Tuesday was definitely better than Monday

When the GPS Lady says 290 miles to your destination - we'll that pretty much sums up Monday.

On Tuesday I met up with Rosemary. We both grew up on Palmwood St. and have kept in touch even though it's been 30 years since we've seen each other.  Currently Rosemary and her family live about 20 minutes from my hotel.  We chatted for awhile and then had lunch at a very authentic Chinese restaurant.  It was a wonderful treat.  The restaurant has the classic Chinese feel with great food and good service.

Following lunch we went to the Lizzadro Museum Of Lapidary Art.  I've never seen a collection anything like it.  It was started by Joseph Lizzadro an Italian immigrant.  Joseph took a job with Meade Electric in 1916 as a laborer and worked his way up.  After the founder died Joseph became Chairman of the Board of Meade Electric.  He made a proposal to the state of Illinois to change over the gas street lights to electric.  Meade prospered and so did Joseph.

Joseph fell in love with the mineral world and he especially loved to cut and polish jade.  His hobby and collection grew and in 1962 the museum opened to the public.  The museum has a very friendly staff and a warm inviting feel that is rare in museums.

After the tour we went back to Rosemary's home for a cup of tea and chatted awhile longer.  It was a very fun day.

At the museum

With Rosemary

Weekend

After three weeks of living in a hotel I can now say I am a certifiable homebody.  There is no place I’d rather be than in my own back yard.  The Former Boyfriend and I have had plenty of fun traveling, but nothing beats being at home.

Hooray for halfway

We'll I'm officially halfway through proton therapy, only 15 more trips to Fukushima.  My last five treatments are called a "radiation boost".  I'll receive an extra dose of radiation to my scar because cancer likes to recur in the scar region.

The fact that I've heard the song "Radioactive" twice while receiving my treatment along with the term "radiation boost" leaves me a little leery.  I'm not wanting a "bonus" round of this stuff, but I really don't want the cancer coming back either.

I had my appointment with Dr. Chang aka Dr. Rad today.  He's a Michigan man through and through - born and raised, undergrad, med school he bleeds maize and blue (and never lets me forget I'm from Columbus).  He said my skin is holding up good so far but he'd like me to put on a little weight.  I came in at 117 today.

I finished up at the Proton Center before 9. It was another blah day but that didn't stop me from going to St. James Farm.  I didn't stay as long as I would have liked due to rain, but I loved the place.  The old farmhouse and a German style barn remain on the property from the 1800's.

Originally owned by Chauncey McCormick - the great nephew of Cyrus, inventor of the mechanical reaper and co-founder of the McCormick Reaper works.  That merged with Deering Harvester and ended up as International Harvester.

The farm was home to award winning Guernsey cows and the dairy was state-of-the-art for its time.  And the equestrian facility has a 62 stall stable, a 1.5 mile steeplechase track, and an indoor arena.

But now I'm back at the hotel getting my stuff together so I can head home as soon as my treatment ends tomorrow.  As always, thank you all so very much for your love and support.

Pictures from St James Farm

Enjoying the break in the weather

I've really been enjoying the past two days.  Finally getting out of the hotel and into the sunshine with temperatures somewhere around 60 degrees.

I love downtown Naperville.  The forefathers had the vision to provide plenty of free parking downtown to keep the businesses alive.  There is so much beauty and charm with unique shops and cafés everywhere.

The Riverwalk in downtown Naperville consists of miles of brick paths with covered bridges, fountains, outdoor theaters, and gorgeous landscaping.  At one point on the path is the Moser Bell Tower.  It has 72 bells that span six octaves.  It's one of only four world wide.  I can just imagine what this area is like in the summer.

While on my walk I came across this bronze sculpture of Dr. Suess's Cat in the Hat.  He's 8 foot tall and stands in front of the library-and the residents are very proud that their library has been ranked number one in the nation.

And I checked out Herrick Lake, a 885 acre forest preserve that is just north of my hotel.  Originally it was home to the Potawatomi Indians - their trails serve as the basis for roads I drive on everyday.  Herrick Lake is part of a series of preserves all connected that provide 3700 acres of open space and trails.  I have a lot to check out.

Tomorrow after treatment I'm off to see St. James Farm.  It's over 600 acres with barns that date back to the 1800's.

And on Friday I'll be HOME!  I can't wait.

