Wow! It’s been a long time, huh? It’s December, and life is crazy…what can I say? This year has been particularly insane due to Hubster’s work schedule and my radiation schedule. Add that to the usual stuff, and you’ve got one heap of busy. Last Friday, for example, I had radiation at 10 AM, then the monthly homeschool skating day from 1-3 PM, then ringing the bell for the Salvation Army from 4-6 PM, then an open house in the evening. Interspersed throughout was shopping for our Angel Tree kid, lunch and a whole lot of driving.
One of these days maybe I’ll learn to multitask well enough to post blog entries while I’m behind the wheel. You know, maybe I could just have some sort of high tech setup where I speak my blog entries and they’re posted here in real time….”I’ve just arrived at radiation where I’m sure that Kelly has changed the channel over to the Food Network…ARRRRGGGHHH! Oh my word, it’s on channel 10 AGAIN! Stupid Family Feud!” (Later that day…) “We’re on our way to the skating rink. This is the first time I’ve been able to use the skates Hubster got me on Ebay because…DRIVE MUCH, LADY?! Sheesh! HEY BUDDY—EVER CONSIDERED DRIVING IN YOUR OWN LANE?!” Okay, maybe that real time mobile blogging thing isn’t such a good idea.
As a side note, I just read the above paragraph to Mini Me, complete with Sam Kinnison-esque screaming. Upon completion, all she had to say was, “There’s something wrong with you.” What would I do without such affirmation? She’s the wind beneath my wings, I tell ya.
So on Friday, I went to radiation and informed them that the skin was peeling in the armpit. (And, FYI, I have NOT been wearing deodorant lately) I had discovered this the night before when applying cream to the area felt like I was sawing on my pit with a steak knife. They tell you (you know, that omniscient and mysterious “they”) that radiation may cause a sunburn sort of thing. One of my books actually says, “You’ll probably have a mild sunburn effect.” Let me just say that this doesn’t look like any sunburn I’ve ever had…but perhaps they mean the type some would normally get from direct physical contact with a flaming orb. At the very least, it looks like I spent a good 30 minutes pouring boiling water onto my pit. The rest of the treated area looks a little red, but doesn’t feel bad at all.
Am I the only cancer girl out there who has had it up to her flaming armpits with people not telling the truth about this stuff? When THEY tell me that I might peel like I’ve had a bad sunburn, that brings to mind a painless, dry peeling, not the nasty, painful, serious skin loss I’ve got going on. This isn’t the first time I’ve had people not quite tell me the whole truth about side effects. What’s up with that? I can handle just about anything, but it’s helpful to me if I can have some idea of what I’ve got to deal with instead of some sugar-coated bull!
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As I mentioned before, one of the places we went on Friday was the skating rink. Joy! I LOVE to roller skate, but even though I’d recently gotten a pair of skates, I wasn’t yet allowed to use them per Dr Schmidt’s orders. (He never lets me have any fun.) While some people may consider Disneyland to be the happiest place on earth, for me, the happiest place is the skating rink. There, I get to enjoy two of my absolute favorite things: roller skating and watching people fall. Yeah, that’s right, watching people fall. Flame me if you want to—I don’t care. Physical comedy just slays me. And no, I don’t wait to laugh until after I ask, “Are you okay?” Now, if somebody fell into, let’s say a big hot dog factory meat grinder, I might not think that was funny. But just a run of the mill, arms flailing in a desperate attempt to steady oneself by grasping madly at thin air, good old fashioned fall on the butt is my kind of humor. Consequently, being at the skating rink full of kids is a little slice of sparkling disco ball heaven. Friday was a good day.
In The Pink 