Between treatments

Feeling a little crappy today, although my mouth is no longer on fire and my tastebuds are starting to recover. Yesterday I had a lymphatic drainage massage, and my shoulder blade pain went away for a while, but towards evening it started to hurt more than ever and I had to take Tylenol 3s to sleep, which I've never had to do before.

Tomorrow I'm flying to Alberta to visit friends -- and in theory to escape Toronto humidity, but the biggest Pollyanna moments this month so far have been enjoying the un-Toronto-like weather: it continues to be cool and breezy and dry, with lots of warm sunshine. My house (which doesn't have central air but does have good cross-ventilation) is actually chilly at times. I have to laugh at all these weather reporters apologizing for the fact that we're not having hot summer weather -- if it were like this all summer, I'd be a happy camper.

It's a little odd being between treatments. I've linked before to the blog of Dana Jennings, the New York Times writer who has prostate cancer; recently he wrote (here; thanks, Donna) about how scary it can be when you're not having treatment. The lack of attention can make you feel like you're now at the whim of fate, instead of being "fixed."

But I start radiation the day after I return from Alberta: I'll be going in to be zapped every weekday from July 28 to September 1. I've been through it before, so I know what to expect, but this time it's a different part of me (my armpit rather than my breast), and we'll see what havoc the treatment wreaks with my lymphatic system. My recollection of the effects last time involve increasing fatigue as the weeks wore on, and then a couple of weeks lying on the couch holding a saltwater compress to my burned flesh. It was uncomfortable.