Hibernation: June 26th to the 29th

It has taken me nine treatments to figure out the best way to deal with folfuri is to sleep through it.  Not because I feel tired, but because it feels better. My body must be tired, because I close my eyes and fall asleep, but I don't feel sleepy.  I just feel major league crappy.  I don't need medicine, I don't need food, all I need is sleep.  Sleep four hours, get up for two, sleep some more.  The world can march on, just let me sleep.  I can sleep all day, and then sleep all night.  How is this even possible?  I can get through this because on Monday I will feel better.  Only this Monday, I don't.  I get up to start my day, but after a very short time, it is apparent this is not going to work.  I need more sleep.  I call in help, and go back to bed.  Finally, by Tuesday morning I begin the slow ascent back to feeling unchemoed.

On Friday, during my chemo session, the medical imaging department left a message on my phone.  It is very vague, saying only that my doctor has ordered a test for me, and I need to call back to make an appointment.  I don't hear this message until Tuesday, because I have been sleeping all weekend.  I don't know what kind of test my doctor has scheduled, because we didn't talk about any new tests.  I know I have my pet scan scheduled for Thursday, but I wasn't aware of any new tests.

I call back and reach the automated operating system.  It is very unhelpful.  It expects me to know what kind of test I am calling to schedule, but the person who left me a message didn't say what type of test I am supposed to be scheduling.  I press the number for the pet scan department hoping they can help me.  It turns out Blue Cross has refused to pay for my pet scan, so my Thursday appointment is cancelled.    They will let me have an MRI however, so I schedule one for Sunday, July 12, at 8am.  My appointment with Dr. Safran is on the 14th, so there will be time for him to get the results before I see him.

I put all of this out of my mind and get ready to enjoy the 4th of July weekend. 

Steve and I need to pick my vacuum up in Warwick right after I get done working on Friday.  It has been in the repair shop for three weeks and it is finally done.  If I don't pick it up, I won't be able to get it for another week, and I really can't wait that long.  With a sandbox in the backyard and lots of sandy feet and shoes in my house, it has been a long three weeks.

Since we were in Warwick, and I was feeling pretty good, but chemo hungry, meaning I needed food right away or I'd soon feel too sick to eat, I suggest we try Iggy's.   I'll admit to feeling kind of brave about this, given my last experience there, but I don't want to be afraid to eat someplace my family loves.  It turns out most of Warwick goes to Iggy's on the 3rd of July.  There are fireworks on the beach and people start to get there well before the sun goes down.  In the end we were brave to go there for a completely different reason.  The line to order stretched down the sidewalk past the playground and toward the beach. Having stood in this line before, we knew that it would go quickly, and decided to go for it. Steve parked the car while I got in line.  This line leads to a walk up window,  where you order, get a number and wait for your order.  Iggy's has been on Oakland beach for years, and they have a very good system.  It moves quickly, and since you are out on the sidewalk, there is plenty to see and hear, and before you know it, you have your food.

I was just getting to the edge of where hungry turns to sick when I was next up to to order.  When they called me up, a man stepped in front of me from somewhere else.  I politely told him where the end of the line was.  He looked back in amazement, as if noticing this huge line for the first time.  As he shrugged his shoulders and walked off, I laughed at his audacity, and my own as well.  Don't mess with someone who is chemo hungry!

Steve and I walked back to the car and ate our dinner.  It was the easiest and warmest place to eat.  And the chowder was everything I had hoped it would be.