This was me today. A friend and I went to an antique/junk mall where we spent over two hours finding treasures. I always look for things I can repurpose or craft with, and she was looking for anything spooky. After we left there, we had lunch outside by the river, and then stopped by a couple of Halloween stores on the way home.
I’m so thankful she invited me out for the day and that we had a good (and successful) shopping time.
I feel like a Friday broken record, but man am I glad the week is over. Mostly because of work. Today was one of those days where nothing went smoothly. Last week my work computer was switched out, so I struggled all week with glitches. Passwords were no longer saved. I lost bookmarked sites. My VPN connection went out half a dozen times by lunch. I was ready to throw my computer against the wall by 3 pm today.
But I made it. I’m thankful for the weekend. I’m glad we got some needed rain tonight. I have shopping plans for tomorrow. I opened up the bag of Halloween candy already. All is good.
Today I’m thankful that my radiation appointment was quicker. I was in and out in leas than 1/2 hr. I’m also thankful that my wrist is feeling better. it’s not quite normal but way less sore. Finally, I’m thankful for a spontaneous dinner with some friends. It was a beautiful night for outdoor dining.
Well, I was right about my wrist problem. It is De Quervain’s. But I was wrong about the solution. Since it wasn’t getting better, I called my doctor who referred me to an orthopedic clinic where I went this morning. The hand and wrist specialist said that at the stage my wrist was, the splint would no longer work. He did a cortisone shot instead. All I can say is, Ouch.
The upside is that after a couple of days, the shot usually is 90% effective at relieving the symptoms and 50% effective at curing the problem. If it doesn’t cure it, the next step is surgery, so I’m really hoping for a cure. In the meantime, I’ll be thankful for pain relief.
I’m also thankful to have my first radiation appointment done. It was a little longer than it should normally be since they did a little tweaking again. Apparently I hold my breath too deeply. Go figure. At least I won’t need to worry about not being able to hold it long enough. It was fine. Plus they had to draw the radiation parameters on my skin for pictures. I never realized how often Sharpies are used in the medical field. Another go figure. One nice thing about it is that I can see where I need to apply lotion. And it’s way further under my arm than I anticipated.
So, here’s to another day of being poked and prodded but in the right direction. The countdown to Nov 4, my last treatment day, begins!
I got a call from my radiation oncologist’s office today with a last minute request to come in for X-rays this afternoon. It was the last step needed before radiation starts tomorrow. I’m scheduled from now through November 4th.
The X-rays were done in the treatment room, so I was able to get an idea of what my treatments will be like. The ceiling is designed to looks like a glass ceiling with the sky and tree branches visible. Music was playing. It was really nice. The techs and I jokes that we just needed someone to deliver margaritas.
I’m thankful I got radiation scheduled. I’m also thankful I got a glimpse of what my daily visits will look like. I think I’m ready. I have skin lotions, protein shakes, and intend to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate (my plastic surgeon’s suggestion).
I was so frustrated at work today that I’m thankful I had something crafty to do afterwards. (Crafting is mostly relaxing for me.) Tonight I got my Halloween in sign done. Yay! I’m not sure yet the birds will stay on well in the wind, but I’ll figure it out. I’m letting the glue cure overnight and will check it again tomorrow before leaving it outside. I’m hoping tomorrow will be an easier work day.
Since I got my cleaning done early today, I decided to start on outside decorations. I like to start with Fall and add in more Halloween in October, so I started with the front entrance.
Patrick saved some branches that fell off our backyard trees because I told him I had an idea for them. I made an arch over our front sidewalk. For fall/Halloween, I left on the dead leaves. I added in some black birds and pumpkins and a couple of skull planters. Later I’ll add in lights and probably cobwebs.
I also started making a Halloween Inn sign to go at the end of the sidewalk. It’s not complete, so I didn’t get a picture. But I think I got a good start on Fall. I’m thankful that Patrick was willing to help out on a couple of things, like driving the stakes into the ground that are securing the branches. I’m also thankful that I was able to tackle a project that required power tools. I felt like my old self for a bit today.
This weekend last year I was putting up my Halloween graveyard in the front yard. I was thinking about starting it today, but it was too warm. Instead I planned to get laundry done and my normal weekend cleaning. But even that didn’t happen. We drove to a nearby town to check out a large farmers market where we got apple cider donuts and cookies. And since we were already out and about, I asked to check out a Home Depot to see what different decorations I could get for my graveyard.
We ended up buying a 12 ft skeleton. Not for me, but for my sister. I couldn’t believe we found one because it’s been sold out and online and in every other Home Depot we looked. The downside was that we couldn’t fit the box in our car. We ended up taking all the pieces out and folding up the box in order for it to work. Even with that, we had no space in the car for much else.
I’m thankful we were able to get the skeleton for my sister. I love finding something that seems out of reach. I also don’t mind spending other people’s money. Haha. I’m also grateful that Patrick went along with it. He wasn’t thrilled when we realized the box wouldn’t fit. I was waiting for him to tell me to take it back inside and return it. I think he was just happy I didn’t insist on keeping it for myself.
I made it through my work week! I’m thankful for that. I’m also thankful for this cool skeleton my mom sent me. I’m getting anxious for Halloween decorations. Maybe I’ll be able to work on some this weekend if my wrist will cooperate.
I had my radiation planning session today. It involved a lot of laying down and being still. Not my best posture.
The hardest part of the hour and a half was keeping my arm raised. Even though I had it in an arm rest like in the picture below, my hand still fell asleep and my tight chest muscles burned.
Part of the process was getting CT scans while in this position that will be used by the radiation team to plan my upcoming procedures. A few times I needed to hold my breath, which will be part of my sessions. Holding my breath will help minimize the radiation effects to my heart as much as possible.
The final part for today was tattooing small black marks on my chest that will be used to position me in the same spot every session. That hurt more than I expected it to. I’m not sure how I feel about having permanent black spots on my chest, but it’s better than permanent cancer. So there’s that.
I’m thankful that things went well today, and I’m hopeful that I can start radiation next week.
melissagratitude 