Monday: Back on the Job

Monday already! It's a little hard to keep track, I think, when you are not on the normal routine. We have been here at Oasis for 5 days, and though I think we are adjusting, I still have times I don't know what to do with myself, and I know Mike feels that way.

Seems like I'm most worried about meals. If I miss a meal, there will be no snacks, so I have to eat when it's time. If I don't get to eat, I don't take my supplements, and I feel like that's the one thing I can be SURE I do each day-take all those vitamins. We still have not remedied the clock problem. I didn't wear a watch, and though Mike did, and there's a clock on his phone (mine's turned off) and on the computer, I wish I just had a simple clock on the wall to look at. It's driving me nuts! I keep asking Mike what time it is. He interprets this as me being hungry, which I have to keep saying I'm not, just worried I won't get my supplements in! I consume so much juice, water, bread, and whatnot for the supplements that I don't see myself ever being hungry again. There's not enough time between meals for me to even begin to experience hunger. I may be putting on a little weight, though. I'm sure trying.

Aside from eating, we have been able to get out-and-about the last 2 days. The walk has been refreshing and good for me. I think we will try to get out for some time each day that it's nice. The hospital room is awfully small, and though there are other places to be, we feel a little at loose ends unless I'm taking a treatment. The weather has been beautiful, up in the 70's with a slight breeze. We have been walking across the street and down a few blocks to the beach wall. There is a huge archway and a patio. It's possible to go down to the water but we haven't ventured that far yet. The sight and sound of the waves is enough for me. I could live at the beach, I enjoy the sound so much. Along the beach road there are many little cantinas and ice cream shops. One has coconuts piled aound in front and they sell the coconut milk as a drink, I guess, and it appears to be very popular.

Mike has made it a personal goal to sample food from as many local eateries as he can while we are here. Yesterday we had lunch at a seafood place down on the beach (I was a good girl and only ate what was fresh, and that was fish. Must have been right out of the water too), and today he tried a little Mexican cantina on the way to the beach. Both met with his approval, but he especially liked the enchiladas and tacos at the place he ate today. I'm not sure now that we haven't created a habit. He was really trying to eat my food, but now he knows he can get away and have tacos, he may not try any more.

We have had quite a learning experience too. ATM machines in Mexico give pesos, unless you know what you are doing (which is hard, since the instructions are in Spanish), and $100 pesos doesn't go far. It's almost ten dollars. We learned this the first day we ate out and didn't have enough money. Mike went to the ATM and got what he thought was one hundred American dollars (they use a dollar sign), but came back and handed the pesos to the restaurant owner who laughed. The cost in pesos was $250, and Mike had $100. With the American $20 we had, we managed to pay and leave a nice tip, and now we understand how the exchange rate works. Today we were much more prepared to pay for our meal.

Something got mixed up on my schedule, but it's looking like we may fly in on the 15th instead of the 16th. It's complicated, and I'm not sure myself what happened, but we're going to verify that I have plenty of treatment days, and if I do, then I will call the airline. I'll keep you all up-to-date on that. As a result of my mixup, today, which looked like a recuperation day, was actually a treatment day, so I have had every treatment they have today (not really-just seems like it). I did have a lot, but it didn't seem like so much since I knew what to expect. Something in the treatments today made me feel sort of funny-kind of jittery-trembly. Very strange. Tomorrow I have a bit less, so after a good night's sleep I think I will be in good shape.

I met with a doctor briefly today but didn't get much information. What she could tell me is that though I am slightly anaemic, all my other counts/chemistry values/numbers are in good shape. Mom, liver and kidney functions are completely normal. We did not get the opportunity to look at my recent CT today, but we will soon. My chest X-ray was negative for any lesions in my lungs. So, no earth-shattering information, but nothing disastrous that we have to fight against. It may seem different once we look at the CT, and the tumor marker number is not back from it's lab yet either. For now, the news is good.

Well, I think I have covered all you might want to know about. I will try to add some pictures, but the connection here is less than desirable and it may not be possible. So, if you don't see pictures, you know I tried. Blessings to everyone-I love you all. Thank you for your prayers. Back at you soon!