It's A Tuesday and I've Finally Get an Earlier Radiation Time!

Starting today I shift my radiology appointments from the 9:00 am slots to the 8:00 am slots (until my final appointment next Tuesday which is at the 7:45 am slot). That means I'm writing shorter blogs and catching up with all of you, my online friends, a bit less frequently because even though I'm waking up at 3:00 am instead of 4:00 am, I still have to get my run/walk in, shower, eat breakfast, and do the other things required in my normal mornings before leaving the house. But I am happy to be at the 8:00 am slot now because it makes getting to the shop on time to open properly MUCH easier. 

My radiation team is excellent - thorough and quick now
that we've got this down to a fine routine. I'm usually 
in and out of there in 10 minutes or so. A total WIN. 

I find myself at a lack of words today - I'm tired of writing about cancer, cancer, cancer, and I can imagine you're getting tired of reading about it just about as much as I am. But it's the life I'm living in right now, so it's prominent in my thoughts and actions. We're experiencing an unusually early Spring, which I'm certainly enjoying. But I suspect many of you are already thinking seriously about your gardens and the growing season ahead. I'm looking forward to warmer weather, happy birds, and green grass, but I still have a lot on my plate before that's going to happen. 

Billy Connolly, Scottish humorist, has it totally right 
in this paragraph. He has it totally right in a lot 
of different paragraphs. Not familiar with him? Just 
look him up on Google. Lots of good stuff there to 
lift your spirits and make you think. 

So I'm going to cut this short today. I don't have much to say .... at least not much that's new, but I wanted to check in with everyone because that's what I do and have done for more than a decade. I post in my blog six days a week, and my long-time readers worry if I miss a day when I haven't warned them about a time conflict in advance. Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow for my "day off". Slava Ukraini. 

Mountains and Water and a River - Moving Along with Radiation Too

Starting today, I am shifting into earlier scheduling for my Radiation Therapy. Today will be 9:00 am, so not much different than the 9:15 am I've been on. But tomorrow, I'll drop down to 8:00 am and I even have one 7:45 am before I've completed the therapy. That means you might be getting very truncated posts on those earlier days because I still want to exercise on the treadmill and shower before I sit down in front of the computer. I'm just warning you - there may be a day or two there where I might be unable to post, or might post quite a bit later than usual. 

The Canadian Rockies are stunning. I recall my parents 
having taken a train trip through Canada to Banff. Mom 
was singularly unimpressed. When she took a trip, she 
wanted to meet new people and go shopping, not look at a 
lot of scenery - much of which looked like mountains 
she already knew in Colorado. But I adore the mountains, 
and think I'd really enjoy a train trip through Canada 
and the Banff Rockies. 

Today's treadmill was awesome. I spent 30 minutes in the Canadian Rockies - one of my favorite places to be. It was stunning scenery and lots of mountains with snow on the top and glacial waters gathering at the bottom. I might enjoy the desert vistas of New Mexico and Arizona, but my heart always belongs in the mountains - those deep, deep roots and high, high peaks that have snow on them year-'round. I suppose that's what comes from being a Colorado girl, but I live in an area where a 600 foot incline is considered worthy of having a ski lift and slopes for downhill. What a joke! 

You can walk across the Mississippi River at its' 
birthplace at Lake Itasca, Minnesota. It grows - a 
LOT - before it pours into the Gulf of Mexico (or 
Gulf of America if you want to be "woke"). 

Where I live was scoured flat by the great glaciers of the Ice Age back long, long ago. I have the great rivers and what seems like a million lakes (only 10,000 or so, according to the state slogan - LOL). I live in the state that gives birth to the mighty Mississippi. You can go to Lake Itasca and actually walk across where the great river is born. By the time the river hits the Twin Cities, it's already wide and deep enough to handle barge traffic, and it only continues to grow and grow as it moves south towards it's mouth at the great city of New Orleans. 

