Stormy Morning

Our area is having severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings this morning. The worst of it is not really coming over our area, just some wind and rain. It will all be over by lunch time. That's good because at 2:30 I have to go for radiation #19. Up until then, we plan to stay safely indoors.

It's payday, so I'll be updating my checkbook and paying some bills. On the way to radiation I can make a few deposits. Sooner of later I need to have my bank set up online banking so I can make these deposits with a click of the mouse instead of driving through the bank line.

Mark is going to work on our taxes again today. He got a start before Evey's visit, but it always takes more than one day to get it finished. I don't know if he'll finish today, but it will be another chunk done. It HAS to be done soon! We're down to the final two weeks.

I'm hoping he has time to build another DVD tower. There are only 6 more things for him to build: 2 DVD towers, 2 bookcases, 2 dressers. It's really exciting seeing all these things come together to make the house look better. Once he's finished with these items and the taxes, he can turn his attention to setting up his den. Then we'll really be all moved in.

Up More Pounds

I have decided that I should NOT eat pizza anymore. I had two slices of pizza and a salad for lunch yesterday at the Upper Crust, our Solivita pizza parlor. It was delicious, but now I'm paying for it. This morning I was 251.7, one pound higher than yesterday morning. Yes, yes, I know I should NOT have gotten on the scale this morning, but I did. I almost always do. One of those doctor TV shows actually advocates checking your weight every morning, but Weight Watchers advocates just once a week. Whatever. It's done, and I'm up another pound. UGH.

I miss Evey already. We had such a good time with her here. The next time we will see her will be at her wedding showers in July. There will be one at her future mother-in-law's house in NJ on Saturday, July 2. Then there will be a second one at my sister-in-law's house in MD the next day. That way ladies don't have to drive too far to attend one.

Now we have to start looking forward to our next house guest. A dear friend of ours from Maryland will be arriving on April 18 in time for the first Passover seder that night. He will be staying 10 days! That will be awesome. So far both sleepover guests, Rudy and Evey, have really enjoyed the guest room with its private bath. I think Frank will like it a lot, too. Unfortunately, because it's Passover, we can't take Frank out to any of the good restaurants in our community or at Disney World. Oh, well...maybe he'll come back another time when it's not Passover.

Between now and Passover, I really need to find that control over my eating. I appreciated Juanita's comment to me on yesterday's blog about finding my determination and strength. I have done it before; she is right that I can do it again. I was scared of dying because of the hernia back in 2009, so that fear kept me going. Now I need to get motivated to fit into the dress I bought for the wedding and to feel good about how I'll look in those wedding pictures. The wedding is just a few days over five months away. An average weight loss for a month is about 8 pounds, maybe 10 in some months. That's if I walk everyday and keep the calories at 1200 most every day of the week and NEVER go over 1500 any day. If I did that, then I could expect to be down 40 pounds by the wedding. I'd weigh 211 and I'd be THRILLED.

OK! That's IT! I'm doing 40 pounds by the wedding. YES, I'm setting my determination and iron will into action TODAY! Wish me luck!

Bye Bye Evey

Sad day, Evey had to go home.

We got up very early because we had a long drive up to Winter Park to the seamstress' shop. The dress is DONE and it is PERFECT! I only hope that the MOH and I can hook up the 13 point bustle. Even the seamstress who put them in got it wrong halfway through and had to undo it and start over. Oh, my...well, I tried to pay attention and will do the best we can.

After we got the dress, we had to drive the long drive back to hang it up in the house before heading to lunch and then the airport. Suddenly, off she goes through the security gate and that's it. She should land in San Jose around 8:30 tonight, her time, 11:30 tonight, our time. The next time I see her will be at her wedding shower in July.

I was disappointed when I got on the scale this morning, 250.7. That's up almost three pounds. Well, I knew it was going to be a tough week. Only thing to do is get back on track this week.

Radiation 17 is in the books. It's halfway over. YAY!!

Fabulous Weekend with Evey

Our weekend with Evey at the Magic Kingdom and Epcot was just spectacular. I have included a few pictures here out of the hundreds that we took. It was hard to just pick a few!

My weight has gone up a few pounds, despite all the walking. I am hoping that being careful today might bring it back by tomorrow morning, so another week will have gone by with me staying the same. Staying the same would be an accomplishment for this week.

I'm heading out for radiation 15 today, almost halfway through and nothing too bad has happened to my skin. That's a good thing.

The weekend weather was just glorious, upper 80s, moderate humidity, lovely breeze. It wasn't too uncomfortable spending eight or nine hours in the parks like that. Today it is gray, cool, and pouring rain. It's a good thing that we weren't planning on being in the park today! We had considered going to the pool, but last night we had decided against it anyway. I should go to the gym soon and work out, although it's looking like we have to put that off until after the radiation.

Wedding Planning Fun/Lowell's B'day

As I said, Evey and I took her dress to Casa di Bella Bridal Salon in Celebration, FL today for the fitting. It went very, very well. Miss Kim, the seamstress, was amazing and able to accommodate everything Evey wanted. She is lining the cap sleeves so they don't scratch, making them removable with hook and eye for the reception, tightened up the bust, and bustled the train. Bustling the huge train was an engineering feat. There will be 13 points on this bustle. I'll have to take lessons on how to hook it up at the wedding. Miss Kim is going to have it all done and steam cleaned ready to go Tuesday morning. Unbelievable!

Evey also picked out a tiara, veil, and shoes. She is very happy! I took lots of pictures, so there are a few here on the blog. Please do NOT tell the groom how to find this blog. So far he has never looked here. If you read this and you know the groom, don't tell him anything about these pictures. He is not to see anything before the wedding.

Then I asked if the shop had any Mother-of-the-Bride dresses she could show me, even if it wasn't in my size. I also explained to her how I had gained weight on chemo and was trying to lose it. The shop owner said, of course. She left for a minute and returned with the PERFECT DRESS! Evey and I gasped. It was exactly what we wanted, long, emerald green, v-neck, with a jacket with sparkly buttons. Wow! It was a size 18 and I am NOT! They called the designer on the phone. They have one in size 20 and yards of the fabric. Miss Kim said, "Don't worry. I can make it fit." Miss Kim is going to make a size 20 dress and jacket fit me even if I'm a size 22 or 24 by the summer. Meanwhile, I'm going to work REALLY hard now to lose that weight!!

We had a wonderful time and spent about what we expected to have to pay. All in budget. What a morning!

Evey requested that we go to Qdoba's for lunch and then Rita's for dessert. They don't have either of those favorites in California for her. She absolutely loved having a giant queso burrito followed by a Rita ice in blue raspberry. Unfortunately her lips and tongue were bright blue when we went to radiation.

We went to radiation together today, and I asked her to take a few pictures of me on the table. I have included one of those pictures here today as well just so you can see what I do every day.

This day could not have been more perfect!

This day is also special for another reason. I don't want to have this day go by without mentioning my fabulous son, Lowell! Today is his 32nd birthday. Happy Birthday, Lowell!! I hope you have a wonderful day.

Evey arrives tonight!

