Cancer Update June 26

Posted on June 26, 2025 by sheraaaa

Every day is a gift.

With so much uncertainty these days – both with my illness, my dad’s illness, and in the world – it seems the most logical thing to do is to focus on each day. What in the day makes it a success? What is there to be grateful for? It’s as if the most cheesy sentiments are my mantras these days…and they keep me going.

I’m halfway across the country right now, down in Lafayette, Louisiana, visiting my parents for a few weeks.

*This is the first time in years that my three brothers and I have been with my parents in the same place at the same time; it has been a wonderful visit.*

Before I left Bend, I had a barrage of doctors’ appointments, and once again, things are promising! The neck surgeon gave me the best news of all, my neck (a constant source of concern and soreness) is healing well, although I’ll probably have the neck soreness for the rest of my life . But the collapsed C7 vertebrae hasn’t progressed, so I have the go-ahead to start increasing movement.

I just have to use pain as my guide.

Easy to say, let pain be your guide… I won’t know it’s too much until the pain comes on, but there is hope in that guidance as well. He said the only things I need to avoid are axial loading activities, like standing on my head, and I can safely say I will be doing no such thing! I’m even starting to consider putting on an empty day pack and slowly adding weight over time. If I can walk with a day pack, the world seems much more doable…and my plans of a Camino journey even more likely.

The best outcome from these doctors’ appointments was the clearance to walk a section of the Camino this fall. More to come on that as I start to put that trip together, but I will be heading to Portugal for a few weeks in September! I’m thrilled at the prospect of stretching my legs along the coastal path, all with a bed to sleep in each night, coffees and cafes along the way, and meeting people from all over the world. Yes, I’ll be going solo, and I’m excited about the prospect of trusting the world in this next journey. I’ll be blogging daily again on that trip, it will be just like old times!

I’ve been sharing my story with a wider audience too. The National Brain Tumor Society asked to feature my writing on their blog, so they put together a wonderful little feature from my blog this year.

How a Hiker’s Life Changed Overnight: A Metastatic Lung Cancer Story

Then I did a podcast interview with Hikertrash Radio about my journey as well:

I’ve done countless podcast interviews in the past, and you can listen to a previous one I did with Hikertrash Radio here:

For even more podcasts check this out.

What else is new? I did my first water aerobics class yesterday, and wow, am I sore! I had to modify my moves in the pool…too much jumping is still quite jarring to my spine…so I slowed my roll as needed with the lovely older ladies that were in class with me. My cousin Amy helped me get a pass to her pool because I quickly found that going for a walk in July in Louisiana was WAY TOO hot and humid for a comfortable jaunt. I either have to get up before the sun or head to the pool for any exercise while I’m down here.

I have a busy, busy schedule when I get back to Oregon. A ton of doctors’ appointments await me, including a full body PET scan…cross your fingers for me that all my tumors are still getting smaller! Then it’s Kirk’s birthday, a visit from my Aunt Barbara, a Burkina Faso Peace Corps Reunion, a trip to see some friends in Eastern Oregon, PCT Days in Cascade Locks, and maybe even a trip to the Oregon coast. It may be too much, but I like to be optimistic and ambitious, so we’ll see! All the while, I need to ramp up my miles so I have hope of hiking 5-10 miles a day on the Camino in September.

I’m taking each day as it comes, but also giving myself things to look forward to. And I have so much to look forward to!

Cancer Update May 17

Posted on May 17, 2025 by sheraaaa

I’ve been out in the world for a couple of weeks now, and it’s funny how quickly I can revert my thinking and actions to those of pre-cancer me. Sure, I do feel fragile almost all the time, which tells me my complete lack of pain meds isn’t necessarily the way I want to go. When I do take meds, that’s when the illusion is almost complete. That’s when I don’t feel my neck and spine still adjusting to the titanium plate and additional collapsed vertebrae…at least I think that’s what I’m feeling? I won’t meet with the neck surgeon again for another month. I have questions for the surgeon: can I do yoga? can I put a pack on? I’m guessing from the way things are feeling that no. No, not yet.

But yes, the farther away I get from my cancer nest (that is my adjustable bed and trusty cart filled with all the medications and books and diversions that I’ve been relying on these past five months), the more normal I feel. Friends and family tell me I look great. I’m up and about and going on raft trips and flying, but then I get tired walking up a hill and get dizzy when I stand up too fast. The illusion is thin.

I know I’m heading in the right direction though!

Five days of rafting on the John Day River was blissful. It was much colder that I expected, so I was almost always covered up. Immersing myself in the watery wisdom of Oregon’s longest undammed river was very soothing, even though I was quite limited in my time off the raft.

