Some Useful Toiletries and a Meeting with a Doctor

I was feeling really depressed last night thinking about my employment/career/etc situation. Then I opened a package that arrived from Nora in Hawaii, which among many other lovely things included the bar of soap shown on the left. Pasadini, Padmatara and I were laughing for a long time. It definitely cheered me up.

Dr. Patel and Cecilia said I am 'healing normally'. I told them all my symptoms and they suggested things to do, eg, more astringent for my peeling skin...the bathroom urgency (if you must know, both kinds!) and fatigue will probably continue for a couple of weeks. This is the biggest difficulty as it means I often don't want to leave the house!

I asked for some more specific info about what the various scans mean (the CT scan in a couple of weeks, and the PET scan at the end of May.) I had it pretty much totally wrong. The CT scan can't check the size or existence of the primary tumor. It's basically looking for something new in the lymph nodes or bone structures. In short, I'm probably not really going to know much of anything about my cancer status for three months. He also said that if the CT scan did find something Dr. Tavakoli would probably suggest chemotherapy within a few weeks, a prospect that fills me with angst.

Crystal Springs Reservoir

After the appointment I went for a short walk at the Sawyer Camp Trail afterwards, which borders what I think is the reservoir with the water from Hetch Hetchy dam in the Sierras. I need to start walking more again = more energy/less depression.  It was a warm, pretty day.

I got a massage at the Embarcadero Y again last night - thanks to Tong. This one was a blind woman called Maia - it was great.