Today will be extremely ordinary with one exception: Evey arrives tonight. We have not seen her since Thanksgiving, so this has been a very long stretch without her. We are very excited to have her see the house and community for the first time. We will also get to do wedding things like get her gown fitted, look at invitations, look at Mother-of-the-Bride dresses, and plan table decorations. We'll also get some time at the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. It's going to be a fabulous five days! I'm sure there will be some new pictures on the blog soon. LOL

Other than that, I am doing some ordinary household things like laundry, watering plants, tidying up before the cleaning lady comes this afternoon. Carol is my new lady and she's great. I still miss Peggy very much, but I'm trying to bond with Carol. Mark will come with me to radiation today so that Carol can have the house to herself to clean. Carol prefers it that way so she can mop the huge amount of tile floor and not worry about us walking on it while it's wet. We are also going to our usual Lakeside restaurant dinner for the free wine on Thursday, followed by the movie at the Starlite Ballroom. Tonight's movie is Unstoppable, and I've been wanting to see it. As soon as the movie ends, we will head up to the airport to pick up Evey. We won't get home until after midnight.

Whoee!! A great day is on tap.

Out of the Ordinary

This morning we had an experience that was definitely out of the ordinary. Our car was chased by a wild turkey. YUP! He literally was waddling as fast as he could alongside the car and then jumped into the road behind it. The speed limit there is only 20 mph and I was coming to a stop sign, so he had plenty of time to catch up to us. We were glad we weren't walking! This was a tom turkey, but his mate was there as well. We were wondering if they had a nest of eggs or babies nearby and felt our car was a threat. Too funny, though, to look in the side mirror and see a turkey chasing the car.

Many people responded to my "ordinary things" ideas. I also put it out on Facebook and got a lot of comments about the ordinary things people were doing yesterday. Most everyone agreed that doing ordinary things is great. There is nothing wrong with that! I agree.

Mark put all six dining room chairs together yesterday. They look great. I'm going to go back to IKEA one more time to buy seat cushions for them. I like them so much that I want to get four more in white for the kitchen table. Today Mark plans to put the dining room table together. In preparation for that, I also moved about 8 boxes out of the dining room/hallway area so when the table is up, it will look really nice and not cluttered with boxes we haven't unpacked. I put them in the garage until we can get to them.

Yesterday I did walk the 2.4 miles up to The Palms and back. It took an hour, but I was glad I did it. I also went for radiation, as always.

On Tuesdays I also visit with the radiation oncologist. He checks my skin and asks how I'm doing. I told him that sometimes my breast feels stiff when I raise my arms and that I get random pains in it now and then. He said the radiation is doing all of that. He said I should do arm stretches morning and night to keep the tissue supple. He said to take Advil for the breast pain if it gets bad. He said the radiation affects the nerve endings. As he said that, it seemed like I should have known that. Radiation is just frying everything in there. It's killing off cells, hopefully any stray cancer cells, but other healthy cells as well. It also mutates healthy cells. In fact I was told not to take large amounts of anti-oxidant vitamins while on radiation. Anti-oxidants kill free radicals, which normally is a good thing since free radicals kill off healthy cells. Radiation is creating free radicals just for the purpose of killing cells, healthy and cancerous. So taking large amounts of vitamins C, A, E, or D is defeating the purpose of the radiation. I don't take large doses of any of those except D. So for the next few weeks, I am not taking the 1,000 units of Vitamin D that I usually take daily. I'm sure I'm getting enough sunshine down here to compensate! Hopefully the radiation is going to kill off all the remaining cancer cells that may still exist without killing off too many healthy cells or mutating too many so that I get lung or bone cancer 10 or 15 years down the road. A percentage of women do get those secondary cancers later on. The risk of this is considered small, however, to the benefit achieved from the radiation. So I will go get #13 today.

Ordinary Things

Yesterday when I finished my blog, I said to Mark that it was a really boring one, that I had nothing interesting to say. Then this morning I got a lovely email from my friend Debbie. She said, "It sounds like you are really having fun, and getting settled in down there. It is great to hear you talk about ordinary every day things, and that your life is full." That meant a lot to me. I had not thought about how the ordinary has now become a part of my life, and it's the part I was angry and upset about losing when I first got my diagnosis.

Yes, with the exception of having to go to radiation every afternoon for 22 more week days, Mark and I really ARE living our dream now. Our life is so full of activities that we get exhausted at night. We are still working at putting the house together, but that's been a lot of fun. We are going to WDW at least once a week, as we always said we would. We go to the gym to work out; we walk; we take part in activities in the community. This is everything we said we wanted and would do in our retirement. WOW! I think we have achieved our goal. Thanks, Debbie, for reminding me of that this morning. There is life after breast cancer! I sure could not see that last fall.

Now having said that I have achieved my retirement goal, I really need to focus on the weight loss piece of my life again. Last week on Wednesday I reported a huge loss of seven pounds. That was a bit deceptive because I had put on several pounds just a few days before with too much eating out. Then a few good days showed a huge loss. Well, this week I had some excellent days of staying around 1200 calories and some less-than-excellent days of over 2,000 calories. I did the two mile walk twice and more than two miles at Epcot on Sunday. The end result is I stayed the same. So this morning's Tuesday weigh-in weight is still 248. I feel OK about it because I knew I did not stay around 1200 every day, so to maintain my weight for a week is not bad. I'll take it.

This week will bring its own challenges, with Evey arriving late Thursday night. We will be eating out Friday lunch, Saturday dinner, Sunday for lunch and dinner, and maybe Monday dinner. It's not going to be Subway and Denny's either, places where I control my calories well. There will be lots of walking and activity though to combat the meals out. I hope to maintain my weight another week and not gain. Next Tuesday morning, the day Evey is scheduled to fly back to CA in the afternoon, I'll report my results.

Yesterday's IKEA purchases will arrive between 1 and 5 p.m. Between 2:30 and 4:30 I'll go to radiation. Mark plans to put another piece of furniture together today. My car went to the shop for a few little repairs yesterday, so I'll be picking it up this afternoon. Mark always does the grocery shopping Tuesday morning, and while he's shopping, I plan to go out for another two mile walk. My goal today is to go a little over two miles. If I walk all the way to The Palms, our gym/pool complex, it is 1.2 miles one way. I went almost all the way last week, but I hope to make it the whole way today for a total walk of 2.4 miles. It's a start to getting back to a 5k. These are all ordinary things. Well, going for radiation isn't ordinary, but it's just one of those things that has to be done each day for 22 more days. I can do that! In between, there are many other wonderful, ordinary things to do.

How about you? What ordinary things are you doing today?

One Third Done

Radiation #11 of 33 is over, so I'm officially one third finished. There are no serious complications yet.

We went to IKEA again today and bought even more than last week. Today we got the dining room table, six chairs, four more DVD towers, a brown bookcase for the dining room, and a white bookcase for the family room. Everything will be delivered tomorrow afternoon. Mark is currently putting the last of the original four DVD towers together. It should be up and filled in just a few more minutes. I think the dining room table is going to be his next priority.

We also are still going to different grocery stores looking for kosher food, especially kosher for Passover items. Today we decided to check out one of the two Publix stores that show up on kosher websites. We were greatly amused when we discovered that this particular Publix was Evey's local Publix when she lived in the Little Lake Bryan area and worked at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, now called ESPN Wide World of Sports. This store had a huge selection of frozen meat items, so that was nice. It did not have Passover margarine, but we have more stores to visit still. We are enjoying the hunt because it allows us to drive around to various places in the greater Orlando area that we haven't explored yet.

After radiation, we went to the gym and did our weight routines. We also bought a five day guest pass for Evey when she comes down Thursday night. We are hoping she'll have time to come to the gym with us and maybe even use the swimming pools. I can't swim, but I can sit in the shade and enjoy watching her and Mark swim. I'm really looking forward to her visit.

