Scan Day is EZ

Today is Scan Day.

My plan is to work till lunchtime and then head up to Duke. I'll get bloodwork done, followed by the CT Scan.

The only tricky part of today willl be when they access my port. When they flush it with saline, I get a nasty taste in my mouth. During chemo, it's enough to trigger a nausea that lasts for hours. When I am not taking chemo, though, it is just a moment of yuckiness with no lingerling effect. The last couple of times, I have used York Peppermint Patties, which are so amazingly minty I can't even tell they have done the flush. I have some leftover and will bring them along. But I might experiment with simply holding my breath during the flush, see how that goes. I'll get flushed at least twice. If holding my breath doesn't work the first time, then I'll fall back on the mints.

Oh, and I definitely must refuse Tegaderm today. It's a fantastic clear plastic sheet, sticky on one side, that the nurses like to place over the port to sort of seal up the area after they get the needle in. I have always loved Tegaderm. It is awesome for covering an incision so you can take a shower after surgery. But now my skin gets red and irritated when they put it on me, even for just a couple of hours. So I must refuse. Ah, I guess I am a delicate flower...

This morning I walked the 2.2 mile loop. It is really fresh and cool this morning, as if we just had a drenching rain. Did it rain last night? I have no idea.

We did have an earthquake yesterday! It was my third. For a few seconds I thought it was guys working on the roof of my office building, but when it went on for so long, I knew it was an earthquake. All the knicknacks in my office rattled, but nothing fell over or got dissarranged.

So, today will be a breeze, especially since I have a book to read while I sit in the waiting room at the lab and then later in radiology. It's something like The Dance of Death by Douglas Preston and Lincold Child. I am not 100% sure of the title. It is just the next one in the series of novels with Special Agent Pendergast. I am hooked. Every book this team produces is better than the previous.

Tomorrow, Lou and I go see Dr R to get the results.