Found Out Some More Stuff...Then a Forced March

Favorite aquarium - on Clement Street

Went with Dhivajri today for radiation and met with Dr Patel.

But first, things I could be doing more of, or even doing a little of:

1. Drinking corn silk tea (preventative, blocks bacteria in bladder) 
2. Applying tons of moisturizer to areas that are NOT currently troubled (was suggested 3 times a day but i sort of forgot about it)
3. Start meditating again, and do tai chi from my DVD. Every day. 
4. Sitz baths every day, see below. 
5. Other things I may have forgotten about

Dr Patel: 

1. I have *3 more days* of external radiation: Thursday, Friday, and Tuesday.*One more* chemo on Weds, and one more internal radiation on Feb 28. THEN, healing from the radiation etc. Then we wait about a month (end of March) and get an exam and a CT scan which is partly to see how things are healing from the radiation, and partly to look at the state of the cancer. Dr Littel who I haven't seen for ages will also reappear. Three months from the end of treatment (end of May), things should have healed/settled down and I will get a PET scan, after which I will either find out a new course of treatment, which I think will be a longer round of chemo (bye hair!), OR if all's clear, exams every 3 or 4 months for a year or two, then every 6 months after that.
2. He gave me an exam, which just means he looked at the state of things for a few seconds. He said it was 'normal' (all things considered.) Suggested a sitz bath 30 minutes a day, for which water is just fine, but salt is ok too and some of his patients have sworn by witch hazel. Decided not to get the burn creme he prescribed, remembered I got burn creme from Misha ages ago so going to try that first.
3. It's all about the lists today. 

Chemotherapy with Padmatara: 

• We're not really good chemotherapy tourists anymore, taking pictures etc. as if for first time on a foggy cable car ride...good egg salad sandwiches though from the Kaiser cafe, a visit with Tong, and a few episodes of Nurse Jackie...  

An excellent forced march with Shantinayaka:

• Who forced it? I did, I asked Pasadini to put it on the helping calendar. With the radiation thingy in Santa Clara yesterday and chemo today, I've pretty much been on my back, or sitting in a car or chair, the last two days. So I pried myself from lying on my bed and we went for a walk up the hill past Dolores Park and back and I felt SO much better and energetic afterwards. Most of the chat was about dire medical situations. Note to self: Must expand conversation topics. 

In other news:

• Why am I so spaced out? I can barely keep track of things (and I'm getting a lot of help.) 
• Food preferences have shifted toward liquid - soup and protein/fruit shakes (especially rasberries lately, so good!/organic whey protein powder/coco water/Greek plain yogurt). I still eat and enjoy other things of course (like Cameo cheese, yum!, and crackers) but find liquids much more straight forward for digestion. 
• A couple of people have asked me to clarify my comment, "...This brings up all kinds of issues about medical insurance for me and where I can live. But I will think about that later."...Remember that up until the day of my diagnosis I was planning on leaving San Francisco in a few months, probably to New York City for a while and then to West London if that became possible. I haven't really gotten my mind around the fact that if I leave San Francisco I will not be able to get health insurance, which effectively means that I cannot leave San Francisco. Unless Obama's "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" actually happens, which is hard to imagine. So as far as I know, as long as I stay in San Francisco and Tong is happy to keep me on his medical insurance, it's not at risk. (And I keep paying him for it, and he still has his job!) 
• I created another blog - for people with vaginal cancer. I hope they can find it - Radiation Side Effects for Vaginal Cancer: Recommended Products.