Missed National Corndog Day

After shul, we went to the pool anyway to relax in the shade. Mark napped, but I read the March issue of AARP magazine. It said that March 19 is National Corndog Day. Dang it! Why didn't I read that article a few days earlier. Our local health food store, Chamberlain's, actually carries frozen kosher corndogs. I could have been munching them for lunch yesterday. Well, it won't sneak up on me unawares next year. I have programmed it into my calendar to repeat every year. If you like corndogs, I suggest you do the same!

The show last night was better than I expected. It was lip-synching, yes, but I have to give those folks credit. They had two Acts, two dozen songs, about the same number of people in the cast, elaborate costumes, sets and lots of props as appropriate, very good choreography, and truly excellent lip-synching. It was obvious that a lot of time and effort was put into the show. It had lighting, good sound system, a lot of people back stage keeping everything smooth. There were two guys doing patter between the songs and involving the audience. The song selection was a lot of fun. The theme was American Bandstand, so the songs had all been performed on that show at some point. There were serious songs, comedy songs, and serious songs performed with an unusual comic twist. Two songs had kids doing them. My favorite was "Witch Doctor." The two kids doing that were just adorable. I overheard some conversation in the ladies room during intermission. This was either the 12th year or 20th year, depending on which lady was correct, that this group has put on such a show. Last year they did all the songs from "Mamma Mia." I really went in there not expecting to like it, but I came out with a new respect for this group. Also the audience was packed. There was not one extra seat at the restaurant's tables, plus there were seats set up along the sides for some folks. Maybe they didn't buy the dinner buffet, not sure. Most of the audience seemed to know who was on stage and got a big hoot out of seeing their friends dressed up, wearing wigs, and acting to the songs. I really think Mishkan Torah could do a show like this.

Mark had a great time at his Purim celebration as well. He said there were about 80 people there, including some famous ones. At least they are famous with Mark and Evey. They listen to a Disney podcast all the time done by four people who are super Disney fans. Well, the girl is Jewish, so two of them were at the Purim celebration last night. Mark recognized them, so he went over and introduced himself and enjoyed a little conversation with them. He was flying high!

He even brought home one tiny hamantaschen, which we split last night. Now I cannot say I did not have a hamantaschen for Purim. I guess I should not worry about the calories in half of that truly smallest hamantaschen I ever saw. After all, I ate a piece of bread pudding and a canoli for dessert at dinner.

This morning we are going to have our usual Disney Sunday. The movie for today will be Rango with Johnny Depp. I have seen a lot of commercials for it, and it looks like a fun time. After that, we plan to have lunch at the Disney Marketplace at Earl of Sandwich and do some shopping in World of Disney. There are a few things for the house we want to get. Then, it's off to Epcot. Today's entertainer is Chubby Checker! (Ha Ha! He was mimed last night.) I think it will be packed in there today. It's going to be perfect weather, plus it's spring break this week for the local schools. The Guess Who had a packed house last Sunday, so I cannot believe Chubby Checker won't also. He has to do three shows, and we plan to hit the first one. I'm impressed that people of these ages have the stamina to do three shows in a row with only about a 40 minute break to rest up in between. Impressive. Plus they do it three days in a row, nine shows total! We plan to catch the 5:15 show, the first one of the day. Then we can come home for dinner and some TV. Another great Sunday!

I hope you all have a great Sunday, too. And don't forget to put National Corndog Day on your calendars.

Happy Purim!

Shul and Something Else

I would like to do shul and pool today, but I'm not allowed in the pool. The chlorine is too harsh for skin being radiated daily. Sigh...

We went to shul this morning anyway. Even though we were kind of late, we each were given honors. I had the fifth aliyah. That was the first time I was given an aliyah, so I really did feel honored. Mark lifted the second Torah and did a great job. At kiddush I resisted eating any hamantaschen. This is probably the first Purim in over three decades that I have not eaten hamantaschen. Sigh....again.

Now we're home and eating healthy lunches. Mark wants to go lay at the pool anyway, so I'm going to go with him. I'll cover up real good because I shouldn't have much sun around that area either, and I won't be able to get in the water. I hope I find a shady spot. I wouldn't mind a nap on a chaise lounge in the shade. Anticipatory Sigh...

At 6 p.m. we have tickets to a dinner/theater thing in our community. We bought the two tickets before we went away on the cruise, without realizing that Purim is tonight. Mark is going to go to the buffet dinner and then leave to go back to shul for the megillah reading. At shul today they announced that it is not a full megillah reading, but that it will be lots of fun for kids. Mark winced as he listened to that, remembering how great it is at Mishkan Torah. Wistful Sigh...

I'm going to stay and watch the show after the dinner. At first I thought it was going to be a musical of some kind, then I understood that it was going to be people singing, finally I got it. It's people lip-synching. HUGE Sigh....

Meanwhile, Mark has three of the DVD towers up now. It looks really, really great. We are going to buy four more for a total of eight towers. I also plan to buy two other book cabinets. One in white to put next to the DVD towers to replace an old brown TV cabinet that currently displays a variety of tschokes. I also need a brown book cabinet to replace our dining room book cabinet that holds all the Jewish books and objects. The old cabinet is too small and falling apart. I can't empty the last three books of Jewish books until I replace this cabinet. We are planning another trip to IKEA this week to buy these cabinets and the dining room table. Mark commented yesterday that he is really enjoying seeing the house improve little by little. He is not alone in that feeling. Happy Sigh...

Super Moon

This morning Mark and I participated in the Solivita 2 mile Walk/Run for the American Cancer Society. It is the community's third annual one, and it was there biggest one so far. They made nearly $7,000 to donate. 220 people participated, 31 survivors. I'm proud to count myself among the 31 survivors now. In fact, for the first time I wore the pink shirt with the word Survivor on the back that my daughter's soon-to-be mother-in-law Leslie sent me in the fall. In the picture, I do NOT have a mohawk haircut. LOL For some reason there is an odd shadow on my head.

We showed up at 8:30 a.m. to sign in and pick up our t-shirts. I thought I would wear the new shirt over the pink one, but before we left I knew it would be too hot. I took off the pink one and wore the new Solivita shirt. We stepped off at 9:02. A beautiful two mile course was laid out through the community, including walking past some model homes where we stayed last June for the Discovery Days when we put down the contract on this house. I walked the two miles in 48 minutes, so I shaved 2 minutes off my time from Wednesday. I came in third to last! There had been five people behind me when we got to the last half mile or so, but somewhere along the way three of them bailed out and did not finish. The elderly couple a few yards behind me were the final two to cross the finish line. Still, I was proud of myself for doing this. In January I couldn't walk 2 blocks, and now I can do 2 miles without even thinking about it. Pretty good!

I had set a goal for myself during my weight loss year of doing a public 5k. I still haven't done that, but this is the third time I've walked two miles for cancer. I did it at the resort of Eastover in Massachusetts when we were there for a week in the summer of 2009. Then last June when we were at Camp Westmont in PA for a week, we did our second two mile walk. That walk was only one week before I found my lump. How ironic.

Radiation number ten will be this afternoon. I used my F-cream four times now. I hope it works. My skin was much pinker yesterday, and I noticed a quarter-sized circle on the side of the breast that appears darker than the rest of the area. It will probably blister up soon. So far nothing hurts, just looks a bit pinker than the rest of me.

