to 5k program I’m in. The retreat center is right next to the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve which offers some nice trails I used for my daily run. Of course, running on these trails was much more difficult than the track, sidewalks, and paved paths I usually run when I’m at home. Pushing myself a little was good, though. Especially since I missed my Sunday run due to traveling.
We had some great group discussions throughout the day. The Next Step folks scheduled us for some sort of breathing/wellness class. Several folks opted out of it, but I thought I’d see what it was about. It definitely wasn’t my cuppa tea. The first couple minutes the instructor spent explaining the benefits of breathing through your nose. I can dig that. It makes sense. But after that, she went out into no man’s land. She started explaining that it was somehow beneficial to tape your mouth shut while sleeping. I just couldn’t see that. She went from there into the first breathing exercise, called “The Bob” which involves holding your breath, pinching your nose, and nodding your head up and down. Hmm, I don’t think so. I tried it…really, I did. It’s kinda a problem when your nostrils stick together even when you let go. Forces you to gasp a bit, which was incorrect technique, I’m told. She only got stranger from there. I had some “neuropathy” (aka my foot fell asleep) I needed to walk off…and I decided to go to the pool instead. It was hot, but much more pleasant.
I thought for sure I’d win the pizza cook-off, but nope. I raided the herb garden for some basil and oregano and I use tomato fillets instead of the provided sauce. I was slightly disappointed that I was provided with a thin crust instead of a slightly thicker “hand tossed” type, or even been allowed to make my own. I also wasn’t pleased that the cheese was only mozzarella. I really prefer a mix of mozzarella and provolone on my pizza. Nevertheless, my pizza was still pretty good. It’s not like there was a hefty prize for winning or anything. If there was, I’d have insisted on doing it exactly how I like.
Our painting session was enjoyable (I can’t remember if it was before or after the pizza now…damn Harold). We worked on a small landscape scene. I jazzed mine up by putting boulders in the river. I guess I shouldn’t quit my day job, eh?
The comedians for the night weren’t great. The first one was actually pretty bad. But he was so bad it made him funny at times. The second one wasn’t terrible. He was occasionally funny. The REAL fun was after the comedy. We spent the rest of the evening screening YouTube videos, making duct tape wallets and clutches, and playing scrabble. Lots of fun. I think I stayed up far too late that night. Made me too sleepy to run the next day. Oh, and in checking e-mail at the end of the day, I find a series of questions from an overly persistent ebay customer who wanted me to downgrade my shipping for him. No thanks, dude. I chose my shipping options for a reason.
The last day we had a sharing session of resources for cancer survivors and how they’ve worked out for us. Sort of a vetting process for stuff. I may post about those in another post. After lunch, we all departed for our respective hometowns. Some folks were locals, others had a few hours of driving, and still others had to fly home. People really did come here from every part of the country…almost. I’m glad I met everyone, and I’ll be keeping touch. Some, I will even get to see fairly soon.
I have my egg-laying rubber chicken keychain by which to remember the weekend.
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