Tuesday, July 31, 2012

July 31 - I'm in a seriously rotten mood today.

Went to the dentist this morning. Found out that I'm supposed to be getting fitted for fluoride trays. They tried 3 times and were unable to get the tray molds around the swelling of my tongue. They rescheduled for a week from now.

At 11:30 I received a phone call from the PET scan people telling me that I'm not allowed to eat carbs for the rest of the day and I'm not allowed to eat anything at all tomorrow before my appt. at noon. Say what??  I had just put a crab stuffed salmon fillet with a side of cheesy rice in the oven and JT, H, and Jer were on their way over with a fruit smoothie AND a milkshake! I decided that the instructions didn't really need to go into effect until 1:00. Screw them. They should give a peep a little warning! Meanwhile since meat and salad are not currently in my diet, I'm stuck with egg salad and water for dinner.Whoa. Please, help me contain my excitement.

Went for my simulation appointment this afternoon. They expected me to have the trays with me so that they could make my mask with the trays in my mouth. I told them that a) my tongue is still too swollen and b) even if the dentist had managed to take the impressions, she told me it would take them a full week to make the trays. This threw everyone off their game. So, some 12 year old dude came to look at my tongue. Yeah, yeah, he's supposedly a doctor despite his youth. He decided to simply fabricate a bite plate for me to use until the trays can be made. Plus, he said their on-site facility can have trays made in 3 days so he told me to cancel with my dentist and he would set me up with them instead. He also made an off-hand comment about how the surgeon used too much flesh for my 'tongue' and that I would need to go back into surgery to have the excess removed.

WHAT?!?

I have been wondering for the past two weeks about that EXACT thing! How do they know how much flesh to use? And supposedly the majority of swelling goes down in 3 weeks and the rest of the swelling will be gone in 3 months. And I was definitely noticing the swelling decreasing on a daily basis for a while there but now I feel like it's come to a standstill and I still can't put my teeth together! Needless to say, his comment flipped me out. He noticed and apologized and said that he needs to learn when to stop talking. He then made a comment about better too much flesh than too little. I was not appeased. I am now counting the hours until I see Chrysa again so that I can get the truth about this.

Anywho, progressing along in the appointment, we headed down to the radiation treatment room and I got nekkid. I would like to note here that hanging around topless off and on in front of 3-4 people for an hour or so was a tad uncomfortable. I may have to rethink the porn vice. (And thank goodness JT can't post comments on here!) I was fitted with the mask. It's very hot plastic that they drape across your head, neck and shoulders. It then melts to a form fitting mold and has to stay in place for 25 minutes while it hardens. I also had a dot tattooed on my chest. Was not prepared for that but as it turns out, it's so teensy weensy it looks like just another freckle or mole which populate my body in large quantities anyway.

And that was pretty much it. I have a laminated picture ID that I can simply scan each time I show up for a radiation appointment, much like the gym. Radiation treatments start on 8/13 which is the same day I'm hoping to go back to work. My current timeslot, which stays the same for the full 6-7 weeks is 9:15. I wasn't thrilled. I'm going to show up at work for 45 minutes and then leave again?? I have a voicemail in with their scheduling person to see if they have a slot closer to the lunch hour. The less I have to interfere with my work schedule, the happier (and less stressed!) I will be. Meanwhile they still didn't have my airline letter ready for me as promised. Supposedly it will be ready tomorrow.

So, I'm pretty much aggravated all over the place. Boy, a glass of wine sure would be appreciated right about now. Unfortunately, the one time I tried a sip of wine since leaving the hospital, it burned the heck out of my 'tongue', plus, I'm sure it's loaded with carbs. Guess I'll just go crawl in bed and wish for this day to be over. (Actually I wish tomorrow was already over too!) <sigh>

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