Tonight the moon is going to be closer to the earth than it has been for 18 years, and it won't be this way again for quite awhile either. I heard it's 14% closer and 30% brighter than normal. I plan to go out and look tonight. I hope all of you do, too.

Top o' the mornin' to you...

I just learned the proper response to this Irish greeting today on the morning news show. The response is, "And the rest o' the day to you."

Yesterday, my new F-cream prescription was supposed to be ready at Wal Mart after 12 noon. Mark was going there anyway around that time to do his weekly grocery shopping. This is why we picked Wal Mart since he would regularly be in there. So at 12:30 he got in line and waited. When it was his turn, he was asked the usual question, "When did you drop it off?" He informed them it was Tuesday at 4:30, still not understanding why that is not in their system if it's so important. They said, "Oh, I see it will be ready in just 5 more minutes. Just wait a little longer." He waited. Then they informed him they didn't have any, and it will be in tomorrow after 12 noon. AAAGGGHHH!!!

Oh, it was a GOOD thing I was walking my 2 mile walk at the time, listening to Beatles songs on my iPhone. I probably would have leaped over the counter and throttled the clerk. Mark called me on the phone and rightly suggested we take the prescription somewhere else. You THINK? Of course, I was only about half way on my 2 mile walk, so we had to wait until I got home and double-checked which other pharmacies would accept my insurance.

I got home and checked the Express Scripts website. Walgreen's, CVS, Publix, just about any pharmacy you can name, will accept my insurance. I called Walgreen's because it's the closest one to the house. No, they don't carry that cream regularly, but they could have it in by tomorrow. I said no thanks and called Publix. They said, sure, we have it; we'll call Wal Mart and have it switched over; we'll have it for you by 4 p.m. This was 1 p.m. WOW!! They did have it ready when I got there, and it cost less than my co pay. I told them they will have ALL my business from now on. I was very pleased and impressed. Finally someone who cares about their customers.

I applied the cream last night before bed and again this morning after my shower. I hope it helps.

This morning I will be having a glass maker at the house. Our china hutch had glass shelves, which I unfortunately forgot when we put it in the moving POD. Oops, shattered glass! So a company is coming to the house to cut the glass on the premises and install four new shelves. He's also going to try to replace one pane of glass in an antique book cabinet that holds my mug collection. Mark broke that pane years ago in MD when he accidentally knocked a dining room chair over. We're not sure it can be fixed, but this glass guy is going to try his best. I'm excited to get the new shelves because that means I can empty another 8 boxes of china and glassware. It's one more step to getting completely unpacked.

I ate about 1200 calories yesterday and walked 2 miles. I also did my weight machines. I'm doing three sets of 10 reps at 10 pounds on 4 machines for the arms and one machine for legs. Since I walked 50 minutes, I skipped the bike. Mark and I are both hoping Evey will have time while she's here to come to the gym with us and see if we're doing everything right!

I wanted to be sure I could really walk two miles today. I had not done it except one time on the ship. Tomorrow Mark and I are participating in a two mile walk for breast cancer here in Solivita. We signed up before we went away on the cruise. I had said I wanted to do a 5k in public, but I'm not up for that yet. When I saw the two mile walk, I figured I could get ready for that. So, YEAH, I'm ready. It will take me 50 minutes, and I'll probably be the last person to finish, but I don't care. I'm excited to go get my t-shirt and do a public walk for this disease. We are hoping to meet some other survivors at the walk. They are giving us t-shirts, but I'm going to show up to register wearing the pink Survivor shirt that Leslie sent me. This will be the first time I've worn it and the first time I'm really feeling like I can say that I AM a survivor!

Today is Thursday, which means free wine with dinner at the local Lakeside restaurant and then a free movie at the Solivita Starlite Ballroom. Tonight's movie is Life As We Know It. It should be fun. I also have radiation #9. So far the radiation has gone very well. The two men who are the techs are nice. We have interesting conversations for a few minutes as they set me up. The more we do it, the faster they get at getting me into position. It involves pushing and pulling me on a sheet and checking lasers on my tattoos to be sure I'm level and lined up. Then they do the ultrasound before leaving the room to deliver the radiation. It's all over in about 20 minutes or less from the time they call me back to the time I'm leaving the facility. It's a 35 to 40 minute drive each way. I don't mind it yet because there is no fatigue and no pain on the skin yet. I'm definitely pink. It looks like I have a mild amount of sun exposure on the left side and none on the right side.

So Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone. I am wearing a green shirt today, but I will not eat any green bagels or drink any green beer. Maybe someone else will do that in my honor! Enjoy!

The Adventures Continue

I have included three pictures today. One is the floor plan of our house that I found in a drawer this morning. Our house is a mirror image of this one, plus we have French doors out of the dining room into the lanai, but otherwise, that's it! The other pictures are the sofa in the living room and the one DVD tower in the Florida room.

While I was at radiation yesterday, Mark put together the first of the four DVD towers. It held a combination of 52 DVDs and VHS tapes. I think it looks gorgeous. It was nice to have one and a half boxes emptied. He said it took a bit over an hour to do, but a lot of that time was spent locating parts and deciphering the picture instructions. IKEA does not use words! Then we worked together to unwrap the sofa, put its little plastic legs on (taking bets on how long plastic legs hold up!), and putting on the slip cover. Again, there are no words, just pictures, so it was interesting getting that slip cover on. The cushions and the cushion covers did NOT seem to be the same size. I smashed and smashed the seat cushions into their covers and zipped them up. They look awkward, but maybe if we sit on it enough the fabric will stretch out and the cushions will fit better. Still, I'm very pleased with our purchases and can't wait for Mark to get the other DVD towers up. I think we'll need about 6 more towers, but we'll get them later, maybe when we go back for the dining room table and chairs.

If you read yesterday's blog, you know we did not love our new family doctor. I have received many email comments about it. Most of you would leave his practice immediately and look for someone better. You are all probably exactly right, but Mark and I have decided to stay at least through our two month follow-up appointments on May 16.

Meanwhile, my daughter Evey gave me permission to include her email comments about the situation. In case you don't know, she is a Certified Athletic Trainer working in a Physical Therapy clinic in CA and on track to get a Masters in Applied Nutrition in December of 2011. One thing I love about her is that she is not afraid to speak her mind! She says what she thinks and she is usually right. She is a strong woman! Here are her very wise remarks to me yesterday regarding our doctor visit.

"That doctor sounds awful. You will never weigh 115; Hell, I'll never weigh 115. That's just unthinking, textbook regurgitation and is absolutely the wrong way to be a doctor. He should have asked you questions about your lifestyle before even recommending anything. Just irritates me. If I just told my patients they had to do water aerobics, 80% would walk out, 15% would be unhappy, and maybe 5% would do it. And I wouldn't know which ones had access to a pool, knew how to swim, or felt comfortable enough to wear a swimsuit in public because I didn't even ask if they liked swimming instead of running.

Sorry, he just sounds awful to me. And we talk a lot about patient trust, ability to relate, and compliance in my classes. He fails."

She pulls no punches, and she's right. He did fail in our eyes as a good doctor. I wonder if he knows that is how he is perceived.

