I am sure I missed a few things

Yesterday I went for my walk and went past the local branch library which has been closed since last summer due to a flood from a broke water pipe. There was a man who had obviously stopped by to use the library and found it was closed. He asked me if I knew what was going on. In the next few minutes I learned many things about him: his family name (never heard of them), what street the used to live on (around the corner from where we were), the area of town his parents live in (far end from where we were), the town he lives in (20 minutes away), his employment status (retired twice), he is a caregiver (for his parents as well as his in-laws), his wife’s job (teacher), he is a grandfather, he wanted to use the internet( as a break from caring for his parents as they don’t even have a computer), and he likes to talk a lot (obviously). I probably learned other things from him that I forgot already but he seems to have shared quite a bit of information. I am not sure what I am supposed to do with this information now that I know all these things. Maybe its just more information for my beleaguered tiny chemo brain to forget.

That was the big excitement for my day. Well other than going to the crisper. It was my weekly meeting with the nurse and then the doctor. All of a sudden, in the past few days, I have started getting severe 'armpit pain' similar to that of an ice pick being stabbed deep inside or what it felt like post surgery when they removed lymph nodes (twice). I noticed that the incision was sore and all red around it. Well apparently this is a normal side effect of radiation even though that area was not being treated directly and the full treatments ended last Wednesday. Its the cumulative effect of the radiation that manifests itself more strongly around scar tissue. It often shows up after the treatment is done. The nurse recommended hydrocortisone lotion. The doctor recommended prescription strength hydrocortisone lotion. I used it. It still hurts. Ow.

I also mentioned my fatigue issues to the doctor. She said that it is not fatigue from radiation but a cumulative effect fatigue from being in treatment for so long. Her recommendation is that in March I either go to a spa for a few days or on another type of vacation. I like that prescription.

In addition, yesterday I got to talk to all sorts of departments at Lahey in preparation for next week. I talked to one group of people about my upcoming port removal. It actually sounds kind of creepy. They use lidocaine to numb the area and the just pull out the tube that is in an artery in my neck and then they 'dig out' (their words) the port itself from the scar tissue. Just to make sure that the one scar doesn't show too much, they will make another one right underneath it so I will have a pair of matching scars to remember this by. That is in addition to the one on my neck, and the other three surgical scars. (Five scars - I will start to look like a medical patient soon or something!) I also got to talk to the people about my CT scan. I need to get a blood test before the port removal and thought I might need one for the CT scan (they need to make sure you aren't allergic to the contrast agents) as well. It would be nice to get one blood test instead of two.

Today, I am getting a manicure. I decided that even if I am tired (but not from radiation, just everything else), am job hunting, going to Lahey all the time, and generally feeling like crap, at least my nails can look good. Last time, I got a slightly subdued pink. This might be the time for screaming fluorescent colors. I will check out the selection usually chosen by teenage girls to find something suitably non-subdued. I am also meeting a former co-worker for lunch and might have to go to work for a bit. This is all after I go to the gym this morning. Walter picked up my prescription last night (how nice of him) but he also picked up a quart of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk (how not nice of him). Since he bought it, we forced ourselves to eat some of it. It did make me feel better but today I must go to the gym.