Author: Peg

Trees. Leaves. When you live on the 17th floor all you gotta do is enjoy them.

Well, Mr C got a target tattooed on his chest and CAT Scan today. And a schedule for his first 21 days nuking. He starts on November 20.

And, I got a summons for a week of Jury Duty starting January 6. Guess I’ll do it. I could play the “wife of really sick old man” card… But, I am hoping that he will not be really sick. And, by the next time my number is up – I can say “I am over 70 and am too old to be on a jury.”

I am sort of unstuck. At least I ticked off a couple of things from my 2do list.

Today’s Good Thing: A nice nap.

I find myself sort of stuck. I haven’t even clicked anything off my 2Do list since Tuesday. I am just stuck. Not sad, depressed, unhappy, miserable, gloomy, glum, melancholy, dejected, disconsolate, downhearted, despondent, dispirited… just stuck. Funny thing is, I don’t even know where I am stuck.

Note to self: Get Unstuck.

Mr C is still on for a pre-radiation CAT Scan tomorrow afternoon. Guess I’ll be a good wife and go with him – just in case Doc Nuke-em makes an appearance.

Two Good Things Today: Great weather and a power failure at work sent me home early to enjoy the great weather.

Power failure at the hospital also took out the operating rooms and the GI Unit where colonoscopies are done. Now, if you were being operated on – you would be unconscious – so you wouldn’t notice. And if you were actually having a colonoscopy at the time the power goes off – I assume there might be enough reserve/battery power to finish the job. But, what about the poor schmuck who is next in line for the colonoscopy… This person, who has spent the last 24 hours “preparing” – gets sent home. Not a happy thing.

 

 

 

Trust me on this one, boys and girls – it was darn near impossible to have consensual sex while trussed up in your basic rubberized long line panty girdle. Gee, that was fun… Let’s have another ad.

Mr C had his JP drain removed today. He said it hurt. Bad.

Today’s Good Thing: Voting. A Straight NOT TEA PARTY Ticket. Now, it will be a better thing if the Democrats win.

Nobody is Promised Tomorrow. And, no monument is covered in light forever. And, I should have taken more photos of the Washington Monument while the lights were on. The monument was lighted just after July 4th and last night was the last time they were turned on.  They were great while they lasted.

Today’s Good Thing: A cup of steaming hot coffee after a brisk walk home from volunteer work.

 

 

Today’s Good Thing: The Partial Solar Eclipse.

I was completely unprepared for the eclipse. I was sure it was going to be clouded out – but, it made a temporary appearance. I had to resort to the trusty pinhole projector to see it. But, as the eclipse was slipping behind the clouds – I was able to fire off a quick photo. From inside. The pointy cat ear things at the bottom are reflections from the double pane glass.

I gotta make something good out of this Radiation Time Out. I can lounge around munching cookies, drinking beer and do online shopping. This would not be a good plan. I will end up fat and surrounded by “stuff” that I don’t need. Heck, if I drank enough beer, I could end up having to go to AA meetings.

 

Restarting the old theme. The blog theme was easy enough to change. I need to work on changing my personal “theme”. For the last 11 months I have been worried and concerned about Mr C’s health. Well except for a couple of golden weeks between the hernia operation and the recurrence of the “whack-a-mole” cancer. And, there is much more to come. I fear he will have problems with the lymphadenectomy site. And, like the recurrent cancer – he will be partly responsible – because he was not a very responsible  post surgical patient. Then, there is the non-trivial radiation. And, of course, the whack-a-mole cancer can pop up anywhere at anytime.

I am not the good wife. When the going gets tough – I cut and run. So, I am trying to come up with a survival plan for ME. To hell with Mr. C. He has the Little Cancer Doc, the Big Cancer Doc, and Dr Nuke-em.

But, enough whining. since Hawai’i is off the table for now – I have lots of stuff to do. Things to cancel. Things to schedule. Things to rearrange. I’ll have them all done by Wednesday. I sure hated canceling those lovely 1st class tickets to Kona. Well, I almost did 1st class!

Stopped off at the Apple Store this morning to check out the new iPads. And, as an investor, to check out the crowds. I saw plenty of people buying them. They new ones are sweet. But, I still have a hard time figuring out what I would do with one. I may rethink this after the new iPad Mini’s come out.

Today’s Good Thing: It was a lovely warm fall day. Focus on the good.

Back into the healthcare vortex again today.

First, we stop of to visit the lymphedema specialist. She very nicely very seriously scolded Mr C for not following orders about what to do and not do with his “bad” arm. The arm that is missing 15 lymph nodes. She scared him. Too bad he didn’t see her earlier.

Next, we went to see the radiation oncologist. First, we waited around. And, waited around. And, waited some more. Doc Nuke’em recommended a 6 week course of radiation. He said that the first 2 weeks will be “no biggie” the next 2 weeks Carlton will be feeling fairly crappy and he said that the last two weeks will be “worse”. Just how worse he wouldn’t say. And, that it would take another 6 weeks to recover. Carlton is sort of with the program. He has an appointment for a pre-Nuke’em CAT scan next Friday with treatment starting as soon as his surgery is completely healed.

Hawai’i isn’t happening. Maybe in January. I keep thinking that the goddess is PUNISHING me for buying those 1st class tickets! (1st class non-refundable tickets I might add).

I am a little concerned about our sanity. Maybe just MY sanity. When he was really sick with the infection back in April and I was worried that he would die – well, I could deal with that. But a 6 week run of radiation – knowing that he will be getting sicker every day for 6 weeks… And, Carlton being a really bad patient. I am just plain worried. How will I manage? And, it will be winter. I hate winter. I’d say, screw it – I’ll just spend Xmas week in Paris – but that is when he’ll be the sickest.

I’ll just lay in a big stash of beer.

I think I’ll keep this theme for another day – might as well finish off the Day of the Dead.

 

We are having a much needed break from all things Carlton today. Happy Halloween, boys and girls!

 

Well, well, well … an update to the Word Press update has everything working again.

One thing is for sure – Howard U always has darn good looking parade marshals.

Carlton gots no sense. Today, he decided that he needed a new battery. Car battery that is. So, the silly man decided to install the new battery himself. He did. And now, his hands are all cut and bruised. But, would he PAY to have the battery installed – NOOOOOOoooooo. Guess he is still saving his money for a “rainy day”. Well, from where I am sitting  – it is a F-ing monsoon.

A nice warm fall day. I spent several hours on my terrace. Reading trashy novel.

Mr C went to his volunteer job – where he did not push wheel chairs. He answered the phone. He started having a lot of pain around his surgical site – so he went to see his doctor. Doc said it was just a part of the “normal” healing process. Doc also admitted that he hadn’t a clue about Mr C’s future treatment. There is very little data on metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. In the absence of data, I guess the Carlton will just have to decide on radiation or not radiation. Maybe Doctor Nuke’em will have some insight. Or maybe, he’ll just see Carlton as a revenue source. Cynical, yes…

One of my co-workers brought me some of her extra clothes. And, I got a pair of leggings and a pair of tights at Macy’s today. SO – I am good to go for winter clothes. If it gets really cold, I’ll just stay inside.

I am still assuming that Mr C will agree to go through with radiation and we’ll be here until late December. Today, he is starting to make F-it noises. If he doesn’t get the radiation, and we go to Hawai’i as planned – I fear I might have to bring him back to Arlington before our 4 months in Hawai’i is up. So, one way or the other, I’ll be seeing more winter than I want to see.

But, I don’t want winter clothes. Well, maybe some killer boots.

(Happy Halloween – this theme is problematic too.)