Meanwhile, the medical adventure continues. On Tuesdays, after my radiation treatment, I stop in for an office visit. At least Tuesdays make me feel like my co pay is legitimate. LOL Anyway, yesterday he said my skin is turning pink, so he prescribed Fluocinonide cream. He said they call it the F-cream! At least HE has personality! I am to apply it morning and bedtime and use the aloe gel afer treatment. On my way home from treatment, I stopped at our local Wal Mart at 4:30 to get the prescription filled. The nice lady said it would take an hour and a half, maybe two hours. I told her I would come back later. At 7:55 we got in the very long line to pick it up. Wal Mart does a huge volume business in prescriptions, so the lines are always long. Mark wanted us to use them because he's there weekly to do the grocery shopping anyway, so he thought it would be one less stop to make. I don't have that many prescriptions that I pick up this way because my maintenance drugs are all delivered to the house from an online service, so I didn't care. Now, I CARE!

We waited for fifteen minutes. At 8:05 it was our turn. She asked me when I put the prescription in. I said 4:30 and was told it would be ready in two hours. She told me they didn't have any, but it would be in tomorrow after 12 noon. We walked away disgusted, shaking our heads. If she knew they didn't have it, why did she bother asking when I put in the prescription? What possible use was that information? If they didn't have any, why didn't the other lady tell me that at 4:30. I would have taken it across the street to Publix or Walgreen's. Ha, that's probably exactly WHY she didn't tell me. Or, if she didn't know then, but they discovered it when they were filling it, why not call and tell me? It would have saved me 45 minutes in driving and standing in line, or it would have given me the opportunity to come and take it somewhere else. What if it was some drug that I really needed to start immediately because I was sick? As it is, I missed the opportunity to use it last night and this morning.

I told Evey this, and here was her wise reply. "Stop taking things to that pharmacy then. That's silly." She is so right. I think I will take her advice on this one.

Yesterday was weigh-in day, but I didn't check it. It wasn't great on either doctor's scale, but those include clothing and are later in the day than my usual weigh-in time. Today I have excellent news about my weight. Last week I weighed 255. This morning I weighed 248! That's seven pounds gone. I knew I had eaten pretty well lately, especially Monday and Tuesday. I had 1330 calories on Monday and 1160 yesterday. I'm very excited to be out of the fifties. I feel more in control and motivated to continue. I just heard the washer beep, so once I put the laundry in the dryer, I'm heading out for a nice long walk.

Meeting our New Family Doctor

This morning, bright and early at 8:15 a.m., Mark and I headed out for our appointments with our new family doctor. We picked an office that is very close to our house, in fact it's in the same shopping area as our Wal Mart and Starbucks. There is nothing more convenient. I also picked it because they took both CIGNA and Blue Cross/Blue Shield since Mark has both.

Our first impressions were nice. The building is very easy to get to and has plenty of parking. The waiting room is HUGE and very clean. Of course, we expected to fill out a lot of forms, and we were not disappointed. OY! I was still filling them out while I was in the exam room and answering questions for the nurse to input to the computer.

As the visit continued, however, things went a little downhill. First, our records from MD had not arrived. This is not the fault of the new people, but it was irritating. We had requested them to be sent on January 6. We also each paid $75 to have this done. When we got home, we called the MD doctor's office and were directed to call the Customer Service number of the company that handled the record shipping. We were stunned to learn that they had been shipped (late January for Mark's, early February for mine) but had been returned by the post office as undeliverable. Then they shredded them. Case closed. What??? They don't save them and try again? They don't call either the sending or receiving doctor's office to inquire? They don't inform US, the customer who PAID them for this service? Unbelievable. We ascertained that they did ship them to the correct address, so we have no explanation for why they were returned. We asked if they would ship them to us personally and we would hand deliver them, but that would require filling out new paperwork and starting over, and paying over. They offered to ship them out again at no cost to the same address, so that's what we are trying now. We'll follow up with them in a few weeks to see if it worked this time. It's mind-boggling to me that the cancer center and surgeon's office in MD both managed to send out records for free that actually arrived, yet this place that charges $75 can't get it done. Oh, well...if at first you don't succeed...As our friend John said, then parachuting is not for you.

The next thing that went a little awry was the doctor himself. Mark and I went in separately, but we had the same exact impression: he's a cold fish with no personality. He spent my visit tap, tap, tapping in his computer, leaning against the counter with his head down. He mumbled a lot, sometimes in Spanish. I had to ask him to repeat his question to me at least two different times. The only exam I got was listening to the lungs and heart. He told me I should weigh 115 and should eat 1100 calories a day. OMG, that weight is so unrealistic for me I almost laughed out loud when he said it. I might have weighed that in the sixth grade! I said, "Wait a minute. Listen to my story." He did listen and then said I could do 1200 calories since I told him I usually aimed for between 1200 and 1500. At least he did say I was doing OK after he heard my story. He wrote prescriptions for all my drugs so that I could get them on Express Scripts by mail, wrote a lab slip to get a complete blood work up of sugar, cholesterol, CBC, plus a urinalysis and other things, and told me to come back for a follow up in two months. His last words to me were, "You're a survivor now." I actually did appreciate that!

Mark also thought he had little personality, but at least he got a bit of an exam. He got a prostate check and an EKG, probably because he's a man who's had a heart problem. He also was told to go on a low sodium diet for his blood pressure, which was high in the office. The doctor told him he did not need a separate cardiologist or separate endocrinologist, like he did in MD. I don't think Mark appreciated that because he liked those guys and was hoping to find good ones down here. This doctor is an internist, so he told Mark that he could take care of all his issues. We shall see.

We got home at 11:45! It was a long morning.

The REALLY good news is that our furniture from IKEA got delivered promptly at 1 p.m. as promised! They are supposed to plop everything into one spot, but the two nice young guys actually put the couch in the right spot and dropped the dresser boxes in the bedroom and the DVD tower boxes in the family room. Mark tipped them generously for this extra effort. While I head to radiation in a little bit, he's going to try to put one of the DVD towers together. I hope it's not too frustrating. The sofa got placed backwards and is shrink-wrapped in plastic and cardboard, but that shouldn't be too hard to fix later. I'm excited about the new stuff!

IKEA day

Mark and I went shopping at IKEA this morning and had a nice time exploring some different areas of Orlando. When we were in Maryland, we had gone to the local IKEA to look at furniture and plan what to get. Then when we got back here, I had to measure the rooms to see if what we picked out would fit, and it did. So, today we bought a sleep sofa, a tall six drawer dresser for Mark, a tall skinny six drawer dresser with a mirror in the top for Mark, and four DVD towers. This will all be delivered tomorrow afternoon for a reasonable price. We also had $300 in gift cards to help defray the costs. Thanks to everyone who gave us IKEA gift cards for the holidays. They were well used today.

Unfortunately the dining room table and chairs that we wanted was temporarily out of stock. The table is expected to be there Saturday, but the chairs won't be there for another two weeks. We hope to coordinate the purchase so we only have to pay one more delivery charge; however, we were cautioned that the table is a popular item and sells out quickly. Well, we'll have to see how it goes.

Mark and I also went to a nearby Super Target looking for kosher food. After living in the Baltimore-Washington area my whole life, and the Pikesville area for the five months with Cindy, we are spoiled with finding all the kosher things we want. We had been told the Super Target had some stuff, and they did. We found fresh kosher hamburger, rib eye steaks, chicken breasts, and other meats. They also had kosher for passover cheese and cans of tuna in water. We stocked up on both. Hopefully as Passover gets closer, some more stuff will come in. There are yet other stores to explore. It's kind of fun going on the kosher food hunt, but it's time consuming. Having to rush back to go to radiation every afternoon sort of puts a time crunch on everything.

