a week without chemo is like a week without sunshine

And with a kitty as cute and lovable as Sunshine, that would be tragic!

But I am getting ahead of myself once again.

Today was Brachytherapy #3. It went much better than the last one - no need for Dr F to send flowers this time :)

I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing that hospital employees are starting to recognize me: the woman at check-in, several of the nurses, the anesthesiologist. One that definitely did not recognize me was the Ladies Auxiliary worker that brought me to pre-op. I didn't get her name - she was not interested in nice conversation. She brought two of us in at the same time, and put the other patient at one end of the changing rooms and me at the far end. She told me to put on a gown and put my clothes "in this locker." Problem was, it was locker number 19. I always use locker number 13. And, as you might already know, I am very superstitious. So when the Auxiliary Lady came back in, I asked if I could switch to locker 13, to which she snapped "no, it's at THAT end, you are at THIS end." I explained that I'm superstitious and I didn't want that number, but she didn't care. She had already attached the key to 19 to my clipboard and was bound and determined that 19 is what I would use. But I was more determined, and we compromised with 21. Just to add insult to injury, she only gave me one warm blanket instead of two. Sour puss!

I had Nurse J again. She was very nice, and genuinely asked how I'm holding up. We are both fond of chit-chat, and we talked about MT Bee going to Haiti, Julie's weekend visit, Mom's trip to VA, and Nurse J's new puppy and recent vacation in NC. But not everything with Nurse J went smoothly. She had to access my port twice! The first time, she could get no blood return and could not flush it, no matter how hard I tried to relax and not panic. So she took that needle out, and tried again. This time was perfect and got an immediate blood return. I wonder if the need for two sticks was that I didn't have locker 13...

I also got a visit from Oliver, the tech that I am (surprise!) superstitious about seeing before going under. Last week, when I was on the 1st floor instead of the 2nd (my Brachytherapies are always on the 2nd floor), I panicked when I realized that Oliver wouldn't be there to stop by my bed and wish me well. Panicked so much that the tech for that floor went to the 2nd floor to see if Oliver would come down! Which he did. This time, he was there, just as usual.

Soon, Dr L (the anesthesiologist) came by and approved not 2, not 4, but 7 mg of Versed! What a nice man :) He also gave some other stuff that made me feel nice and sleepy. Before I knew it, I was being wheeled down to the OR. Outside the door stood Dr F and Oliver. I said blah-ly "Hi Dr F" and enthusiastically "Hi Oliver!" Dr F commented that O got a warmer reception than he did, so I had to apologize for that.

When I awoke, it was around 8:30 or 9:00, and I was having the usual cath pain. I got some Vistaril and Demerol and Morphine. Oliver even stopped by there a few times and commented on the furrow in my brow - how it got less and less pronounced as the drugs were added more and more :)

Soon, T was there to wheel me to the ROCk where my treatment, and more importantly to me, my mp3 player awaited. But first, the CT-scan. This was done at a 5° angle, which is much easier without all that apparatus up my [insert euphemism here]. This time, they had to tilt my stretcher at the same angle and then slide me over. But first, they fixed it so my cath bag would be closed off and I wouldn't be able to pee during the scan. Dr F felt that having a full bladder makes an additional difference to the position of my small bowel. So that was fun.

Then it was off to the napping room (I was laying flat again). I had planned ahead this week, and had with me a fully charged mp3 player. It made quite the difference! I woke up less irate and was able to stay calm and nappy the whole time. I didn't feel like the blood pressure machine was ticking off hours. I don't even know how long I was there. Which was exactly the idea :)

Then came the treatment, which also had to be at a 5° tilt. With a clipped off cath bag. This was interesting! I can't even describe to you what they had to do to get me into that position in the treatment room! They had a new Iridium source (less degraded) so that the treatment itself only took 5 minutes and 12 seconds! That was really nice, considering I felt like any sudden move and I'd find a way to pee around the cath and all over myself (I didn't). They were surprised at how much pee I had once they unclipped it! TMI?

They also offered to show me a picture that Dr M took of my insides during the laparoscopy - don't worry, I declined. I will NOT be posting that one on this blog!




So that was really it! Dr F unpacked everything right away in the treatment room, and although it is totally painful to get unpacked, that pain doesn't last and by the time I got back to the napping room to get my IV disconnected, it didn't hurt anymore.

John stopped by Dunkin' Donuts on the way home for my ritualistic plain bagel, toasted, cream cheese on the side. And now I'm home. Tired, needing a nap, but determined to finish this blog.

But where does Sunshine fit into all of this? I'll tell you. It seems Dr M and Dr F are conspiring against me. They have decided that I will resume daily radiation tomorrow instead of Monday, with chemo on Friday. So now, the break I thought I would have is no longer. C'est la vie. These things happen.

John has to work, so MT Jeanne will accompany me and we'll finally get to finish that game of Scrabble^®!

Thank you for all your words of encouragement on my recent blue day! You really are a great team of supporters!

For those keeping score...