Snip, snip again

Thank goodness radiation was uneventful. They told me not to expect a lot of shrinkage with this type tumor (I guess some cancers you radiate and never have to have surgery) and the ultimate goal is to get me to surgery. No surprises there. They did give me a prescription for my rash. The Nurse Practicioner who had for worked my chemo doc and now works for radiation said the rash looked more like a "morphine rash" than what I would get from the antibiotics. The intern with my Chemo doc yesterday couldn't find anything in what looked to be a Blackberry to indicate morphine could give you a rash. The NP says he is wrong. It does not matter anyway, you would treat the rash the same no matter what caused it. I think I will get Bob a Blackberry, and he can skip med school!

Then I went to the Surgeon who worked on my wound. He agreed it was healing nicely but he did not like the fact that the vein going up my neck was still thick and all purple on the outside, so he decided to cut it out, on the spot. He gave me some numbing injections, cut it open and cut it out just below the point where it looked good again. Bob was in the room and did not faint. I kept my eyes closed. The doctor did show me the dead vein after he cut it out--Yuk-- and not at my request I assure you. When he asked what kind of pain medication I had at home I knew that was not a good sign. He said the numbing agent would last about 45 minutes but so far it has been longer. It should be uncomfortable for 3 or 4 days and will leave a lovely 2 inch scar as a souvineer of the event. Good thing I am not that vain. I knew the port scars were going to keep me out of swimsuit competitions ( Did I lose 30 pounds for nothing?) and this seals the deal. However, it has to look better than this swollen bruised purple look I have been sporting for 4 months. It was going to have to go eventually. Now Bob has an even bigger wound to care for and pack. I think he was getting kind of sad that the last one was healing, and he may not have much longer on wound care or IV drugs. He could be out of business shortly (the medical part) till surgery. Nah---------not with my luck!

So tomorrow is Day 2 of 25 of radiation. It only lasts a couple of minutes. I told the valet parking guy at the hospital he may not even want to put my car away since I would often be through by the time he got back from the parking deck. And I really don't think that is wishfull thinking on my part.