Monday 6.2.2008

Radiation Treatment #27

Daniel was up before me--I foggily heard him but dozed on... Then my radio came on. Geesh. It seemed that I wiggled most of the night. Doze, awake, roll, uncover, doze, cover, turn, move the pillow. And all the while Daniel sleeps on. So I pull myself from the half-sleep haze and get out of bed. Ok, on with the day. Hey--I don't have to be up yet!! I didn't reset the alarm from Friday's early appointment with Ike. I climbed back into bed for another half hour. I must have dozed again, because Daniel was gone for his day of golf when I did get up.

Over to the radiation center, into the gown, Ron called me back. Adrienne was in there, setting up my device, and adjusted me and the table and the snout. You know, the accessory that narrows the field. I suppose I'll have to ask tomorrow what it's called...

"Be right back," Adrienne calls as she leaves the room. Ok. The machine clicks zzzzzz, click, and done. She comes back in. I have to wait until the machine is moved before I can move, that's how close it is. You're almost done, she says. (Yep.) She tells me that she thinks it's gone really fast, that it seems like just the other day she did my markings (tattoos). I comment that my treatments have affected other people, not just my life. It has been a challenge, not only for me, but for my co-workers, who have so graciously and non-complainingly covered my schedule. Oh, she said. I tell her I have the best co-workers ever, they've supported me from day one. I've got to go, Millie is coming in the door (Ron must have called her back). See you tomorrow...

I get home and call Tisha to let her know the my therapy appointment is 11:30, and I can be in to work about 2:30-3:00. She tells me someone will have to be on-call, would I like to be on-call? I tell her yes, that's ok, but if someone else would like to go home, I'd be happy to come in. Ok, she says. Thanks.

My next call is to an appliance repair shop. Our refrigerator/freezer doesn't seem as cold as it should be, and I'd rather be proactive than reactive. Sure, the nice lady said, how about the first appointment after lunch?? Ok. I'm thinking I can have the repair person here and be able to get to Jackson by 2:30-3:00 if I need to. Tish calls me back--someone does want to go home, so I'll be going to Jackson after the refrigerator guy is done. I do a few little chores, then it's time for my appointment with Ike.

I get to the therapy place, and Ike calls me back after a few minutes. She tells me to go into room 2 and "get myself ready". Funny.

I change into a gown, and she comes in shortly. She looks at my breast and shakes her head. "I cannot touch that anymore", she says. Yes, I know. Under the breast has sloughed off, and the nipple and areola are very swollen and quite red. She nods her head. That will break down soon, she says. Great. Looking forward to it. I'll do what I have to do.....

She massages my arm and into my armpit, moving that fluid around. She does what she does, and soon the hour is up. We go to the computer and move Thursday's appointment to the morning (her need) and move next weeks' appointment to Friday (my need). Ok, see you Thursday. Thank you.

Back home, the repair guy, Steve, calls just as I'm turning into the garage. Because of the construction in the area, he comes in a different way, and I walk over to the back of the complex behind us to help lead him in. We get to the refrigerator; he opens the freezer door, moves a few items around, and finds frost on the back wall. Not good. He looks a little further and decides that the heater/motor/sensor/timer something-or-other whatever he called it is failing. Oh. He said that's a good thing, it's easy to replace, and not as costly as other things that could fail. Oh. He advised me to empty the freezer, leave it off to let it defrost, and he'll bring the new part tomorrow. (he had called the shop, and it was in stock) Ok, thanks. We chatted a few minutes, and he left.

I went over to the storage unit to get the coolers, and started unpacking the freezer. Hey, this stuff at the top is thawed. Uh-oh. This might not be so easy. I call Sandy at work, and tell her I've got a freezer job. She tells me "no big deal, I'll just stay. Take care of your freezer." I love my co-workers.

I get the freezer emptied and into the various coolers that I had, and realized that I don't have anything to put the refrigerated stuff into. Hm. I called Daniel, but he didn't answer. I also didn't know how long he would be on the golf course... I left the refrigerator stuff in the fridge with the door closed. I figured that if we lose some stuff, we lose some stuff, that's the way it goes. Then I cleaned the freezer side, and sopped up the water as the frost melted.

I picked out something to eat, and did, and checked the freezer again. It was dry, so I thought it was done doing whatever it was supposed to do. So I turned it on. I went out on the balcony to rest. It was almost 4 o'clock, too late now for me to offer to go to work. I ended up taking a bit of a nap, almost an hour. It was very lovely.

When I went inside, I looked at the freezer again. It was cold! And there was ice in the bottom where some water had dripped--uh oh, I hope I didn't goof. I don't know where that water came from... Since it was cold, I set the smaller coolers into the freezer. And then Dan called and I told him what was up. He arranged for his friend Lee to bring us a couple of coolers and a couple bags of ice for the refrigerated stuff. Good.

After a while, Lee showed up. He thought the freezer was fine, and the refrigerator was cooling down, too. I decided to leave the items in the fridge. I went back out on the balcony to enjoy the evening.

Daniel got home about 8:30. He's been golfing all day. He's tired and happy. He thinks the freezer is working, but the fridge side isn't as cold as it should be. Tomorrow it will be fixed...

He checked his email and started drifting off in the chair, and it wasn't too long before he drifted off to bed.

I wrote here, and I'll check the fridge again before going to bed. Hugs.