Valentine's Day, Radiation Oncology, and Work Woes

For being only Wednesday, it's been a pretty busy week. Monday was fairly quiet. I stayed home and rested and got some stuff around the house done. Mostly things like writing thank you notes, and doing the bills, but also about 6 loads of laundry. Monday I met Eric at lunch time and we got our taxes done. We're going to get a little more back than last year, so I should have enough to pay for the classes I want to take this year, our trip to Iowa to visit my parents, and we'll put the rest in savings so we have a little cushion.

Tuesday was Valentine's Day and I stayed home again. I even studied a little for my upcoming CPCU exam. A woman from church had called last week and offered to babysit so Eric and I could go to dinner, so we took her up on it. She arrived at around 6 p.m. and we went over Grace's routine and then left for dinner. We wanted to go to Outback, so I called ahead on the way, but they weren't taking call-ahead seating. When we got there, there was an hour and 15 minute wait time. We expected to wait though, so we just talked and enjoyed our time out. Once we were seated dinner was wonderful. I think I ate the best steak I'd ever had. Yum! We made it home at about 8:45 p.m. and the sitter said Grace was wonderful. Other than dinner, we just exchanged cards.

Today I had an appointment to meet my Radiation Oncologist. I wasn't sure what to expect from the appointment. It was really general, but Dr. B seemed nice enough. When we were discussing my history, he asked lots of questions about family history, etc. (like every doctor does) and seemed a bit puzzled that I'd managed to come down with breast cancer. He asked if I'd done the genetic testing and I told him that I plan to, but haven't yet. He seemed to think it would be a good idea. He did a breast exam and then explained briefly the process and side effects. He said since I have a light complexion, I may have some issues with radiation burn, which will be alot like a sunburn. He gave me the name of a cream I can use to try to reduce the effects. Permanantly, I may have darkened skin on that breast, and it may get smaller and firmer. I asked about the possibility of breast-feeding in the future. He said, probably not. He said it won't hurt the baby, but I probably won't be able to make much milk in that breast. He also asked about our birth control methods and seemed concerned that maybe we aren't doing enough. He said it's very important that I don't get pregnant while undergoing radiation. I'm not really sure what the answer to that is. I've been told I shouldn't be on a hormonal birth control, so in my mind that left condoms. However, when I told Dr. B what we were using, he said, "Is that it?" I'm not crazy about an IUD, but I don't know what other non-hormonal options are available. Anyway... I'll have my first appointment where they do a "set-up" and they'll draw with marker on my skin to line everything up. Then daily when I come in, they'll touch up my marks and the radiation will only take 10 to 15 minutes. I also get valet parking or can get a token for the garage. They are open from 8 to 4:30 and I shouldn't have any problems getting an early morning appointmet daily. I'll go for about 6 1/2 weeks. I asked when we start and he said probalby in two weeks or so, since I just finished my chemo. So, I went out to the secretary to get scheduled. She scheduled me for Monday to do the "set-up" and said I won't get radiation that day. I asked her when I'd actually start, and she said probably towards the end of the week or the next week. So, I still don't have it set in stone, but I could be starting as soon as next week. I guess the sooner I start, the sooner I finish.

Finally, the last part of this post is work issues. Yesterday (when I wasn't there) two of the seven people in my department quit. We all are pretty overworked anyway, but now we have to pick up their work too. The bad news is that they may not replace either person or maximum one person. So, today when I went in to the office I was assigned 5 new accounts. I only had 5 before, although they were pretty large accounts, now I have 10. One of them has a March 1st renewal, so I need to figure it out pretty quickly. Hopefully, I can just pick up and run with it and hopefully this will be taken into account when raises and bonuses are announced in a couple of weeks. Wish me luck.