Another Laugh . . .

They don’t allow you to sit up or get up during the internal radiation treatments. This keeps the “seeds” in place where they will do their job. The diet during this time is a very boring one. I got three meals a day which consisted of a cup of broth and ½ a cup of jello. The jello couldn’t have any red food coloring in it so my choices were limited. I could have yellow (lemon) or lemon (yellow). On my third day in the hospital, I looked at my wonderful meal and saw that there was orange jello there. I was so thankful for another flavor that I began to eat the jello right away. The nurse passed the room and saw the orange jello and proceeded to try and take it from me. Did I mention I was on a lot of medication . . . I growled at the nurse, grabbed the jello out of her reach and said “it’s mine”. Now the voice that I usually have wasn’t the one that came out of my mouth, it was a much deeper voice and it sounded like I meant business. Needless to say, the nurse backed off and I got to keep my orange jello, even though it had red food coloring in it. At this time I would like to remind you, I was on some high powered medication, that is my story and I am sticking to it.

From Hospital to Home to Hospital

I was home for two weeks after finishing the first internal radiation. I returned to UVA better equipt. This time I didn’t bring any books because I knew I wouldn’t be able to focus enough to read them. I didn’t have any large print books at the time, to be honest; the thought never crossed my mind. While they were preparing me for the second of these treatments, the doctors decided to give me an epidural before implanting the “seeds”. Those of you who have had children in recent years know exactly what that is. Something in that medication didn’t react with me well at all. The doctors had said that I would be so relaxed I would probably go to sleep. You know me . . . I don't follow the rules, I will add it isn't always intentional that I don't follow the rules, it just happens that way. So, I get the medication in my IV to "relax" me. Suddenly, I feel really warm all over and energized, hyper in fact. Then it begins, I begin to talk incessantly. When I say incessantly, I mean non stop and at an accelerated pace. I told the doctors all about the birth of both of my children. Even the smallest of details. My mouth was going at 95 miles an hour in a 25 mile an hour zone. Now, in my defense, I did not realize I was doing this, it just kind of happened. I do, however, remember the moment I did realize I was talking really really fast and covering a lot of stories. It was when one of the doctors in the room said "excuse me Mam, pardon me, but can you talk to him (pointing to another doctor) for a few minutes, I have to go over here and do something." I remember replying to him, Oh, no problem at all, I guess I am talking a lot, sorry, I just can't seem to stop. So, I continued to talk, talk and talk some more to the next ear that would listen. When I went to the recovery room, the nurses had already heard of my condition . . . constantly talking . . . and were already prepared and they were laughing. I was cracking jokes and carrying on. They said they didn't get patients that lively very often at all. From that point on, the nurses remembered me every time they saw me, even if it was just in the hall way at the hospital.