Walking in Sunshine!

Well I'm not exactly walking right now....but the sun is shining.  Yesterday went very well....or mostly well.

Janet was a few minutes late because of traffic, then we got in my car and started heading for Rochester, but let me tell you at that time of the morning, there is traffic all over.  We got in line, and crawled over to 35 W, then crawled off the exit to Hwy 10, then crawled through the stoplight on 96, etc. etc.....it took us 45 minutes to get downtown St. Paul, which should have taken about 20 minutes.  But luckily once we got that far, we were going against traffic, and it wasn't any problem at all.  We did make it to Desk R (I'm guessing the R is  for Radiation) just in time to get my drink of barium, and then I got to sit and wait another hour before they did anything.
When it got close to 11 a.m. I got to walk back to the area where I got the beverage, change into a gown and wait to be taken into the imaging room. They had me lay down on a CT machine table, and then they worked at lining me up just so. Then they made a form for my legs, so that next week when I have my treatments, they will have me place my legs in those forms to help line me up exactly the same way.  Then they ran we through the CT scan machine a few times, and then they came back and tattooed my hips and in the middle of my body so they could use them to line me up as well.  Next week they will use the form for my legs and the tattoo's to make sure they are pointing the radiation in exactly the right spot.  It was very painless, and really didn't take much time.  It was shortly after 12 noon, and Janet and I were on our way.

We headed to Randy's lake home near Faribault with a quick stop at Subway and then enjoyed eating our sandwiches on Randy's deck overlooking the lake.  Randy's family have a wonderful 4 bedroom 3 bathroom 2 story home with a walkout.  The balcony on the main level is partly screened in and has great views of the lake from almost every room.  It is about an hour from Mayo, and where I will stay till I get into the Hope Lodge.

I did check and I am on the list and will wait for their call.  They claim that it doesn't usually take more than a week before you are in....so let's hope it isn't.  They have added a few more appointments to my schedule during the 15 days of radiation.  One to see the surgeon and one with the plastic surgeon.  Prior to the 15 days, I have another appointment with the oncologist, to get my chemo regiment.  I am hoping that the chemo can just be a pill I take, but otherwise I will need to be hooked up to a pump or maybe it will just be a daily IV infusion.  I guess I have to wait till next Tuesday to find that out.  They will also give me another CT scan on Tuesday.  I'm guessing so they can measure how well the radiation is working.

Last night I checked with Tom to make sure we were set for the family fantasy football league and quickly went online and set my line-up as tonight starts the whole year with the NFL game of the Vikings and New Orleans match up.  My team was a mess!!  Don't recognize any of the players, and had for some reason 4 kickers.(Can't have anything to do with the name....cause most of us in the FFF league are Kieckers!)  So I traded them away for another quarterback and tightend.  Don't know if I'll have much luck, but it's the fun of competition with the grandkids and their dads that I love.  They love beating me, and I them.  It will give me something other than cancer to think about this fall!!  Just like the cabin did this summer.

I was thinking of going to the cabin today, but the TV isn't working up there, and the Vikings are playing this evening on our local NBC channel, so I think I'll stay home.  Maybe I'll drive up tomorrow morning, and then come back home on Saturday morning, so I can work at the church carnival on Saturday afternoon.  I'll be at the bottle blast from 3-6 p.m. if anyone would like to come and take a chance.

Love and prayers to you all!  m