Aug 21st. Friday

Today was my be nice to the people that keep me alive. I first went to the gym about 9am and took some tomatoes that the Lengachers had give to Sharon. They are so good, but you can only can so many and make so much tomato sauce. They are all organically grown and if you have checked in the stores they get quite a price for organic anything. The lady that helped me with my bandage one day was the one that I left them with. She was soooo happy. She said she loves tomatoes and that they are very expensive this year.

Since she was so excited about getting them I decided I had a few more people on my "keeping me alive list" so I went home and made up a few bags of tomatoes and headed for the chemo office. I got there around 10am and the place was packed. I always went very early in the morning and never really saw it where people were waiting in the outer office to get in. I was only able to see one of the five girls that were on duty because they were so busy. When I would be there I could always talk to most of them because there were never more that three or four of us around. Mary was also very happy to get the tomatoes. She said she would see to it that everyone share in the bounty.

Earlier I had called Carol Burns's office to see when my appoint to see her was. They informed me that it was yesterday. When I asked when I could get another appointment the lady said sometime in November. I then asked to talk to Deb in Endocrinology. She and I are buddies and when I run out of pills before my next refill, she always gives me some samples and I give her little treats. This time she had actually set aside a time for me when she and Carol realized yesterday that I was not going to make my appointment. I've been seeing Carol for 10 years and have never missed an appointment. Deb knew I had surgery because she got me some samples the Friday before my surgery. She told Carol she thought I probably would be calling to re-schedule. She set me up for Sept 10 at 8:30 the time I always want to have when seeing Carol. She is a Love, but she takes soooo much time with each person that if you come later in the day, you will wait a long time to see her. I didn't tell Deb that I was going to bring her tomatoes but I decided she would be a great person to give them to also. I was right, she gave me a big hug and said she would share with the office and Carol.

While I was at the chemo office I also stopped at the radiation office that will be next door to the chemo office. I thought they were the same, but it is two separate Dr's offices. I told them how much I liked the chemo people and they said I would like them better. They explained that they work a little differently than the chemo people because they have people in every ten to fifteen minutes and each one is different. With chemo you can come any time because they make up the medicine early and have it in your name when you come in. The radiation will only take about ten to fifteen minutes, but they said to plan on being there for about thirty minutes out of your day.

I go Tuesday to meet the Dr. and get a run down on what they plan to do and I have a decision to make about my treatment. It is actually preventative and not like the surgery. I can say no if I choose, and I can stop if I'm not tolerating it well. I'm sure I will go all the way with it. I sure as hell don't want this thing coming back on me again.

Sharon is at the Essen House until 8pm and Sammy and Brian are not here, so I think I'll make some dinner and maybe go to the movies. More later.
Tom