I made it back from our shopping spree with just 15 minutes to grab a late lunch and head out to radiation. This was the first day that I went by myself. Mark has other chores to do, not the least of which is to start the taxes. Tomorrow the furniture will get delivered, so I'll go by myself again tomorrow. It's not a problem to go alone unless I get sore or too tired in the future. Right now, there is no reason why Mark has to continue to go with me. I have appreciated his company in the car, but today I had John Lennon's company on a CD.

For the first time, the radiation techs were a half hour behind. By the time I got home at 4:45, I could barely drag myself out of the car and straight into bed for a thirty minute nap! Then, it was up and at'em and off to the gym. Mark and I both did our weight routines, but I did not get on the bicycle. I'm counting all the walking around IKEA and the Super Target as my aerobic workout for today!

A great day

Mark's birthday was great. Here are a few pictures of him at the ball park and drinking the expensive whiskey. He couldn't have been happier.

We spent today at Disney. First we went to a movie at Downtown Disney, followed by a trip to Epcot. We had lunch at the Moroccan pavilion, strolled around for hours looking at all the beautiful displays for the Flower and Garden festival, and ended with a concert by the Guess Who. Their best known song is probably "American Woman."

The weather today was sunny, mid-70s, low humidity. Wow! Perfect weather.

I especially enjoyed not driving up to the cancer center for two whole days in a row.

The BIG 6-0 for MARK!! Happy B'day, Sweetie!

It's Mark's sixtieth birthday. I like it when he finally catches up to me so I don't feel old by myself. LOL!!

I didn't buy him any "thing" for his birthday. Both of us are less interested in acquiring more objects for the house than in experiencing things we can remember. Over a year ago, we were having dinner with Evey at Raglan Road. We saw that they had a $60 shot of Irish whiskey, and I joked with him that I would buy him that shot on his 60th birthday. When we were there Monday with Rudy, I ascertained that shot is still there at the same price, so we have a reservation for dinner and whiskey at 6:15 this evening.

In the meantime, I bought him two tickets to a grapefruit league game. The local Kissimmee stadium is called the Osceola County Stadium and is the spring training home for the Houston Astros. This afternoon they play the great Baltimore Orioles. The stadium is only about 7 minutes up the road from my cancer center, so on Wednesday we went up there first and got two tickets for behind home plate. It's a tiny stadium, seating about 5,300, but built by the same architect who built Camden Yards. Interesting. It's the smallest grapefruit league stadium in the country. In fact, the Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, home of the Ironbirds, holds 6,000. We went there one time and thought it was so tiny. We can't imagine how it will feel in the Osceola stadium this afternoon. There is also NO shade whatsoever, according to their website. Today it's going to be sunny and in the low-70s, so we will bring hats and sunscreen. It should be delightful!

So Mark's birthday should be a good one, full of things he loves like baseball, the Orioles, and whiskey. I hope it's a good one for him. He has been such a rock for me the last few months, taking care of me and Cindy in Baltimore, and now taking care of me in Poinciana. I would only always want the very best of everything for this fabulous man. Every day I thank God, literally, for sending him to me as my b'shert and life partner. Happy Birthday, Sweetie, and many, many more!!

Aloe Vera Gel

My radiation oncologist said that I should use only pure aloe gel on my skin to help with potential irritations. Yesterday he told me the name of a store that was close by where I could by it, so Mark and I went there. It is Chamberlain's Natural Foods. What an amazing store! It's similar to the Laurel Health Food store that Mark frequented.

I bought three products: aloe vera glycerine soap, tea tree oil mild body wash/shampoo, and pure aloe vera gel. The gel is amusing because it was not in the lotion section; it was in the FOOD section. It's to EAT! Yes, shocking. It says it is good for digestive health. Hm...I do NOT plan to eat this.

I got home and immediately opened it up. It has no scent and no color. I put a glob in my hand and it reminded me of gefilte fish jelly! Fortunately is has no scent! I rubbed it on my armpit and all over my breast. It was cold and weird, but it was absorbed almost immediately and I did not feel like I had applied anything at all in about a minute. Very weird. The doctor said to keep the area moisturized, but it really didn't feel smooth and silky like after a moisturizing cream. I hope it's helpful in the long run. It is definitely a better smell than the turpentine scent of the pure tea tree oil.

I also asked the technician yesterday what percentage of his patients who have breast radiation does he see with skin irritations. He said 75%. That's a huge number, virtually a sure thing. He said I would be most likely to get it under my arm by treatment number 20. There are going to be 28 treatments to the whole breast and the armpit, and then the last 5 are just to the tumor site. He said during the final 5, my armpit area will probably heal up quickly once it stops receiving radiation. I hadn't even considered that the skin under my arm might get affected. I was thinking it would be on the breast itself. Well, it all remains to be seen, but I'll be sure to apply another healthy glop of aloe gel on there this afternoon when I get home.

Rainy Day

Last night some pretty big thunderstorms rolled through our area. There was lots of lightening, heavy downpours, and some stiff winds. It sounded very loud out on the lanai. This morning it's gray, overcast, and raining steadily. At least the lightening is gone. I'm on the lanai drinking coffee, writing emails, reading Facebook, and typing this blog. I love the sound of the rain on the lanai. I like looking at my backyard even when it's gray and rainy. I love being here.

Last night Evey called me just to talk. Can we say, "Aw...." She almost never does that, so I was impressed. That meant we talked on the phone two nights in a row. I'm in heaven! I love the sound of her voice and hearing what she's doing in her classes and at work. Now if I could only get Lowell to do that!

When I went for my radiation yesterday, I did tell them I had changed my mind and would stay with them despite all the co pays. They were all thrilled, of course. Just like I got called into Paul's billing office on Tuesday, yesterday I got called into the doctor's office. At first he checked my skin and asked how I was doing with the radiation, but that was just a ruse. He really wanted to talk about why I was leaving. Word gets around! I told him I had changed my mind and reassured him that it had never been a reflection on the level of care I was receiving. It had been a financial decision, which I have now decided to reverse. I really decided that my time was worth the money. I know he felt relieved! I just hope they don't bill for too many more co pays when I'm not there, but since I'll actually BE there every week day for 30 more days, I guess that's not too likely. LOL!

I feel good about this decision because they really are nice and also very convenient.

Once I committed to staying at the Osceola Cancer Center with the 3:30 appointment times, I was free to think about other appointments in the future. I made an appointment for a bridal salon in Celebration on Lowell's birthday, March 25. Ha Ha!! It has nothing to do with Lowell except that it's his birthday. Evey will be arriving at 11 p.m. on March 24 in order to have her bridal gown fitted. The salon was very accommodating. The owner said she has an excellent seamstress who does work on Maggie Sottero gowns. She even plans to have the adjustments made so fast that Evey can come back for the final fitting on Monday, March 28 before she leaves for home the next day. We also plan to get the veil and shoes and any other things she needs at that salon while we are there. It will be a great Mother-Daughter time. Dad is invited, too, but I don't think he'll be as excited about all of this as we are. LOL!!

I went to the gym yesterday as I promised. I even rode the bike for 8 minutes. I could have done more, but Mark was already done and waiting for me. Also it was after 6 p.m., and we were both tired. Today I am hoping to walk again, but with the rain we'll have to go into the indoor track. Oh, what a hardship. Ha ha!!

