I should have written this post over the weekend - but the weather was so glorious that I was out and about instead. So, my apologies for getting this off basically after the fact.
Friday I trundled into the hospital to have my markings re-done. Despite the assurances of the tech who did the original stuff, the surgical tape is definitely not made for persons who are not post-surgery. If you move, you sweat. If you sweat, they come off - quickly and they do not re-stick. When the tape comes off, it takes the marker with it. I even tried adding surgicial tape over and criss-crossing the stuff from the hospital. I ended up looking like a living, walking, talking mummy - but to no avail. Nothing would stick past the first good walk I had. Eventually I just ripped the whole thing off. The tape was folding into sharp edeges that dug into me and pulling on my scars.
They had told me that if the the markings didn't last I could just show up at the hospital and they would be re-done for me. So, without an appointment I packed a lunch and mid-afternoon snack, my water bottle and tube of henna and off I went. Without an appointment I figured I could be there many, many hours. I had learned that even with an appointment there was no guarantee of getting in without waiting a couple of hours, so who knew how long it could take when one was a bad, bad patient and lost one's marks.
It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed the walk up. When I explained to the receptionist what I was doing there she was rather skeptical. Not an auspicious beginning. She called someone however and seemed surprised by what she heard but took me immediately to Exam Room 2 and told me that someone would be in presently. Exam Room 2 was not what I was expecting. The initial markings, which essentially had to be done again from scratch, required that I lay on a table and they used laser beams to measure. This was a bare exam room. Somehow we had gotten our wires crossed - this was not going to work. Had no one ever before completely lost their markings? I don't think it's possible for them to last two full weeks even under ordinary circumstances - like with a good, good patient who doesn't sweat them off.
In came Linda, with marker and large bandage type things in hand. I looked at here skeptically, gave her my best smile and confessed that the markings weren't merely faded - they were gone. I waited for sentencing to be announced. "Well," she began, "To fix that requires the use of (insert noun for special marking machine which I have forgotten) and it's down for a software upgrade. It won't be back on line until Wednesday so we'll have to schedule you in for then." Uh oh, radiation scheduled to begin Monday! So, in the end everything had to be postponed until Wednesday when the markings can be re-done.
Linda shot down my henna idea, saying that it wasn't protocol and might smudge. Honestly, I think the henna option is still much better. It's a natural product and the lines it can make are a heck of alot more fine than the Sharpie. I was still planning to use the henna on my own but I didn't share that with Linda. Instead I asked, "How are the markings going to last for four weeks? They, and the tape barely last four days." and Linda came up with the obvious solution. The nurses who will be taking care of me during the radiation sessions will re-do the markings and change the tape when necessary. So, once radiation acgtually starts, there should be no worries for me about the markings. First, I'm told that I will be so tired and burnt that I won't be doing much sweating. Second, even if I do, they'll be taken care of daily by the nurses. Awesome. My only remaining question is why, as soon as I told them that I wasn't taking the tattoos, they didn't just schedule me for markings just prior to radiation beginning? Hmmm.
In considering all this marking stuff, someone actually suggested to me that I should consider using a product that is apparently used to write on steel - during construction projects or some such thing. Seriously? I'm looking for alternatives to the chemicals found in Sharpies that would be acceptable to the hospital. But, I was told, this product takes weeks to get off your skin if you are unfortunate enough to get it on your skin! Yes, that would work from the aspect of semi-permanency, but I'm not intested in more poison! Also, even assuming that I could figure out what the hell this stuff is (I was strongly urged to spend my precious time researching the damn thing) and agree to have it put on my skin for it to seep into my body because more poison is what I really need these days, I doubt that I could buy it at Staples nor convince the hospital that it should be the new standard in their protocols! Focus people!
Tree update before hair: The trees are gone! I used Wright Tree Service and they were great. Four men showed up Thursday morning. Because of all of the rain we've been having, their schedule was out of whack so I didn't really have any notice. Rob left a message Wednesday and I called them Thursday morning and they were able to come right over. First, they were hysterically funny. Second, they did a great job. They were not able to do the most aesthetically pleasing job due to the lack of cooperation from my neighbour, but they totally understood my need to strictly adhere to the property line and they offered advice and suggestions on how to go about it. It was quite an operation and I cannot believe the amount of foliage that was removed. When it was all on the ground it seemed like alot more than it did up in the air!
I was able to give my neighbours behind me a few hours notice so that they could move their cars. They were so good about it they even offered to share the cost of the one tree on my property that needed to be removed that overhung their yard. Wow, what a contrast to my crazy next door neighbour and a delightful surprise:)
My hair is growing at an awesome rate! Laurie and I were enjoying a relaxing few minutes on Saturday in my now sunny back yard (sadly the neighbour was not there to see me actually using my yard - he may have even approved) and we were comparing growing speeds. Laurie figures that I'll have a full head of long locks before hers grows another inch:) The race is on. On Sunday I noticed that I have a full row of top and bottom eye lashes now! This is wonderful b/c my lashes are so pale that I really need masscara to give my eyes definition. The lashes are tiny - very short - but a whole row is simply awesome and I'm so thrilled to have progress there. It's another corner that I have turned.
Syd came home last night from a weekend with her dad and announced that she was tired of eating junk food! For those of you who don't know, that poor child has inherited two of my worst traites: she'd prefer to sit and read more than anything else in life; and, she LOVES her junk food. This was therefore quite a surprise. I asked her what she had in mind and she outlined quite a strict regime for us. I have misgivings about our ability to do this: no sugar other than naturally occuring sugar (this will be the biggest hurdle); no fat (or only the very minimum); no bread products (yikes!); only lean meats; absolutely no junk food; only no fat dairy. Some of these we already do and some of these are killers. When I got up (after noon because i was up all night with pain in my hip) I remembered to have my coffee without added sugar - but then proceeded to have a pita with all natural peanut butter and jam! Alas! When Syd got home from school I asked how she had done and she confessed to having a sub, a chocolate bar and a bag of chips today! I was shocked by it - even if she hadn't proposed this new regime I am surprised by how much junk she can put away in a 50 minute lunch break. I guess it is time to get on top of this - for both our sakes. Logan of course is exempt - except that he'll be eating better meals at home. He is trying desperately to gain weight for rowing.
In the end, after the steel marker, the tree and trench issues and everything else that's come at me, I've decided that the problem is not me making changes and continuuing to laugh at all the things that I find ridiculous - it's the refusal of others to let me laugh that is the problem. So, I've made a gorgeous fruit salad for Syd and her friend as an after school snack and I'm going out to my garden to begin work on my plantings - something that I truly enjoy (but am terrible at) and in the past haven't done enough of - and I'll keep focusing on ways to make my life better and more full of laughter. Others can join me in that journey - or not:)
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