I returned from the river trip quite sore and worried that I had overdone it. The cot and thick paco pad I slept on helped me feel better during the trip, but I was still quite exposed to movements and actions that I hadn’t experienced in months.

And then I’ve had to rearrange a lot of things so I could spend some time with family. Time that has been overdue for many reasons. I’m not going into much of the family dynamics now, but needless to say, I’m not the only one who has been going through a hard time this year.

Today the rain is raining, the yard is bursting with the change of seasons, and I’m packing for yet another trip, this time a getaway with just Kirk. We didn’t get to celebrate our anniversary this February because, well, cancer, and the four months he took off of work to help me out were also work. We’ve both been through the ringer this year, and it’s time to relax and celebrate a little bit.

Oh yeah, the celebrating. I do feel like I’ve been celebrating since my last appointment where I got the good news that my cancer is retreating. I even had a small piece of cake this past week…I’ve been avoiding sugar like the plague for most of the year as it’s a wonderful food for those mutanous cancer cells to feast on, but I just wanted a little taste. I do want to rein things in after vacation (with an exception for my birthday party of course!) and trend back towards more of a vegan than vegetarian diet again and more towards whole foods than easy to grab snacks, but I’m also not beating myself up for the little treats I’ve had and will have for the next few weeks. I’m still in celebration mode!

So I’ll check in again in June. I have a whole slew of doctors appointments coming up then: palliative care, old oncologist, new oncologist, naturopath oncologist, radiation oncologist, lab work, MRI, spine surgeon, acupuncture, physical therapy, and a gynocological appointment (I’m STILL going through perimenopause through all this…hello hot flashes! They have been constant the past few months).

Before I sign off today, I have a question for you. Some thoughts about trails have been percolating in my mind…things I want to look for and focus on in the near future….and maybe some of you can help. Does the US have any hut-to-hut or camino-type hikes? I ordered a hut-to-hut book for the States, but half the options are ski traverses, and most of the others are still carry-your-own-gear type of trips. If I can’t carry a pack for a while, where are my luggage transfer services? And if I can’t find these types of hikes, I should probably get busy putting some together. I bet some of the pieces are there, and it just might take a motivated hiker to put them together. 🙂

A Virtual Oregon Coast Trail – Day 0

Posted on October 11, 2024 by sheraaaa

I woke up about midnight in excruciating pain. My neck and shoulders were on fire, and I could barely move without setting off waves of muscle spasm. Imagine if this was happening in my tent, 10 miles from the nearest out.

I couldn’t.

This was the reason I wasn’t out hiking this October. I would not be watching the colors slowly change in the trees as the trail tread gradually disappeared under splashes of gold, red, orange, yellow, and maroon. This was the reason I had to distract myself from the huge gaping hole left in the wake of what I love to do more than anything and can’t do…so much so that I designed my whole career around it…what was I going to do if I wasn’t thru-hiking?

The answer is obviously to try and fix the body. But that will require rest and very little movement for the near future…something I’m not so good at.

My neck and shoulders have been painful for two weeks now, and I think that pain was triggered by a rib injury that I sustained almost a month ago now. Several trips to urgent care and lots of epsom salt baths later and now I’m trying the chiropractic route. Last night was probably the most pain I’ve been in this whole time, but after the first two adjustments I finally feel like there is progress in my quest to return to backpacking condition. And yoga! I haven’t been able to do yoga for a month now, or much of anything else. I’m turning into jello with every passing day. How does anyone stand the inactivity?

If I had been hiking the Pinhoti right now, where would I be? Lets see. I would have started walking the Sunday after Pinhoti Fest ended…that was a little over a week ago now, and at a 15 mpd pace, I would have hiked about 135 miles.

Instead of making my first cup of coffee in the zero-dark hours on trail, hunkered in my sleeping bag, trying not to spill it all over myself as I start writing this blog on my phone, I am in front of my laptop in my office at home, drinking coffee through a straw. It hurts too much to bend my neck to sip, so I have to bring the coffee to me.

This not-hiking is agony, and I have weeks of it ahead of me. I am not working during this time; my brain needed a good long walk as much as my body did. Walking is what feeds it with new ideas, hiking causes it to play parkour with ponderings and musings. I need to give this hardworking brain of mine a rest too, so I am going to play a little game with myself while I heal. I’m going to give myself a virtual hike along the Oregon Coast Trail.

Wait, the Oregon Coast Trail? Yes, well, after I had pushed my departure off for the Pinhoti Trail for a second time, I stewed in self-pity for a few days before glomming onto the idea that I could rest another week and still go hiking. The Oregon Coast trail was close, had plenty of towns (outs) to bail if my body couldn’t take it, and I could talk a lot about real-time trail issues our long trails in Oregon are facing (a la Oregon Trails Coalition ).