If you look carefully at the map above, you'll see 
Baton Rouge below the word River in the title. 
That's where the various Mississippi River Deltas 
begin. The river currently moves along south of New 
Orleans to the Port of New Orleans, but it keeps 
depositing soil as it goes, and changing the 
landscape it passes through. It's a huge river and it 
moves a lot of dirt downstream. 

It's the great rivers of the world that have allowed people to gather, join together, build settlements, towns, cities and nations, and pull together within national identities. Water is life, and human beings always gathered around dependable water sources first, then looked for the other things that would make long-term settlement possible. That's when things like climate, available food sources, and other people who might be allies or enemies all came into play. But water was the first thing, because without water, there is no life on this blue planet that is primarily liquid. Have an excellent day, I'm off to grab a quick breakfast and head over to Radiology. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Friday! Yippee!!

Happy Friday to everyone. I actually get a "day off" today although I still have to start my day out with radiation therapy. That's fine, though. We've got this routine down pat. I get called into the room and asked if I would like a warm blanket ... well duh! Of COURSE I want a warm blanket - it's the best thing about clinic visits all around! LOL 

I totally agree with Linus. Happiness is indeed a warm 
blanket, and whenever a clinic offers me one, I'm totally 
on top of it! 

I pull off my clothing from the waist up and climb onto the very unyielding table (made that way for the sake of sanitizing the furniture between each client). Sometimes I think they hire the radiation techs for two purposes - people who can be precise enough to aim the radiation exactly where it is supposed to hit, and people who are willing to clean everything between patients. 

This is very similar to the position I have to take 
when I'm getting my radiation therapy. I hold upright 
posts with my hands above my head, and my knees are 
bent over a triangular form. I also have a head cavity, 
where I'm supposed to rest with my head facing one 
direction or the other, not straight upward. That 
folds my ear a bit and can get uncomfortable after 
a while. But, the sacrifices are minimal when 
compared to the benefits, and the staff is wonderful. 

I am worried about one of the patients I share the waiting room with, though. She is a small, slight, older woman who has had several people take her to her appointments. I think it's been a few friends, but also the free shuttle service that can be scheduled when needed. The past two days she's been there with her husband. Yesterday she wasn't doing well. She looked VERY tired and in pain, and was moving very slowly. When they called her name, she got up and shuffled toward the tech, who quickly asked if she would prefer a wheel chair. When she nodded, he quickly went and grabbed one (they keep several on hand for that purpose) and wheeled her into the left chamber (I usually am in the right chamber). 

After a short time, the tech came back out and said something quietly to her husband, who looked very concerned and quickly arose from his seat, accompanying the tech into the back rooms. I didn't see either of them again, and had my own session shortly afterward. I wonder if I will see her today. I've certainly been holding her in my thoughts and prayers. 

I love the produce section of my local grocery store, it's 
kept very well stocked, the veggies (and the fruits) are 
beautifully fresh, and I always feel pretty confident about 
the quality I'm purchasing. The variety is also excellent. 

So today is a day off, as I stated above, and I'll do some grocery shopping, but I don't actually need a lot. I'm starting to miss my alkagizers, and I might start making and drinking them again next week. I'll  give myself the remainder of this week without. I also need to call my treadmill people - I have a rail that has left its footing and needs to be reseated properly. I'll also remind them that they should have a new ON/OFF switch with cables for me. It seems that their repair service, although efficient when they are actually in the home, are a bit slow on the actual scheduling. They have a branch close to my home. I might just pay an in-store visit and see if things might go a bit faster. LOL Have a great Friday, I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week (and enjoy the first of two days without hospital visits - LOL). Slava Ukraini. 

Thoughts of People in our Past

We were good and went to the "Celebration of Life" (or whatever mortuaries are calling their get-togethers these days). It was good to see Gary, as always. He's our landlord (took over after his Dad died), and he's a great guy. It was also nice to see Hugh again - I haven't seen him for several years although he lives rather close to me. Dean, the brother who died (apparently of a massive heart attack) was the youngest of the three brothers. Their Mom is still living and was there. It was lovely to see her again and give her a hug and chat for a little bit. She's in her 90's now, but looks quite good. 

