The First Day of the Rest of My Life – The To Do List – October 17, 2019 – Day 47

The older you get, the things that you thought you wanted to do when you were younger, you're checking them off your list because you no longer want to them. - Cal Ripken, Jr.

The first thing on my To-Do List today was radiation treatment #22. Only 6 more treatments to go. Hooray! Home plate is looking closer. My second thing on the list today was to get my lab work done across the lobby in the chemotherapy treatment room. But . . .

I was sidetracked by a woman who, as I was sitting in the waiting area for my radiation treatment, walked up and said: “Is Edward here?” She had me. She is Althea and Althea is an oncology nutritionist/dietician. Her job is to keep those going through all the various medical cancer treatments healthy and hearty. And, yes, that does smack of being an oxymoron. And, if you read yesterday's article, you'll remember that both the surgical oncologist I met with yesterday and my radiation doctor and nurse said they were going to connect me with Althea.

So, Althea chatted about my food intake. What I was ingesting. When I was eating. How often I was eating. How much I was eating and similar topics. She was taking copious notes. Then I heard another call. It was the familiar “Mr. Helvey.” That was Colleen, one of my regular radiation technicians calling me in to be “beamed up for my 22^nd time. So, off I trotted into the beam up chamber.

When I left the radiation treatment, Althea was still awaiting my presence. So, she took me to the scale and weighed me. We then went into the quiet little room near the entrance to the radiation center. It's important to understand that I'm not making light of this. It's a very serious business and plays a very significant role in the overall success of these treatments.

On the one hand, I'm probably the lowest weight I've been in between 20 and 30 years. And, to be very honest, it has been one of my goals to lose a whole lot of pounds. However, that being said, the part of the weight I lost before the Fireball hit me on August 18^th was intentional. The weight I've been losing since has been because of the radiation and chemo treatments I've been having. This is the weight loss that MUST be kept under control. She gave me lots of great information, both verbally and in printed form. She also gave me a goody bag of samples of nutrition shakes and other products to maintain my necessary level of protein intake and help keep my caloric intake up. We parted ways, but not before her telling me that she'll be seeing me again, soon.

I then went across the lobby, was taken in for my lab work and then headed out to drive back to Judy's house. It was a pretty brisk morning with a reasonably high wind factor with gusting. It took down a couple tree limbs in Judy's backyard. I was glad I got my insulated hooded and my Australian leather hat out of the van to wear. It was quite blustery and I was glad to not having that wind blowing through my normally lighter clothing.

When I got back to Judy's I was actually hungry and had some lunch. While I was eating my lunch, I got my notepad out and started writing out a “To-Do List.” I don't know about you, but that list got longer than I expected and faster than I thought. However, like yesterday, I was having a good day. I had more sleep last night and the night before than I normally get. I'm going to assume that may be, at least, partially responsible for my higher than average level of stamina and energy. So, after lunch, I began attacking “The List.”

Now, the thing about To-Do Lists is that you really need to prioritize them. Years ago I learned to categorize them as A, B, C and D priorities. A, obviously, are the top priorities. D are priorities that will not be earth-shattering or life-altering if they never get done. B & C priorities, obviously, do have importance and should be focused on in the alphabetical order that you have assigned to each. I started on my A priorities. And, of course, there are always things that seem to creep in as you're doing your best to move forward.

I guess, other than reading and answering some somewhat important and/or meaningful emails, I received a phone call. The phone call was from a representative (hard to understand sometimes due to a less than quality phone connection and the fairly heavy “Hinglish” accent the woman had) of my new AARP United Healthcare Medigap insurance policy. Most of the conversation was about the major features of the new policy and the premiums. However, she also mentioned that after January 1^st, the policy included gym memberships in gyms all over the U.S. Now, that was really nice to learn about. That was something that had not been included in the coverage of the plan I signed up for. A nice perk to pick me up this afternoon.

That's pretty much the day that was. I enjoyed some more homemade soup for dinner with Judy, after which we chatted for a few minutes, I said 'hi' to her son, John, who dropped by and then we watched an episode of Jeopardy. As you may know, if you're familiar with that game show, Alex Trebek, the host of the show for 35 years is dealing with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer. So, I'm inspired to see him still doing the show each night. I gave you a link to a very inspiring interview with Alex the other day.

So, now, my energy is gone. The day is drawing to an end. I look forward to another good night of restful sleep to be ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow is radiation treatment #23 and chemo treatment #6. Carolyn is driving in from West Virginia to pick me up and drive me back to her place. Then I'll have two days off from any treatments to rest and work on my To-Do List as I prepare for my last five days of radiation treatments and my last chemo treatment next Friday. It seems like a lifetime since I started this – and like it was just yesterday – both at the same time. So, for now . . .

Live free and be happy. EH