I could even take public transportation! Walk out my front door, hop on a bus, then another, and arrive in Astoria. From there I could walk as far as my body would let me, and bus back home from wherever I made it to on the coast. A true masterpiece in connectivity. And talk about connectivity! The Oregon Coast Trail ties into other trails that are included in the Oregon Signature Trails project. There’s the Salmonberry Trail , a work in progress that will connect Portland with the coast, and potentially share some tread with the Oregon Coast Trail, and also the Corvallis to Sea Trail …the route Amber and I walked three years ago to its western terminus at Ona Beach. I’d walk right past it!

Then there are all the bazillion times I’ve been to the coast in the 20 years I’ve lived in Oregon. The first time I went to Beverly Beach with some new friends, we whipped ropes of seaweed like 13-year olds. Then there was the time Cindy and went hiking for New Years, and some hoodlums shot a bullet into our rental car. Or the time I taught a light-weight backpacking course at Portland Community Collage and we overnighted on the coast.

With a virtual hike of the trail, I could imagine and research what I would be experiencing in real time. What would that look like? What would I see and learn about the area? Where does the trail go, and why? What are the issues facing the Oregon Coast Trail and the coast itself? For the rest of my convalescing time, I’ll take myself on a virtual journey and share it with you like I usually do in my daily blog. BUT since I’m at home and love maps and multi-media storytelling, I’m going to make a story map of my virtual hike so you all can learn alongside me, in real time.

Each day I’ll “hike” my miles, and the next day will keep up my morning writing routine with you here. I’ll cover 400ish miles, create a story map, and share it with you.

Ok, lets go. (click below to start the journey- This story map is best viewed on a desktop, laptop, or tablet.)

Oregon Field Guide covers the Oregon Desert Trail

Posted on November 3, 2017 by sheraaaa

Wooo hooo! Here it is!

Oregon Field Guide ODT Episode

Disaster Stories

Posted on August 28, 2017 by sheraaaa

A new podcast, Boldly Went (think The Moth), came to Bend recently and invited a few people to the stage to tell some stories of DISASTER… I shared a harrowing tale of catching myself, the forest, and most of my stuff on fire when I thru-hiked the CDT two years ago. Take a listen and don’t do what I did. (my story starts at minute 14)

Protect Your Public Lands: A User’s Guide

Posted on June 29, 2017 by sheraaaa

We can’t hike trails without public lands, so I wrote this blog for Oboz about 5 things you can do!

by Renee Patrick

What Designations Does You Favorite Trail Have Photo By Renee Patrick

Image: Take some time to learn about public lands surrounding your favorite trails. Photo by Renee Patrick

After huffing up the 2,000-foot climb out of Big Indian Gorge, my sweat-dampened shirt quickly chilled in the sharp November wind. I was just days from finishing my Oregon Desert Trail section hike with the final 65 mile stretch up and over the monolithic Steens Mountain in eastern Oregon.

I surveyed the miles of alkaline playa 5,000 feet below Steens summit and the vast expanse of public land stretching far into the horizon. That early November morning was just days away from an election that would upset the nation, and jeopardize the future of the very land below my feet.

In the weeks that followed, one thing became clear: I need to act to protect what I love, and the question became: How can I advocate for public lands and have a real impact?

I am fortunate enough to work for a conservation organization, the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA), which has been working for 30 years to protect, defend, and restore high desert landscapes in eastern Oregon. But after multiple conversations with friends who don’t directly work in the conservation field, I realized they too wanted guidance on how to be effective in advocating for the future of our public lands. So I surveyed a few of my colleagues and came up with these action points:

5 Tips on How YOU Can Advocate for Public Lands Protection

1. Focus on public lands close to home

One of the best ways to participate in the public lands debate is to become educated about some of your favorite places. Is your go-to hike on public land? If so, which agency manages it, and does it currently have any protections or designations? We often form personal connections with our favorite places, and those connections can be powerful when a place you love is at risk. Visit your Forest Service, BLM, or State Parks office. Learn more about how they steward your favorite places, ask how you can participate in trail maintenance, or in any upcoming planning processes.

Even the youngest volunteers can make a difference in a conservation organization. Photo by Allison Crotty

2. Join a local conservation organization

Most communities have a variety of nonprofit conservation organizations that work to protect important landscapes and watersheds. Each of these groups may have a specific focus, whether it is sustainability, climate change, river health, or supporting the stewardship of a specific wilderness area. These organizations give a powerful voice to important local and national public land issues, and rely on their members to help support advocacy for restoration activities in the places we all cherish. Consider becoming a member of one conservation organization in your area. Start volunteering, or join them on a hike or stewardship trip. Your donation, membership, volunteer time, or voice can make a difference.