It was quite the nice location, and an easy drive from the house. 
It's right on the way to my orthodontist, so I was very 
familiar with the road and the best way to get there quickly. 
The funeral chapel was quite large with several different 
rooms available for people to gather in. Instead of a 
photo story-board as I'm used to (I haven't been to a wake 
in more than a decade), they had a nice large screen 
with photos rotating through virtually. That was a nice touch. 

DH filled me in a little bit on how we actually knew the family. Apparently, the father, Iver Carlson, had built an enclosed porch for DH's Dad way back when, and he also re-roofed our first home - the very small 1920's house that we first moved into (DH's Grandmother's house). Later on, the company did the gutters, siding and roof for the house we currently live in. The business closed a few years ago, but they still own a lot of property in the area around the store, so they are landlords now, rather than actively doing maintenance and building. 

Our neighborhood is basically owned by two families 
and a college. One of those families is the Carlson 
family, who have owned much of the property on our 
main street and rental housing west of us for decades. 
The actual business closed about five years ago, but 
they are still very active landlords in the area. 

We didn't stay long, I wasn't expecting to. I just felt we needed to make an appearance and make sure we saw all of the major people at least once. I knew Hugh the least of all of the boys. He was the only one who wasn't involved in the family business at one time or another. I know Gary the best - as our landlord he's been in and out, helping to fix, maintain and rebuild parts of our shop for many years now. 

Radiation therapy is going really well, and it's 
smooth and efficient. I'm generally out within 
10 minutes of being called back. We're getting 
into a routine, here - LOL. 

Radiation therapy is in its' second week now and I'm not really having any physical repercussions that I can tell, although I'm sure it's doing something. But I'm feeling pretty darned good, and just make sure that I stay on the schedule they've assigned me. Today is one of those days that I might be late to work, so I'll make sure the alarm is off so that Chickie can get in on time if I'm running slightly late. You can never tell what traffic will be like on the streets, and I don't want to open late. So I'll leave a bit early to make sure I have things ready to go for her before heading to the clinic. 

Have an excellent Thursday. I'm already looking forward to the end of the week. It's been quite the week so far - LOL. Enjoy your day and please, be kind. Kindness can be infectious, and we all need some kindness in our lives these days. Slava Ukraini. 

Death and Taxes - Aren't Those the Immovable Objects of our Lives?

Our income tax appointment last night was short and sweet. DH had everything together, I answered a couple of easy questions, we left everything with Paul and were on our way within 30 minutes. I remember the days of income tax preparation all too well. My Dad was an accountant and prepared income tax returns through his business (when he had a business), and then prepared them for family and friends after he "retired". Our lives revolved around the dates of March 15th and April 15th. 

We've been seeing Paul for our income taxes and tax 
advice for many years now. Before him, we saw my 
good friend Eleanor Anderson, who developed dementia 
and has since passed away. Paul is sharp, has a good 
sense of humor, and really knows his taxes and the law. 
Great guy! 

But everything went smoothly last night. We left the information with Paul and his office will call when everything is ready to pick up. Contrary to his usual policy, we're allowed to pick up our returns and look them over carefully before I'm sent off with payment for him. A benefit of having known him and done business with him for many years. 

I've been buying audio books from audible for more 
than two decades by now. Since they were taken over 
by Amazon, however, I have to use my credits up within 
a year or I lose them, and I've paid for them. I'm up 
against that wall now, so will have to make some 
quick choices about the next books I want to listen to. 

