Busy day today. Had my appointment at the Tom Baker this morning.  Was slow getting away from home and hit a traffic jam at John Laurier and 53rd.  Forgot the morning rush.  Haven’t had to deal with that all summer and didn’t allow time for it so consequently was late for my appointment.  Had to wait for quite awhile when I got there.  I have become quite the people watcher since this all started. Much time sitting in waiting rooms etc. and there’s nothing to do so I watch.  Every time you go to the clinic you have to fill in the exact same questionnaire for the doctor.  You are there every week so after awhile it becomes a 10 second operation but the first few visits you read it through carefully and give everything careful consideration.  One of the questions asks if you need to see the doctor or would a nurse be good enough if you are not experiencing any problems.  I have ticked off both and have learned that it doesn’t matter what you tick.  If the doctor wants to see you he will, and if he doesn’t he won’t.  Anways...this couple is sitting there discussing whether or not they need to see the doctor.  Finally I told them it didn’t matter what they checked off....it was her first visit so they would be seeing the doctor.  They kind of looked at me like “mind your own business.”  which I probably should have been doing.  In any case I could tell this lady was really anxious as most people ar on their first visit to the Tom Baker so I struck up a conversation with her.  She was from Lethbridge, had pancreatic cancer and was absolutely terrified of chemotherapy.  We had a long chat and I told her that I had done very well with the chemo and hopefully her experience would be the same.  We talked about appetite and anti nausea drugs, about trying to keep as normal a life as you could through this process and whole host of other things.  I could tell as we talked she was starting to relax a little and decided right then and there that I would be on the lookout for people like her in the days ahead when I’m sitting round.  It’s always nice to be able to talk to someone who is going through the same thing you are experiencing and it really does help to alleviate some of the fears you might have.  When I finished my appointment I came out and she was still sitting waiting to see her doctor but I could see she was a lot less agitated than the first time I had seen her!

At my appointment today I saw young resident.  They wanted to send me for my next PET scan between my trip to the Grand Canyon and my trip to Hawaii.  I asked her how long I would be radioactive following the scan and told her about my last experience where I was detained at the border while they investigated whether or not I had in fact had a PET scan as I had set off all their alarms that detect radioactive materials.  Apparently they also have these detectors in American airports as well so I was not too keen to have a repeat performance of this event.  The resident looked puzzled....I’m sure she’s never been asked this question before and said she would go check with Dr. Esaw.  She was gone for about 20 minutes, came back and said they had contacted a radiologist to ask him my question and decided it would be best if I had the scan when I got back from Hawaii.  This was my preference anyways so I was more than happy with that.  This way I don’t have to fret about it when I’m on my holiday.  Other than that not much else new except I have gained 2 lbs.  Perhaps the Glucamine is doing it’s job!!!  Tomorrow is hydration day......please, let it be Ivy’s day off!