The third week of crisping

Well, we progress into the third week of crisping. According to the technologist, I am nearly half way. Apparently I am not as good at math as he is. He said 12 treatments down is nearly half way, but according to my math its 1/3 of the way out of the total 33-35. From his point of view, the 12 is nearly half way through the 25 full treatments. He doesn't count the additional 8-10 boost treatments that will come after. Or they could be interspersed in the regular treatments if I start to have skin issues. Apparently the boost isn't nearly as bad on your skin as they full treatments. Well, that's his version. We will see. I get so many different versions I sometimes wonder who is telling me the right thing or if I should be paying attention to what everyone says. But then again, I am merely the patient and know nothing.

This will be a very busy week for me. I have five crisping appointments, two doctor appointments, and one GI test. In addition, I want to go to the gym or for a walk daily and try to fit in some work and some job hunting and my support group and call the library and track down my missing paperwork and straighten out the wrong benefit statements from the insurance company. I think thats it. Well, other than take care of the cat. He needs to be on the list. He gets concerned I might forget about him and follows me around EVERYWHERE. Oh, and keep Walter from being crabby.

And the best part of my week is going to be on Friday afternoon when I am going for a manicure. This will be my first manicure since September. I think my fingernails have recovered enough. I also want to find out when she thinks I can have a pedicure due to the sad state of my toenails. I think that will be many months. Manicures and pedicures are very important in the world of medical patients. You might feel like crap, look like crap, have basically no hair, but have nice nails. Its just one little bitty thing we can do to feel better. I think I will need screaming bright pink nail polish as well.

Tomorrow is the Upper Gastrointestinal Series of tests. There is no real prep on my end - just no food or drink after midnight - and I have to be there at 9 am. You get to drink bicarbonate powder and then barium while standing up. Then you lie down and they have you move into different positions to coat the insides of you with the barium and then they take x-rays at different timed intervals. Apparently it takes 2 to 3 hours. It sounds like so much fun. I can't wait. Then after I have all that excitement and haven't eaten in 12 hours, I get to go to the crisper. Then I will eat something extra yummy and fattening for lunch. (Can you say 'french fries'?)

We are definitely beginning to feel the effects of the Hollywood writers strike. We are all out of Netflix. The last one is going back today, I watched it on Saturday. I hope a new one arrives today as well. Otherwise, we might have to watch the State of the Union address. (I am not sure I can stomach that. It might give me a relapse.) I do highly recommend Netflix to anyone with a medical condition requiring them to stay home a lot. Basically at your first diagnosis, sign up for Netflix and start creating a list of movies to watch. It will help your mental state, if nothing else.