Audible is telling me my subscription is about to expire and I need to buy 12 audiobooks and download them before it expires or I'll lose my credits. ARGH. I have a list of books I want on audio, so choosing the books isn't the problem, it's just getting my act together to get it done. It's on my TBD for today, though. Along with laundry (already in progress), taking out the garbage (happening as soon as I leave for radiation therapy) and grocery shopping (on my way home from the radiology appointment). I'm pretty darned well organized for 5:50 am! LOL

It's always fun to catch up with Aearwen for the week. 
We've been chatting once a week (with some gaps 
for out of town visitors or trips, etc), for more than a decade. 
It's a great friendship and I love hearing what's been 
going on in her life. One of these days we'll have 
to try and meet in person. But since that would 
probably entail my having to fly to California, it's 
not happening anytime soon. LOL

I also have to get some bills e-paid today, cook dinner, and have a lovely chat with Aearwen later this afternoon. That's always a high point of my week, and we've been chatting weekly (with breaks for vacations out of town, visitors, and unexpected things) for many years. It's been a great friendship - my sister in a different state. I hope you have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

A Rare Post Without Photos - Running a Bit Late Today

I'm running about 30 minutes late today. I have no idea why. But it's just the way it is. So this will be a short post, and I'll try and catch up with your comments later on today while I'm at work. 

I'm doing really well with the radiation treatments. Of course, it's just the first week of three, but I'm getting the hang of the routine and it's actually quite fast, once all of the settings had been established. I'm grateful for that because it allows me to catch up a bit at the shop. 

I had a good solid 45 minutes on the treadmill this morning, which was wonderful. When I get to the shop today, I'll get moving on our personal bills paid from last year (we have our appointment with our accountant tonight). Originally our appointment was scheduled for tomorrow night, but there was an unexpected death of an acquaintance that will require us to attend the wake tomorrow night instead. So our accountant was kind enough to shift us over a day. I usually end up taking at least one piece of information to him later, and I'll catch up with him later in the week if necessary - Wednesday or Friday. 

The remainder of my radiation treatments for the week are all scheduled for 9:15 am. That's not impossible, but it does require me to leave there immediately to be at the shop in time to open. Since I don't assume radiation will be absolutely on time, I usually try to get over to the shop on my way and get everything turned on and ready to go, instead of hoping I'll be there in time to turn off the security alarm so that Chickie can get through the door without the cops breathing down her neck. LOL So, I'll make sure I do that very quickly this morning for her. She's got keys, so the doors can be thoroughly locked and barred. 

So, I'm out of here and starting another busy day. Have an excellent one. I think I'm going to have to pass on photos today - I was enjoying my "run" too much this morning and spent a bit longer on the treadmill than anticipated. I'll try and make up for that tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Happy St Patrick's Day to all of you. Although the St Paul parade will be passing by the building where I get my daily radiation treatment, I'll be in and out of there early, so I'll miss being caught by the bands and marchers. We've had wonderful weather - it's been warm and sunny. It's currently 36 degrees, so a bit colder, but it's still going to be a great day for the Irish celebration. 

The Luck of the Irish be with you today. St Paul always 
has a big celebration for St Patrick's Day, we have a large 
Irish population. 

We had corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes for dinner yesterday. A fairly good sized corned beef cooked down into a much smaller end product than Hubby had thought it would. If he wanted any sandwiches from the left-overs, he was totally out of luck. There are no leftovers at all, but it was a lovely meal. 

We had a typical USA St Patrick's Day dinner - 
corned beef, carrots, potatoes and cabbage. It 
was lovely and very tasty. 

We also spent yesterday dealing with a lot of financial stuff - pulling invoices and printing out bank statements for our income tax appointment later this week. I'll need to postpone that meeting by a day because we need to attend the wake of an acquaintance - the older brother of our landlord. We've known all three brothers and their parents for decades and feel we can't miss attending the "celebration of life" that will be held on Wednesday night. So we'll move our tax appointment over a day - either a day earlier or a day later. We have everything together, so a change of schedule isn't an issue for us. I'll contact our accountant later today and get that shifted. 

We're not the most expensive state, but we're not one 
of the least expensive for income taxes either. Oh well, 
it's an evil that has to be borne and dealt with every 
year. 

I'm off to radiation this morning, and I'll have a meeting with the radiation Doctor afterward, so I warned DH that I would possibly be a bit late for work today. That means he actually has to be at the shop on time and get everything ready for the public. It's rare that he has to uncover the cases and get the counter top displays put up. I'll have to see how he did when I arrive - LOL. 

