Perky GryEyed update

[Guest guest]

First thing first: I have absolutely NO idea how to thank and the

PSTC gang for their efforts on my behalf. I am planning a Thank You

Card-writing session over Thanksgiving (with a really good friend present

to make sure I don't get TOO maudlin). That's all I'm gonna say right now

(because I am otherwise speechless in that regard).

Now on to the chipper (no pun intended) stuff:

The week just before a Chemo session are " good " days. I still haven't any

energy but I can eat just about anything I want (more about that later) and

everybody that sees me tells me how good I look. Except for the no hair

bit, I apparently " don't look like a Chemo patient. "

I still have stubble all over my scalp, from the Buzz Cut Party a few weeks

ago. Rather like male-pattern baldness, my pate is pretty shiny on the

very top, with the least amount of stubble there. There is absolutely NO

sensation when I grab the stubble with my fingernails to yank on it, but

there's a lot of it that hasn't fallen out yet. I've considered using

duct tape to yank it all out, you know, like waxing one's ..

..whatevers... but a wiser person suggested I use surgical tape

instead. So.... this Thursday, when I'm sitting in that chair having

toxins carefully dripped into my port-a-cath, I'll spend some of those

three hours playing with tape I'll ask the nurses to supply. Have I ever

mentioned that I'm really anal-retentive?? <wry expression> Yes, that IS

with a hyphen!

WONDERFUL suggestion(s) from friends all over the place: I'm starting a

scrapbook of Well Wishes. I was already saving all the cards I've been

sent, displaying them on a card-hanger thingie on my bedroom door, but now

I'll be printing off e-mails and fiddling with the cards and other

what-sits in a photo album. It just so happens that QVC is presenting

Scrap Book supplies right now in a Craft & Hobbies chunk o' " So Nothing

Else At All Is On TV Right Now " special. <eyes wide>

I've never gotten a flu shot, but then again I have never hung around

pharmacies as much as I've been visiting mine, lately. It's Flu Shot

Season. Hmmmm. I called the Oncology Center to ask if I should be getting

one (trying to be proactive and healthy, y'know) and was informed they do

the flu shot thing there too, and when I go in on Thursday, if my

oncologist thinks I should get one, they'll give me one there. Well.. not

" give " as in free, but.. add it to the other medications. Hmmm. Are flu

shots IV or IM? I haven't a clue. 50 years old and yet another experience

to add to my repertoire.

I found out why Chemo patients are supposed to avoid exposure to

sunlight: We burn REALLY FAST. Another one of those chemotherapy side

effects. Luckily, I observed the rapid pinkening of my legs when I was

having a bowl of cereal on my porch steps and mentioned it to my

oncologist, in one of our frequent check-ups. (It was one of those " Hey,

now I know " moments; I've had several of those. Y'see, the doctors often

say stuff, but the " what will happen " parts don't always get

explained.) She assured me that she didn't want me HIDING from the sun,

but I should be covered up if I was going to be out in it.

Now my white blood cells are low. I got " busted " last week by one of our

clerical gals who knows a whole lot about chemotherapy. (Her young

daughter had cancer before she started work with the department.) I'm not

supposed to hang out anywhere with " lots of people. " Especially people who

might be ill; have a cold or something. No shopping at COSTCO - ask

someone else to do those tasks for me - or at supermarkets during busy

times when there are a lot of people there. My immune system is

retarded. <muttering> No salad bar or buffet noshing, avoid fast food

restaurants, no traipsing through malls. And if I can't easily wash

fruit, I'm not supposed to eat it. Dang. (Ever try to wash raspberries??)

I've been having the most vivid dreams. Very realistic while I'm dreaming

and sometimes when I awaken there's quite a bit of lingering belief. The

most curious one of late was the time I was showing off how well my

anti-nausea drugs work by eating slugs in the garden. (They were really

small slugs, only about half an inch long ... but come on - what's up with

a dream like that!!?!?!?!) Luckily - I guess - there's been no rain so

there's also been no slugs or snails creeping around in my yard. Not that

I've actually gone looking for them, but... <shuddering>

My sister returns to visit on Chemo weekends, taking a day and a half off

to be here once I get home from the Oncology Center and staying until

Sunday evening. (The dispatchers are still providing me with

transportation on Chemo Days.) She has a high neatness quotient, so I'm

going to have to galvanize myself into attempting some of the tidying tasks

she has " suggested. " Tomorrow and the next day. In between naps.

I've discovered SpongeBob SquarePants on Nickleodeon. I think one has to

be stoned to REALLY enjoy the cartoon to its fullest, but it still makes me

laugh so hard I have to dash to the bathroom sometimes. And yes, I do

watch the dashless and classless " Reno 911. " Humor is healing, they

say. Even very bad humor. It sure feels better than having the grumps!

I have to change the channel, because QVC is obviously addictive. I can

hardly believe there are actually people who CALL IN to talk about products

in the middle of the night!!! And they know the presenters BY NAME! This

is simply amazing.

It will be a few days before I post again. Some of y'all are probably

relieved to read that. <grin>

Happy to be here, proud to serve.

Olmstead

Public Safety Dispatch Supervisor

~somewhere on the Central CA coast~

http://www.gryeyes.com

[not presumed to be a statement of my employing agency]