Radiation number 4 today. Counting them down. So far, no ill effects. I'm also happy to report that there are no ill effects, other than several hot flashes each day, from the Arimidex. After being on it for one month, I'm having no joint or muscle pain that I can attribute just to the pills. The kind of joint and muscle aches that I get seem no worse than any I was always getting before breast cancer and can be attributed to walking and exercise. That's good news!

The two pictures today are Mark with our tablemates during the second cruise. This was taken on the dock at Key West. These two nice people are the parents of a famous NHL player who just retired. They are from Vancouver, but their son played for a NC team. They were spending a month or so in NC visiting him and his family and attending ceremonies for their son as the team retired his jersey. The other picture is me at the Mayan ruins in Cozumel, Mexico on the second cruise. These ruins were for fertility rites and no human sacrifices ever took place there. About 10 ruins are excavated and accessible, but the guide said that there are nearly 200 others in the jungle that have never been excavated yet. Amazing. These ruins are dated between 900 and 1200 A.C.E.

Discovery Landed!

Here are a few pictures of us on the cruise. Mark is on the beach at St. Martin; I'm on the dock in front of the ship in Martinique and also wearing the new Larimar necklace Mark got for me in Phillipsburg, Sint Maarten.

Yesterday I spent two hours on the phone dealing with the insurance issues. I made up my mind that I would switch to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center because when I talked to them, they said everything would be billed as outpatient, so no copays. When I went to the Osceola Cancer Center yesterday afternoon, I told them I was switching and filled out a form to have my records sent over to the Orlando center. Surprise, suddenly the business office folks, including the mythical Paul, wanted us to step into the office and talk to them. I explained that it was purely a financial decision and was no reflection on the care provided by the doctors, receptionists, nurses, or technicians. I like all of them. I also love the location. Paul seemed surprised when I told him that the radiologist who read the PET scan was not in CIGNA. He said they contracted with him because he took all insurances. He insisted that I call their office tomorrow to explain the situation and that I would not have to pay that $240.

I did call that office this morning. He is NOT a CIGNA doctor, but there is a procedure in place whereby he can accept the CIGNA payment if all the proper authorizations are filed. The nice lady in his office is going to pursue it and told me not to pay the money because she was sure it would be taken care of. That was a nice bonus to save that money. I also found out that I have another check from my supplemental insurance company, Conseco. The check is at Lowell's house. So...with the extra insurance money from Conseco and saving the $240 from the radiologist, I have decided to go ahead and stay at the Osceola Cancer Center and pay the $20 copay each day. Our friend Rudy is still here visiting, and I thought he gave some good advice on this. It was a little embarrassing calling the center to try to stop them from sending my records out. It will save them time and possibly save me money if they were going to charge for that. When I had my records sent down here from the St. Agnes Cancer Center and from the surgeon's office, there was no charge; however, both Mark and I each had to pay $75 to our family physician's office to have those records sent out to our new family doctor down here. I don't know what Osceola's policy is, but if I stopped them this morning from doing it, then everything is better.

I hope I don't regret this decision if more random copays for days that I'm not there show up. I have no way of predicting that, but I do like everyone up there. I just don't like their billing process, but they have assure me that they HAVE to do this or it would be illegal. Seems weird, but I have made the decision to accept it and not think about it anymore. I'm moving on, so to speak.

Last night Rudy, Mark, and I went to Raglan Road for dinner. It's Mark's favorite Irish restaurant at Downtown Disney. Oh, my did we eat! I ate 4 slices of Irish soda bread, a big bowl of tomato soup with gin (yes, it sounds weird but tasted good), some of Mark's appetizer with smoked haddock and cheese on toast, the entree of striped bass with roasted potatoes and asparagus, and a dessert of strawberry/apple crumble and ice cream. Oh, my, I could barely walk to the car. Fortunately I ate a very low calorie breakfast and lunch, and I walked 1.8 miles in 40 minutes in the afternoon. I actually lost a pound and a half this morning. Huh!

Today I will go back up to the gym to do my weight machines and maybe the stationary bike also. It's time for me to go to three sets of 10 on my machines today. I have not done the bike in a long time. I had gotten up to 10 minutes before the cruise, but I haven't done it now in a month. I think I'll just go for five minutes today and see how that works. Mark also has to do some grocery shopping today. The cupboards are still pretty bare.

Of course, I have to go back for radiation #3, and eat my words about leaving the center for financial reasons. I'm sure they will be happy to find out I'm staying. It's money in their pockets and out of mine!

Evey called me last night. We talked for about half an hour. She is so busy with work and school that she barely knows which end is up. I enjoyed talking to her and hearing her voice. She will be arriving here in about two and a half weeks! I can't wait. I also talked to Lowell for a few minutes on the phone. He was at work, so I couldn't talk long, but it was nice to hear his voice, too. I really do miss them both so much. I'll see him in May when we go up there, and hopefully, he and Emily will visit us some time this summer.

Today the shuttle Discovery landed at Cape Canaveral. With two NASA retirees in the house, we put the NASA channel on TV about forty minutes away from the landing and watched it come down. It passed through central Florida but a bit too far south of Kissimmee for us to see it from the yard. We did hear the big sonic boom when it went over, though. It made the windows rattle. That was awesome! Congratulations to the crew of Discovery and all the NASA employees at the Kennedy Space Center and all other NASA centers.

1 down; 32 to go

(Warning: This blog is a bit long and a bit ranty. Sorry. Also I had wanted to put up some more cruise pictures, but the link isn't working for some reason.)

I did my radiation yesterday. The short version is that it was fine. I got there early, and they took me in early. I was told it would be 15 minutes, but it actually was 20 from the time I walked away from Mark to the time I got back to the waiting room with him. Of course, it's like any other x-ray or CT scan, just laying on a table while a machine moves over you. A CT scan is taken first, with gel on the body, to find the internal spot where the tumor had been. I am lined up on the table, pushed and pulled on a sheet, until the tattoos line me up properly with laser beams. The CT machine "talks" to the radiation machine, and then I get zapped. It happens from two different angles and then a film was taken at the end. There was no sound and no sensation. I'll go back this afternoon to do it again.

Once I left, I realized there were many issues to address. First, everything I have read or been told said to use some cream after each treatment to help prevent future skin irritation. In Maryland the radiologist had said they would be giving me a lovely homeopathic cream which they had found in their practice to be very good. Unfortunately, he did not mention its name. Here, the radiologist had said to use pure aloe gel, but I forgot to buy any. I asked the two men who are the technicians if I needed to use it right away. They both said it was unnecessary to use it unless I was actually having skin irritation, otherwise it did no good. My pharmacist friend, Barb, whose sister has already done the radiation, had advised me to use tea tree oil before each treatment. Well, that's four opinions, and I had none of the products.

Mark and I stopped at the store on the way home to try to buy something. None of the aloe gels in the store were pure. They all included alcohol, fragrance, and many other chemicals. We actually spoke to the pharmacist in there, and she advised against them. She did not know of any pure aloe gels, but she did say the store sold aloe plants I could buy and cut open. It might come to that. Then we started to look for the tea tree oil. We couldn't find it, so I called Barb at work to ask more details about it. Of course while I was calling, Mark spotted it! She again said I should put it on BEFORE the treatment, but I told her they would not allow it. They said no harsh deodorant soaps or any deodorant is to be used the entire two months. I can use baby cornstarch powder in the morning, but no other creams or lotions four hours before treatment. I am guessing it interferes with the gel they rub on for the CT scan.