It'll be really nice to see Doc Wilson again. 
He's my fellow New Mexican doctor, and I 
just get along with him really well. We're both 
transplants into the state of Minnesota, and we 
both like this state quite a lot. 

So, I had a lovely "run" this morning, and I'm ready to start my day. I hope you have a great Monday and a good St Patrick's Day if you're celebrating today. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Radiation Day Two - Day One Went Well - LOL

Radiation was interesting. Whoever designed the platforms the patient is lying on must have taken lessons from whomever designed the apparatus you're in when you're doing an MRI. Both surfaces are absolutely unyielding. They offer (and I gladly accept) a warm blanket, which helps from waist down in my case, but my head needs to be in a certain position which is uncomfortable without hair to cushion me, and the body, of course, must be immobile. Still, as treatments go, I think this will go well. 

That's pretty much what the radiation equipment looks 
like - rather alien. You lie there unmoving, hands holding 
pegs above your head, and you stay immobile for as 
long as it takes. It's pretty easy, as treatments go. I'm 
told it will wear on me, and that's possible, but I'm a 
rather high energy person, so maybe it won't be totally 
horrid by the end of my 15 sessions. 

This first session was actually a lot of measurements and I think there was some treatment in there too, but it all started to look the same after a while. The ceiling is rather fun - they have small blinking lights, like stars in the night sky, that turn on and off in random patterns. There are also interesting lights on the sides of the machine and at the machine itself, so I enjoyed that. I have three new tattoos (although they're so tiny, I can barely notice them). Just a single prick to drive a pinpoint of ink into my skin. It's for placement for the radiation, so one on each side, and one between my breasts. I had to laugh a bit when they asked if I had any problem with tattoos. "Have you looked at my head?" I asked, laughing. They chuckled, and explained that some people have an issue with tattoos. But that's definitely NOT me. 

The ceiling has sets of small LED or fiber optic bulbs 
scattered across it, and they turn on and off in random 
patterns. I rather liked the effect. 

In the afternoon I had my six-month checkup with my orthodontist, who was VERY pleased with how things are holding up and the condition of my retainers (I sonic clean them every day). I was in and out of there in a flash, and don't have another appointment until my one-year check in the Fall. I popped over to the grocery store across the street from the clinic to pick up a BUNCH of tea. I prefer Republic of Tea choices, and this particular grocery carries the largest variety. So I spent a BUNCH of money on tea, but I was down to my last three canisters, so it was a necessity. Now I'm stocked until quite late this year. 

I adore Republic of Tea Hibiscus varieties. They 
have several, and I love them all. I got a lot of 
other teas too (I spent a LOT for a six-month 
supply). I have to read the labels carefully, 
though. Nothing with "natural flavors" because 
there's NOTHING natural about "natural flavors". 
I used to know a chemist who worked in food 
chemistry, and she told me that little gem. 

So today will be Day 2 of 15 days of radiation treatment. I'll have to drop by the shop first, I'll switch off the security alarm, but leave the doors fully locked. Chickie has keys for both locks, so she'll be able to get in if I'm still caught at the clinic at 10:00 am. My appointment is for 9:15 am, but I have to factor in travel time, etc. too. I suspect I'll be within 5 minutes of opening, but it could be five minutes late - LOL. I hope all of you have a wonderful day. I had an excellent "run" this morning, and am feeling fully recovered from the infection I fought for two weeks. It's so nice to feel good again. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow. 

A Day of Appointments and the Printer Saga Resolution

Today is my first day of Radiation therapy, with an appointment for 9:00 am. I follow that up with a 10:00 am appointment with a doc to double-check my armpit (which seems to be healing very well - FINALLY), and I also have an appointment with my Orthodontist at 2:00 pm for a six-month checkup. Busy day! 

Brian was an absolute sweetheart, very detail 
oriented, and focused. He was the perfect 
service tech - not wasting a lot of time on chit 
chat, just getting right to work. 

