Day 84- 6 days of radiation left

7:30am Sunday May 7th and there is sunshine streaming through my bedroom window, the first in several days.

    It appears that the recent deluge that flooded much of Quebec and parts of Eastern Ontario has finally stopped.

   The temperature is not expected to climb much above 6 degrees today but at least the sun will sry things up a little and, hopefully, I will have enough energy to take Docie for a walk.

  Saturday was pretty much a right off with almost endless rain. Adding to that a total lack of energy ( I slept from 10pm Friday night till 9:30 Saturday morning) and you have the makings of a lazy day.

 From what I understand, the effects of the chemo treatments are finally wearing off- I wasn't expecting it to take that long. I do notice my facial hair is growing back in a little faster and it is more normal in texture, not the "baby" hair that was appearing initially following my hair loss. The hair on my scalp is still pretty thin and mostly white- not sure if there will ever again be an "Afro" in my future!!

   Luckily there are no radiation sessions on weekends, a chance for the body to recover somewhat.

 I am still down a few pounds from my weight prior to my hospital admission in April, so the radiation staff are constantly on my case to eat more and get back to my normal 160 pounds.

  Perhaps a burger or two today on the barbecue might work towards that goal.

   Tomorrow, Monday will mark my 15th day of treatment, 3/4 of the way to my conclusion.

  Dr Velker has already pronounced me, essentially, cancer free and has decided that once my treatments are done, he'll skip the usual PET scan and just arrange a follow up CT scan in August.

   That just leaves me the stent procedure, May 24th, to deal with and then I can start planning a return to a relatively normal life for the next few months.

   I'm hoping that I can find some time in June to get away for a few days before I work myself pack into a routine work schedule.

   I am already planning for a September vacation in Tuscany with stops in Florence, Siena, Assisi and Pisa. A chance to see another major section of Italy. ( We did Venice in 2016, Rome, Pompeii, Naples and the Amalfi Coast in 2015.

 At this rate it will take us another 3 years to see the rest of the country, but there is clearly no rush at this point. Lymphoma recurrences don't seem all that common and I always seem to manage to bounce back anyway, so I am not too concerned.
   My guidebooks will arrive from Amazon next week and I already have discovered some great itinerary planners so that will keep me busy for the next while. The planning is half the fun. The other half is dealing with the little curve balls that always add a little bit of stress and challenge to the trip. But I'm a pro at that by now having survived a few hairy experiences along the way!!!