3. Get to know your senators and representatives

Your senators and representatives represent you on the state and national level, so it’s important to let them know where you stand on public lands issues. There is a lot of debate these days about the most effective ways to reach out to your elected officials, but any action is better than no action. Call their offices, write postcards, attend town hall meetings…and make it personal. You don’t have to be an expert on public lands to have a powerful pull. It can be very meaningful for our officials to hear from everyday people who care about public lands, so share your stories, share your concerns, and if they have been supportive of keeping public lands public, thank them!

Get creative with your signs at the next town hall event in your area. Photo by Heidi Hagemeier

4. Hold small gatherings with friends/family

Since so many people take access to public lands for granted, we need as many folks as possible to simply be out talking with their friends/neighbors/family about why public lands are important. Invite some friends over, and over dinner or beers talk about a few of the current threats. One of the main issues you may want to discuss involves proposals to hand over American public lands to the states. Because most state governments can’t afford to manage millions of acres of land, a likely scenario would result in raising taxes or selling our land to the highest bidder in order to pay for costs like firefighting and management. Come up with a list of your legislators’ addresses, and then have everyone write a few postcards and make a night of it! (find more here: https://www.congress.gov/state…, https://www.congress.gov/ -search legislation).

5. Vote

Start local. City, county, state and even school boards have elections between the presidential election years, and we can build a strong voice from the bottom up. Do some research and find out where your local candidates stand on public lands issues. Then make your voice heard on Election Day.

Renee “She-ra” Patrick is the trail coordinator for the Oregon Desert Trail in Bend, OR, and a triple crown hiker, having completed the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail in addition to 6 other long distance trails. When not backpacking, she can be found packrafting, skiing or napping in the backcountry. You can read about her adventures on her blog,www.sherahikes.wordpress.com.

Oregon Desert Trail Presentation

Posted on March 28, 2017 by sheraaaa

A big thanks to fellow thru-hiker VirGo for filming my presentation at the Mazamas in Portland in January 2017. Now you can watch it here:

Photos from my Oregon Desert Trail trips so far – 425 miles of awesomeness

Posted on August 11, 2016 by sheraaaa

I’m hiking the Oregon Desert Trail in sections this year, and will be uploading photos periodically to the Oregon Natural Desert Association Flickr page. You can see the slideshows here:

CDT Trip Report for Oboz Footwear

Posted on November 3, 2015 by sheraaaa

If you followed my blog on the CDT this year, you will know how much I loved wearing my Oboz shoes on the trail.

Rain, snow, and mud were no match for my Oboz Lunas.

I shared some of my initial thoughts on the hike with Oboz…read more here!

Continental Divide Trail: Day 5 – 4 Miles (89 miles from Mexico)

Posted on April 21, 2015 by sheraaaa

Oh town, your seductive fast food, showers, and excesses…while we thru-hikers dream of you, it’s always a relief to return to the trail. I decided to take a nero today (a nero is hiking just a few miles into or out of town…as opposed to a zero where no trail miles are hiked), and man did my feet need it. Everytime I looked at them I would discover new blisters. No lie! My feet have some catching up to do, or I have some slowing down to do so they can catch up. You need to keep those two appendages happy…the hike depends on it.

I think the pink toe nail polish matches the bushwacking scratches well

So I lounged in the hotel room all day, chatting with Kirk, friends and family, visiting Instagram and Facebook regularly, and catching a few movies on cable TV…something I don’t even watch at home! Wow, vacation rocks!

The first few days of my hike I refrained from turning the data on for my phone, but now I’m going to use it when I want…and today that means I’m streaming my Alt-J station on Pandora! I still can’t get over how much technology changes the trail experience, and again, It’s pretty cool.

I listened to Trail Side Radio on my walk out of town… Ratatouille again featured part of the interview he did with me last month in Bend…and I got to share the air with my good friend Allgood. Check out his podcast, he’ll hit the trail soon and will be broadcasting from the PCT. I’m looking forward to listening to his adventures as I hike north. It is kind of trippy to be featured on another podcast…

I’m barely outside of Lordsburg…my four miles took me about three miles down the highway (blah to walking on the side of a highway) and into one of the last big wide open spaces I’ll be hiking through in a while. Again I’m camped in cow range land behind a bush. I actually feel quite decadent out here. I packed out some cheddar and sour cream ruffles, the tunes are playing, and my feet are feeling good after all that rest.