Today was relaxing; I'm loving the cool fall weather. I vacuumed (OK, I turned on the robo-vacs) and did some laundry. Got a call from my sister and apparently all is forgiven; we talked for about an hour and got caught up. She's having cataract surgery in a couple of weeks. Later my oldest daughter called and we discussed "husband issues" and how men need a bit of prodding but are somehow still worthwhile. Speaking of husbands, mine brought Chinese takeout for dinner so he remains in the "good" column. I managed 20 minutes on the mini-trampoline then did some more stretches. The latest ones I learned from the physical therapist are killer. Seems like my radiated chest area is finally getting a little pink; hope it doesn't get much worse. My daughter-in-law sent pictures of my two granddaughters and their carved jack o' lanterns. So freakin' precious. I expect to get more grandkid costume photos tomorrow. They are all so excited about Halloween. All-in-all, not a bad Saturday.
Ugh, I woke up this morning with a red armpit; appears that the radiation is finally affecting my skin. I assume the armpit looks (and feels) worse because it's skin-on-skin. I need to figure out a way to keep the rubbing from making things hurt so I suppose I should get @Faye Fox to teach me to "sashay" with my hand on my hip. I've been wearing my tops wrong-side out to keep the seams/tags from irritating my skin. Now everyone knows what size I wear. Thankfully I only have 4 more regular radiation treatments, then 5 boosts. Am I the only one shocked to see that it's November already?? Where on earth did this year go? I wish I had some pineapple upside down cake. Where's the cake fairy when you need them??
Funny you should say that, Ed. I got some cornstarch from the kitchen, dumped some in a sock, and "dusted" my armpit with it.
If the cornstarch does not help the redness, you might try putting some aloe vera gel on it. It will help stop sunburn pain almost immediately, so it might help the radiation burn, too. Also, unrefined coconut oil is very healing, so another possibility for you to try, @Beth Gallagher . I am so glad that you are getting to the other end of all of this awfulness, and glad that soon you should start feeling back to normal (as much as possible) again. It does seem like the time is going fast, and not long ago, we were saying that summer was over, and now we are facing winter cold already. The stores always think we need to start Christmas shopping the minute that the kids all have new school clothes and are back in school; but the news has been saying if they do that this year, nothing will be left by the time for actual Christmas shopping, which will be getting here soon. Cranberries are back in stock at the grocery store, and I saw turkeys in the frozen meat section already, too. Since it is just 2 of us, we will probably just bake a chicken and call it done this year.
Thanks, Yvonne. I didn't expect the cornstarch to help the redness, but it does help the "stickiness" and keeps the skin-on-skin contact a little more bearable. I'm not supposed to use any deodorant or anything on that side during radiation. Funny you mention cranberries; with my last grocery order I bought a bag and made some sauce a couple of days ago. I absolutely LOVE fresh cranberry sauce and can eat it by itself!
I'm done with radiation week 5!!! Yahoo... only one week and one day left to go. My skin is feeling a little tender today; not really pain but kind of that raw, sunburned feeling. As soon as I got home I put my silky nightgown back on. I have a feeling my hubby will be seeing a lot of my nightgowns in the next couple of weeks.
I have it on good authority that the fairy prefers to be called "cake genie" these days. I guess he identifies as a genie.
@Beth Gallagher, I'm good with genie. I'm easy to please as long as the results are the same. Foot, both genies and fairies love bill boggs. No worries.