We got the tea tree oil and took it home. The bottle said to mix it with some olive oil the first time to see how your skin reacts to it, but it didn't give any proportions. I tried to make a 50/50 mix in a cup, maybe a tablespoon total. Then I rubbed it all over my left breast. YUCK. It smells like turpentine, very strong. It felt fine, oily obviously, but I don't know if I can stand smelling like that every time. The best time to apply it would be right after the treatment, but the little dressing room cubicle has no water and another patient is always right there waiting to come in. So I will have to wait until I get home or in a bathroom somewhere with water to wash my hands with soap when I'm done. I would prefer to find something else, but today I will use this again when I get home.

The other issue now is the billing procedures this clinic is using. I am very angry about it. I had been told that I would have to pay a $20 copay at each visit, 33 times, $660. In Maryland there would have been no copay on either Blue Cross/Blue Shield or the new CIGNA. I had called CIGNA before the cruise, and they said if it was billed as an office visit there was a copay, if it's a procedure, no copay. I went in there yesterday and asked again to speak to the billing office. The charming receptionist tried to get them on the phone multiple times before I went for the radiation, but they were busy. When I came out, she got someone on the phone and was told that they were not billing it as an office visit. They told her they were using "radiation" codes, but there was still a copay. I was also told they had contacted CIGNA to verify this. Hm...for some reason, I just did not believe this. I got the name of the billing office manager, Paul, and his number. I paid the copay before I left.

When we left the office, we immediately called CIGNA on our cell phone. I was told the same thing again, so this time I asked the girl at CIGNA to call Paul. She called the office and put me on a three-way conversation, but Paul was out. The girl at the cancer center said the facility is an "office," not an outpatient clinic, so everything that happens there uses a code indicating an office visit. OUTRAGEOUS. I argued with her for awhile, but got nowhere. I still need to speak to Paul, I think.

The insurance woes got worse when we got home. Our mail that had been held during the cruise showed up yesterday, so when I got home, I sorted through it. There was a bill from someone in Pennsylvania. I could not understand that, so I immediately opened it. It was a bill for $240 for the PET scan that I had at the cancer center the week before the cruise. Weird. I logged on to the CIGNA website and learned the answer. The PET scan, performed at the cancer center, was covered, but the radiologist who READ the scan was in Pennsylvania and is not a CIGNA doctor. So I have to pay his bill of $240. Well, lesson learned, ASK first if anyone doing anything to you is in the plan. I felt like this was my fault, but on the other hand, they KNOW I use CIGNA In-Network insurance. They could have advised me in advance that the radiologist was not in the network. That way I could make the decision in advance to pay or not pay that. I bet there are facilities in the area that could have done the scan AND have it read in-network. Well, second lesson learned, no more PET scans in this facility. They had said they would want another one in about four months, after the radiation, but I will inform them it will have to be done somewhere else. It will be interesting to see if they are still so eager to have it done!

It's not over yet! While I was on the CIGNA website looking at my claims, I saw that there was a huge bill dated February 8-11 and my portion is $80. So far they have not billed me for that $80, but I looked back on my calendar to see what it was. I was there on February 8 for a CT scan and again on February 11 for the radiation simulation and tattooing. I was not charged a copay for those two days, and I did not see the doctor. So today, I need to call to ask what the $80 is for. I am desperately hoping it is NOT a copay for an office visit for those four dates, especially since I was not in the office on two of those days.

NO, NOT OVER YET! I also saw a bill for more than $1100, with my portion $20, billed by the radiation oncologist for services on February 14. It was paid by CIGNA, so I'm expecting a bill for that $20 also. Problem with that is that I was getting on a ship in Miami on February 14!! Why do they think I need to pay a copay when I wasn't even in the same TOWN?? What service was I receiving while I was on the ship? I think this facility is questionable, certainly; unethical, maybe. I don't trust them now at all.

This morning I will be calling a different cancer center farther up the road. I picked Osceola Cancer Center because they are 17 miles from my house, the closest one. There are others, and at this point, I'm pretty sure I would NOT be paying $20 a day in gas to drive another 10 or 15 miles each way every day. If I can find a place that will bill it as an outpatient procedure and no copay, I would love to switch. My concern is how fast can that get done. Now that I've started the radiation, I really should not interrupt it. I would probably have to go to the new place, meet the new doctor, possibly go through another simulation before they would start me. Who knows how long that would take, probably a week or two. Or I can bite the bullet and pay these people the $660 spread out over the next seven weeks. I also need some answers from them about the strange bill for February 9, 10, and 14 when I was not there. I'll keep you posted on what I find out.

Meanwhile it's Tuesday, so that is weigh-in day. I reported the six pound gain on the ship, and I had hoped to get back on track and lose some weight. Now two more days have gone by and I have gained three more pounds. I weighed 255 this morning. I'm going the wrong way for sure. I did go to the gym yesterday and do my four weight machines. I also ate lunch and dinner out in restaurants. Our friend Rudy is here, so we showed him the two restaurants in our community of Solivita. I ate too much, clearly. Some of it could be water retention. Tonight we are taking Rudy to Raglan Road, an Irish restaurant at Downtown Disney. It's one of Mark's favorite places, so we are going back there for dinner Saturday night for his birthday. At least, I will be eating breakfast and lunch at home today. I will also take a good long walk, at least 30 minutes. Hopefully, tomorrow I can post a bit of a loss. Of course, you'll be the first to know!

Now it's time to start calling the cancer center's billing office, possibly CIGNA again, and probably the Florida Hospital Cancer Center. I am not looking forward to any of this. I'm also not looking forward to driving up there and dropping another $20 in their coffers, but I will do it anyway.

Back to the Real World

We got back yesterday evening. It was a great cruise, but it was also good to get home. When you cruise back-to-back-to-back like we did, it's fun to get to know the crew members a lot better. They always appreciate seeing a familiar face return. We especially enjoyed listening to the a cappella group on the Century. They are called the Tide Flats, four young men from Tacoma, Washington. We listened to them at least once a day.

Our friends Rudy and Georganne joined us for the third cruise. It made is special for us to have friends onboard. I know Georganne loved it, but we're not sure about Rudy. I'm sure he has lots of stories of his own to tell! Still, Mark and I are very glad they joined us.

Although we walked a lot on shore excursion days and several times on the jogging track, I also ate and ate and ate. UGH. On the last day at sea, I think we had five or six meals! Note to future cruises: never schedule the Champagne High Tea in the specialty restaurant on the same day as the big BRUNCH in the main dining room. Both were delicious, but OY, so much food!

Of course, I gained weight. I gained six pounds in the 20 days since we left the house. I guess it could be worse, but now it has to change. I ate a pretty big breakfast on board yesterday morning, but then we had Subway salads and Denny's tilapia for lunch and dinner. Today it is back to normal! Mark is making low-carb pancakes and scrambled eggs for our breakfast. We have to go shopping later because there isn't much food in here right now.

At 2 p.m. the theater group of Solivita is putting on a play in the ballroom. We bought tickets for today's matinee before we left on the cruise. It will be fun to go up and see them. I was going to spend the morning at the pool, but it's cool and overcast, so that's not happening. That's kind of sad because today is the last day for swimming before radiation starts tomorrow. I am not supposed to go in pools, hot tubs, or sun for that whole time.

I hope everyone had a great three weeks while we were gone. I will post some cruise pictures periodically on the blog. Today's picture is the Tide Flats and a few with Rudy and Georganne. Enjoy.