The printer saga ... oy veh! So, Brian arrived from the service department of our local printer and copier store. I've done business with them for years and years, they're really good and very dependable. So, he took a thorough look at the printer that had just died (A), and also at the replacement printer (B) that I purchased a couple of years ago. The printer that died had lost a very important sensor. I actually remember seeing a piece of metal while printing a report, I guess that was it! After realizing the importance of that very small piece of metal, we recognized that the second printer (B) actually did have that sensor. The question was would we be able to (1) move the sensor from B ro A, or (2) make B feed paper properly. After some serious time, tearing things apart and rebuilding them, the consensus was a firm "NO", it won't work. *sigh* 

It's a VERY old printer, but it's HP, so it's a workhorse 
and it's reliable. I could never bring myself to toss it 
away because it worked well, just was very old. Well, 
my system seems to like it just fine, so it's now our new 
printer until we close. It's a LOT bigger than our old 
printer, but we'll just have to deal with that. 

In desperation we looked for something we had that might work. I've had an old HP LaserJet 5P for decades. It was a workhorse when I was in my Mall of America shop. I had tried it with the sales system before, relying on the printer setting recommendations of my Computer Guru (who will be the first person to admit he knows nothing about printers). This time we tried printing on "Generic Printer" setting, and it worked, but it didn't print at the size we needed. I switched the setting to an HP setting offered by my program, and tried printing again. Perfection! It works! Now I have to find and buy a replacement printer cartridge for it, because I have no idea how many pages are left in the current cartridge, but it works, and we'll use it. It takes up a LOT more desk space, however, so DH has cut another shelf for our over-structure and will install that today. I'm sure it will be messy in no time at all - LOL. 

As you can tell from comparing the two photos, 
the printer here is much smaller. It's unfortunate 
that it couldn't be fixed, but the fact that both 
printers died from the same cause means it's 
a systemic failure. I won't bother trying another 
used one, we'll just deal with the 5P instead since 
it seems to work properly - slowly, but properly. 

I hope your problems all turn out to be minimal. I have a billion appointments today, but should JUST get back home in time to chat with Aearwen. At least, that's the plan - LOL. Have a great Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow, just in time for the next session of Radiation (fifteen days in a row, no weekends). Be good to yourself and kind to others. Slava Ukraini. 

Training to Jump Through Hoops

Apparently my training for jumping through hoops is paying off. I now have a four-page schedule of upcoming appointments with my cancer care team members  - doctors, clinicians, test centers, etc. Somehow I have to make all of this mesh with my more normal appointments - semi-annual tooth clean and check, and a visit to my orthodontist for my six-month checkup. I had no idea I would be so popular in my old age. *sigh*

I'm becoming too popular. I'd like a bit less popularity 
with the doctors, and a bit less comfort in the various 
waiting rooms where I've been spending WAY too much 
time, lately. LOL

Yesterday's clinic visit was both good and bad. It was good, in that I wasn't imagining that the lump under my right arm had increased, but bad in that I have to go back today for an ultrasound and another aspiration (if I'm lucky). If the aspiration doesn't work, there might be another minor surgical procedure in my future to get rid of the more solid gunk that has built up in that location. 

It's getting to be a requirement for every day, lately. 
I'll be here again today at noon or so for an 
ultrasound and another aspiration. 

Of course, with all of this going on, this week's radiology appointment had to be postponed. That is both good and bad, Dr Zack was able to slot me in to the early morning slots, 9:15 am until the 24th, when I drop back to 9:00 am, and then, for my final week, I'm in the 8:00 am slot. That's great and allows me to get to the shop on time without issues. So, things aren't all bleak. 

So, instead of starting my Radiation Therapy this 
week, I'm starting it on the 12th. In the long run, 
I can actually get earlier times this way, so I'm 
happy about small favors - LOL. 

But, we're under a weather alert, snow is on the way, and I'll have to see how that impacts my day today since I need to take a quick run to the bank before going to work, and will also be back at the clinic at 12:15 to get the lump examined and tested. *sigh* Nothing comes easy - LOL. Have an excellent day - I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.