No caption necessary

Herrick Lake

Riverwalk

Monument

Bell Tower

Pictures of them preparing to zap me

I'm back in Chicago after a rainy Monday drive. I have no idea why the roads get so crazy when it rains but my guess is a combination of folks with poorly maintained cars, yacking on their phones, along with terrible roads. But I made it here without incident.  The Former Boyfriend and I thought once we got into a routine these trips would get easier, but it's been hard on both of us being separated.

It's been so difficult to try and explain proton therapy so my techs took a couple of photos.  If you look closely you can see the blue wax ring right above me.  Inside the blue wax ring are the brass rings that I showed in a previous post.

Before my treatment session my radiation techs line my body up using lasers in the room and ink marks on my body.  I'm also laying in a mold of my body to hold me in position.  Following this the techs use a CT X-ray scanner to make sure all my organs are in the proper position.

Once properly aligned, the techs run and hide behind radioactive safety glass while they zap me for approximately two minutes.  Then the techs move the proton machine to a second position and zap me again for another 1-2 minutes. Everything is painless and after treatment I'm free to do whatever I want for the rest of the day.

Thanks to everybody for all your support it means more than you will ever know.

Are we home yet?

I woke up at 4 am desperately wanting to get on the road home.  My treatment was scheduled at 8 am but due to technical difficulties with the cyclotron magnets my actual treatment time ended up being closer to 10 am.  But off I was and it’s always such a shock traveling for miles past the endless array of convenience stores, fast food joints, chain stores, orange barrels, and all of that insane traffic.

I arrived home at 5-ish Friday, strung out from the physical stagnation of driving and the dreary weather.  I found a dead mouse in a trap in the basement and black ants in the washing machine…yep I’m home and I’m happy.

Living the hotel life is strange and a couple nights ago I plopped down in front of the TV and watched a documentary called The Light Bulb Conspiracy (much better than a segment of Cupcake Wars I watched).  In short, the film’s about planned obsolescence, and one of the first documented efforts to engineer planned obsolescence into consumer products.  That effort, coordinated by numerous manufactures in the late 1920’s, was aimed at light bulbs.  Apparently, many early light bulbs had a flaw: they lasted too long.  Because they lasted too long they didn’t need frequent replacement.  As the movie documented, what happened to light bulbs – which was to cut their lifespan by more than half- happened to numerous products.  Very sad.  But if you happen to come across the film it is worth watching.

So Thursday I was rescued from another night of hotel TV by friends Tom & Carrie.  They live in Naperville and are about 8 miles from where I stay.  Tom and The Former Boyfriend became buds back in their pre-teen years in Northeast Ohio and they have stayed in touch all these years.  But anyway, Tom and wife Carrie took me to their local Mexican watering hole.  The food was good and the margaritas powerful.  After dinner we went back to their home and had a chance to catch up.  Their youngest daughter Katrina studied Animal Behavior in college and now works with sea lions at the New Orleans Zoo.  I got to see video of her at work with the sea lions, she is truly, truly gifted.

And I received word this week that my final treatment will be Thursday, May 1^st.  My treatments are going well.  The only side effect I’m having is a little sun burn effect on my skin.  This is unavoidable, but the doctors are watching it closely and will adjust my treatment plan if needed.

The Former Boyfriend and I thank all of you so much for your thoughts and prayers.  

Tech talk

I met with my Dosmitrist today.  It's all very techie but I'll do my best to summarize. The Dosmitrist takes the proton plan from the radiologist and then uses computer models of my body to make a three-dimensional pattern for each proton beam used.  The protons are energized with a cyclotron and magnets to specific velocities.  These "energies" determine how deep into my body the protons will travel and where they will deliver their maximum energy.

The brass ring (seen below weight about 35 pounds) and the blue wax ring are made in a machine shop on premises. They were sculpted from the computer model of my body and I have three different rings depending on what angle they need, the blue wax ring further defines the treatment field.  The machine shop does tours on Wednesday's if anyone is interested. These guys love visitors and love to show off what they do.

I talked at length with my former neighbor Rosemary today.  She lives nearby and we are going to do lunch soon.  And I just got a call from Carrie who lives in Naperville. Thursday I'll be going to dinner with Carrie and her husband Tom. I've been getting a bit spoiled eating out so much. And also really spoiled by the number of places with yummy food that fit my dietary restrictions. Things like these are huge for me being away from home for such long stretches.