Tattoos, tires, what next ...

I officially have my first tattoos. I've been told they are addictive, so who knows what I'll decide to tattoo next.

The tattoos are part of the process in getting ready for radiation. Yesterday I had lunch with Shannon and I had the best and most comprehensive preparation for my CT Sim and my radiation treatments that anyone could hope for. We had a lovely lunch, I am so impressed with Shannon. There she was having lunch with someone the same age as her mother and yet I never felt any age difference, all I felt from her was caring and friendship.

I think that the CT Sim went that much quicker and smoothly because of Shannon's preparation. I checked in at the reception desk and was told to follow the 'blue line' to the radiation simulation area where I would find a little waiting area and a box on the wall to put my patient card in . I did exactly as I was instructed, trying not to be too anal about walking on the blue line as others walked toward me on it and I had to go around them. ;) One of the people coming toward me as I walked was Diana, a co-worker from my Day Surgery days. She gave me a quick hug and told me she was glad I was having radiation and wished me well.

The waiting area and the box on the wall were just as described. My card didn't even have a chance to get cold before it was scooped up by a radiation tech. He came back to the waiting area and asked me to come change into a blue gown and housecoat and then go back to the waiting area. When I returned to the waiting area a family arrived, with a young boy (the patient), some teenage siblings and the parents. One of the teenage girls reached into her pocket, pulled out her hand and said 'Yecch! Melted mini-eggs!' Her father teased her, saying that maybe she had had an accident and it wasn't mini-eggs. I couldn't resist telling her that she should lick her fingers and then tell him that he had been correct. They all laughed.

I was called in shortly after that for my CT Sim. The techs moved fast. I had a picture of my face taken, then I was asked to lay on the CT table. Shannon had prepared me well for this so I made sure the gown wasn't wrinkled under me and that I was comfortable and relaxed. A support was placed under my knees and my arms were placed over my head with two handles to hold on to, I relaxed into the supports as Shannon had told me to. Three people taped my incision, measured and marked me with fuchsia crosses and when they were satisfied, they took two more pictures before they did the CT. Shannon had also warned me about this, telling me that they would instruct me to 'breathe normally', which as soon as you are conscious of trying to do, you're not. I did what she said and turned my thoughts to my grandchildren and the wonderful valentines they had sent Rod and I to help get my mind off of my breathing. Once the CT was done, it was tattoo time, at this appointment I got the three lower ones - left side, sternal and right side. At the next visit I will get one higher up. They look like little black freckles, not very imaginative or decorative but they serve their purpose, which is for the techs to be able to line me up perfectly each time I have my radiation. I was then told I was done; it couldn't have taken more than 15 minutes, I was told to allow one to one and a half hours when they called about the appointment. I like to think Shannon would be proud of her student, she was certainly a good teacher ;)

Today I had another lunch out, this time with Robin where we discussed my return to work, among other things. It was great to catch up on everything and the food was fantastic, I took the rest of mine home so I could have it for lunch again tomorrow and it was the topic of another conversation we had later today, it was that good!

After I left, my car 'told me' that I needed some air in the right rear tire so I stopped and took care of that and then started the drive home. At the bottom of the hill that the hospital sits on there is a set of lights with two lanes that turn left and one lane that turns right where the road 'T's'. I was sitting at the light, waiting to turn left when a large welding type truck came up very close beside me on the right hand side. I was quite concerned for my mirror as it squeezed past me but it missed that, I was just drawing a sigh of relief, when I  heard an awful screeching as the truck rubbed along the back right side of my car, just over the tire that I had filled. The driver pulled around the corner and I followed. We exchanged insurance information, his supervisor also came out to see the damage, so I waited for him. We took pictures all around, and the driver  apologized profusely to me multiple times. At the police station where I filed my report, I realized that I had neglected to get the name of the insurance company but I had the policy number, the name of the company he worked for and his name, etc. The person that was helping me smiled as they looked him up, another recent accident report for this person with the same truck and insurance policy number was on file, the insurance company was identified there so no need to contact him.

Not how I'd planned to spend my afternoon and amazing how draining something like that can be once all the details are taken care of. I'm very thankful that the damage wasn't worse and that, once again, Rod was there to help smooth the way with insurance and with his autobody contacts.

Take care, everyone