August 29

Well, I got my first tattoo - or should I say tattoos - today.

I went to my appointment with my Radiation Oncologist - Dr. Sause - and he set-up my radiation schedule. While I was there, they marked me with these little metal things and ran me through some sort of CT scanner. When I was done - they gave me little black pinhead sized tattoos on my chest and sides so they can line-up - with laser beams (every time I hear the word laser - I think of Mike Meyers as Dr. Evil in Austin Powers - fingers up in quotation marks - it makes me smile) and hit the right spot each treatment.

I will have 30 treatments in all. Basically - it will be 6 weeks - Monday through Friday - I will start Monday, September 15th and have my last treatment on Friday - October 24th. It only takes about 15 minutes for the treatment. I will start during my lunch breaks and change over to mornings

Dr. Sause assured me that this will not be a big deal and I should feel quite well - especially compared to chemo - while I am having the treatment. I certainly hope this is the case.

I know I am feeling better this past week since I have had several press checks and have been on my feet – standing around – all week at work and haven’t felt like I’m about to pass out. This is an improvement over the weeks during chemo. I really feel I am starting to get some of my strength and energy back.

Late last week and earlier this week – I was having some trouble sleeping. Dr. Morgan’s office has helped me and I am back to getting a good 8 hours each night – which I desperately need.

Work has been CRAZY busy. I was talking with Shawna about it and she said it’s a good thing that I’m not in the middle of chemo right now. A very true statement. I have had several HUGE projects going and printing all at the same time. I had 15 press checks – that means 15 trips to the printer – for one project - a coffee table book that we did for one of our clients. I got my first sample today. It turned out great – thank heavens. We’ve had several other projects going and this past month has been really busy for me. I’m taking a week off in a couple of weeks and going to the Tetons and Jackson. I need a break.

I will have a mammogram next week. Wish me luck. I don’t know that I will need it – but it can’t hurt.

I’m looking forward to the long weekend. No big plans – but after such a busy few weeks – I can use a little break.

And – drum roll please – I have fuzz on my head. It’s like baby hair fuzz. I should start seeing some real hair sprouts in the next couple of weeks. Yeah!!

Love you all! Thanks for still thinking of me and praying for me. I still need it.

Cyn