Treats!!! Sweet!!

Yeah, Chris's birthday celebration went a little bit long. Definitely no time for a blog post last night. (I'm almost too tired still tonight!) But there's lots going on--and pretty much all good stuff. Today was radiation #24 and while my skin in the treated area is certainly starting to show signs of what it's been through (I have a very obvious "reverse sunburn" going on and it's getting pretty itchy), I am now in single digits--only 9 remaining treatments!

I also called today to schedule my appointments with Dr. Glaspy at UCLA--the oncologist I should have done my chemo with but was worried about the drive. Long time readers will remember him as the River Boat Gambler doctor--also the one who called me the "poster child for chemotherapy." I'm going to return to him (and the great and good Dr. Amer Karam) for my follow-up care. My radiation will end July 14th (The Machine willing) and then on August 14th I'll be headed into LA, seeing Dr. Glaspy first and then Dr. Karam. And then Chris and Dr. Karam and I are headed out to check out a wine bar or two in LA (at which point Dr. Karam becomes just Amer). Doctor's appointments should be fun like that, don't you think? And speaking of follow-up care, even though I only said "I don't think I'll be coming back here" to one nurse late on my last day of chemo at the Rancho Cucamonga facility, I've never heard a single word from them. I was never told to make a follow up appointment or anything at all about any follow-up care. So if I wasn't planning on going back to UCLA, and if I wasn't able to email all my questions to Dr. Karam, I'd have no idea what I was supposed to do next!! I find that strange. Very strange.

In other (actual) good news, when I was done with my turn at The Machine this morning and came back into the waiting room, my Blue Gown BFF (Ms. 9:15) was there with her two granddaughters. The girls had made treats for everyone. That's what the picture is of--the pink ribbon pop the girls made for us (me and the radiation therapists)! Isn't that cute? They also made chocolate and peanut butter dipped pretzels. Looks like RORYANN CLEMENTS and her Boobie Pops have some competition! And I'm not really good with kids ages, but I'd say they were like 10 and 12 years old, which is like an entire decade younger than Roryann!

I also emailed with a friend who is also battling breast cancer. She's recovering well post-surgery and gets to avoid chemo and radiation both. Phew! More survival to celebrate on July 19th! (Glad you are well, D. ;-)

That's part of the "treats" in the title. The other treat was the meal that Brein and Roryann made for Chris's b-day celebration last night. Fabulous!! (Seamus even got to come to the party and also enjoyed the bones he was able to steal from the trash merely because Roryann didn't believe me that Seamus can open cupboards--this is why we have babylocks on our cupboards at home; he's a beagle, people. Beagles will stop at nothing to get food.). Here's Chris with his cake--made by Roryann of course. And no, he didn't turn 43. He turned 34. Roryann has just made it her responsibility to torture Chris--first with the hair voting and now with the horrible thought of being in his 40's. Have I mentioned that she's barely 30 and Brien has not even turned 30 yet??? They probably thought 43 was quite an insult! Have I mentioned I passed 43? Um, awhile ago? See what I mean that my friends are back to openly mocking me? These are all signs I'm recovering. And they're recovering.

But wait until I tell you about food servers being insensitive to Radiation Girl and the loss of the Super Scarf powers last Friday... That will have to wait though. Radiation Girl needs her sleep (I am after all, trying to grow hair...and this takes energy).

P.S. (Can one do a PS in a blog?) I've been asked several times for this link (probably because I keep telling people about it) but here is where one can get the "No They're Not Real. The Real Ones Tried to Kill Me" shirts: CafePress (yes, click on those words--it works; I promise).

P.S.S. don't spend all your t-shirt budget on those shirts though--you will want one of our spectacular "out-chemo/ out-radiate/ OutLive" Survivor t-shirts! (coming soon...I think.)