8 has always been my favorite number – why? No idea… 8×2 = my birthday… 8/2 = the number of siblings in my family – I’m sure I could come up with more but really have no idea – and why is any number a favorite? Anyway…

Treatment #8 –

• 8th time I’ve had to sport a PICC line in my arm – this gets installed the day before treatment – it requires me to need help with some ADLs – its weird to taste saline when any of the 3 lines get flushed – I usually get a nice bruise to show off after it’s removed
• 8th time I’ve spent an entire day sitting in a hospital room connected to an IV pole for this treatment – most of this is sitting in the bed waiting for something to start or something to end – & dragging the pole with me to go potty – the length of time sitting around is dictated by when everyone else involved can be available to do what is needed before I leave
• 8th time I’ve watched a science experiment enter my arm through the PICC (pictured above)
• 8th time I’ve had CT pictures done right after treatment – definitely NOT glamor shots – just a way to see where the radiation is hanging out in my body
• 8th time I get to be radioactive & go into hiding – need to avoid people for 3 days ~ the 6’ pandemic rule – I time this treatment to limit interruptions with my work schedule
• 8th time I have use a separate bathroom – flush 2x – keep my laundry separate – for 3 days
• 8th time I need to sleep in a separate bed for 7 days
• 8th time I have to wonder if all this crap is doing anything helpful – Magic 8 Ball: Are the nausea & fatigue I fight with for a couple weeks after treatment worth it? Will this treatment give me more time? Is it doing damage to anything other than the tumors? It’s tough to have questions with non-committal replies “Reply hazy, try again” “Cannot predict now”. I fear asking too many questions & eventually turning up a negative reply.