Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Mayo Time

It's been a while. My excuses are the same old ones - busy, everything is pretty much OK, get lost in life. I don't have a message to pound out, so I write when I have something to say, which isn't often these days.

Today was a Mayo day for me. It's a bit more involved now that I live further north. I drove down to the Twin Cities yesterday, hooked up with some friends over beverages, and then stayed at a friend's house. I was up at the pre-butt-crack of dawn and on the road to the Mayo in the dark.

The routine there is pretty much the same each time. I get blood drawn about 7 AM followed by a CT scan with icky contrast. Both of these activities involve getting stuck. It's a good day when they strike oil on the first punch. Today was a good day in that respect. Once the CT is over, I can finally eat (I have to fast until then), so it was off to Mac's (Greek) Cafe for a late breakfast.

Then I usually have down time until I see the doc. This can be anywhere between one and four hours. When I am down there by myself, I usually try to find an empty barco lounger up on the tenth floor and get a few ZZZZ's. Today I scored one right off the bat and proceeded to stretch out, cover my eyes with my cap, and drop into a snooze - only to wake my self up with a giant snort as jaw muscles relaxed allowing my jaw to drop open and my tongue to fall back in my throat. No doubt this was hugely amusing to those sitting around me.

I finally did drop off to sleep long enough for all feeling in my arms and hands to abandone me. I awoke feeling like someone had chopped off both extremities and screwed in wooden replacements.

When I did get in to see the doc, the report was good. No sign of the lymphoma and my lungs looked clear on the scan. Just so she would have something to worry about, I bumped my cholesterol up for her.

Now I am back in the Twin Cities again (in the dark) and will be joining another friend to help celebrate his birthday before crashing at his house. Tomorrow morning I will make my way back up north and home. Fortunately I only have to do this four times a year now rather than monthly as it was in the beginning.

That's it for now. Buh-buh-bye.