Friday!

Just walked in for my fifth treatment. I will be walking out in a few hours to fly home and hang out for almost 48 hours.

Interesting rollercoaster of thoughts this morning. Practice was fine. Just one of those days you need the mental nudge/personal encouragement. And it was definitely good to finish. As we neared the end of practice my mind started to drift on what I was going to do today and I realized I have to go to treatment. At 11:00 I get zapped. There’s no way around it. It was sort or surreal to realize I have to do this.

After practice I jumped on the MARTA and put in my headphones and put on Agent Of Good Roots. This band has strong richmond connections and I used to watch them weekly on wednesdays at alley cats with some old roommates back in the 90’s. I recently got a text from one of the roommates. He was in town for the night and Agents was putting on a special show. With everything that was going on with me I didn’t have to gusto to go watch them and see the old roommate. I knew I needed to be home with the family.

So I had my own mint concert on the MARTA. I think I sang a few lyrics out loud. I don’t think anyone in the entire MARTA network has ever heard of them or has them in their music rotation.

The music definitely put a smile on my face.

Have a great weekend and turn your favorite song up to 11 this weekend.

Fancy meeting you here

So this morning at swim practice, in my lane, was another Spider. Rusty who swam for Richmond a few years after me was warming up as I got to the lane to jump in. I've been fortunate to get to know Rusty, Bob, and Jamie, who always return to UR for alumni swim meet weekend. So there are now two Spiders, in Atlanta, Swimming in the morning, at Dynamo's Chamblee pool. It's not like there are many of us around the country, even less of us swimming regularly.

I get to fly home tomorrow to hangout with the family. On the agenda, Fast and Furious with my oldest.

I gotta PEE!

So today, I thought I would drink a little more water, a little earlier, so I would not have to listen to waterfalls. So I was on my third bottle when they came to get me. So of  course today, they scanned me, I was slightly off kilter, so they had to adjust me and scan me again, then when it was my turn to get Protons I was last in the queue, 5 minutes seemed like an hour, then the gantry rotated for the other hip, and boom back of the queue again, so it was my longest stint on the table and boy did I have to go, then Stephanie from the CT scan group came in and said, come with me, you are scheduled for another CT... "Do I need a full bladder?", she said yes. Come with me, up the elevator, into the CT room, oh, and my blue markings needed updating, so there is another minute... so this is now my only discomfort, but man, when you gotta go, you gotta go.

Acupuncture works for me

Over the last few weeks my nighttime trips to the throne have increased. Not sleeping well can have that affect, or is it that I have to pee, keeps me from sleeping. Over the last few years with some back issues I have found that acupuncture has worked to ease the pain. My back has been bothering me for a few weeks and I did not have the time to see anyone in Richmond, so I found a guy here in Atlanta, and wow, was it different, yet, I got the needles, but he started hooking them up to stim, then he flipped me over and showed where my liver was irritated which can store energy (middle back) and placed needles around my liver, he was also asking about me sleep, my digestion, too long of a story, but last night I went straight through. Not bathroom breaks, no waking up every hour. I hope it lasts, because walking to a bathroom in the dark in someone elses house always has its risks.

TLC day 3

Today it’s getting real. So I’m trying to stay active while I’m down here and will be swimming with the dynamo masters. Like everything in Atlanta it’s 50 minutes away. It’s a nice drive since I get up at 4:30 to get my coffee and get on the road. Day one on the pool deck was chilly. They bubble their pool and someone left one whole side unzipped. It was 46 this morning. It’s a nice sized group and like every masters group I’ve swam with very welcoming.

So at my treatment today I arrived a little early and was able to talk with some of the people who work upstairs that I’ve gotten to meet during this process. They real are nice down here.

So today I get downstairs and start drinking my water. They call me in and “the final countdown” is playing. The guy before me it was his last day so they have a playlist for the last day. Next “closing time” came on. Followed by “bye bye bye”. So they run the ct and guess what. My bladder isn’t full so they tell me we have to wait five minutes. This is when I make my first song request. Can you play waterfall sounds? So Christina and Manvi play the sounds of waterfalls. The next track sounded like a man peeing in the shower. We all got a laugh out of it. And the sounds worked. Zap zap. 25 to go.

I expect them to play TLC “don’t go chasing waterfalls” tomorrow.

Day 2

Today was the day to send the family off to the airport while I walked I for treatment. It was tough seeing them go. But knowing this is the best decision to be at Emory helps make it easier.

Treatment today went crazy fast. Appointment at 12:00. Out the door by 12:17.

Headed back to the lake house. Tried fishing again to no avail. Must be the hooks. To big for the small fish I’m attracting.

The aquarium

The Atlanta aquarium is apparently the largest in the world. It’s not the size that is impressive. It’s how they use it. They have four whale sharks. They are currently 27-32 feet in length. We were able to go behind the scenes and watch them feed them. And they are like koi feeding with their mouths above the surface as a little rubber boat stays in front dumping tiny krill in their mouth. They are huge.