Nine more zaps to go

[annathepiper]

Had to stay home today; I slept very poorly, and as a consequence, felt like crap when the alarm went off. I've also felt periodically shaky and shivery and weak throughout the day, which suggests that I may actually be fighting something off. Which wouldn't surprise me. My system's working overtime right now anyway to compensate for getting zapped--I probably don't have many resources left to handle fighting off a cold.

So I emailed in and have pretty much been lying down all day aside from going out to get zapped and running a couple other errands. And Dr. Taylor prescribed me Silvadene, as well as a round of Percocet to help me sleep better at night until this is over. Along with that, the nurse gave me a soft adhesive pad to put over the area to help keep it from rubbing against my clothes and stuff. I have tried some of the cream, taken a painkiller, and put the pad on. All of these things seem to be helping, and I suspect a nap of sheer relief is in my immediate future.

Thursday I start with the boost zaps, which will be focusing a greater dosage of radiation right to the spot where the incision was done. Which means I only have a couple more days of the bit under my underarm having to deal with getting zapped. That'll be good. We'll just have to see how my energy holds out.

Comments

[annathepiper]

I was going to ask if this was something that you'd learned from nurses up there, yeah; maybe it's a difference in treatments between Canada and the U.S. Very interesting. :) I'll mention that and your remarks re: the Cancer Society to the nurse where I'm going.

I try to drink a lot of water anyway, so yeah! I keep a filtered water pitcher at work.

What did Rosie the Riveter say?

[angharads-house.livejournal.com]

Oh, pretty famously up here, you see it emblazoned on fridge magnets and lunchboxes, etc.: cartoon drawing of Rosie the Riveter in a kerchief looking determined, with the caption "We can do it!" -- rather a nice image, in my opinion.

Cancer Society up here is pretty amazing, what with those Survivor pins, mid-summer marches and all. I should note fairly that although dealing with this stuff can be temporarily all-consuming **if one wishes it to be**, it is a poor substitute for having a life; I should very happily be shot of it all and just get on with getting on, as there are many other good and excellent accomplishments awaiting. Like, mmm, coming up with a General Theory of Cats, or finishing the next Great Canadian Novel -- a national pastime here... :-)

[annathepiper]

Ah yes, that quote, I should have remembered!

And hey, I'm totally down with the General Theory of Cats, as well as the Next Great Novel. ;)

[angharads-house.livejournal.com]

Well, _This Road_ is out on submission again; it might be the Canadian version thereof (she said, immodestly....)

[annathepiper]

Now why did I not yet grasp that you're working on the writing thing too? Cool beans. :) What's your genre?

[angharads-house.livejournal.com]

Started out with Regencies while in grad-school; recently finished a Great Canadian Novel Manuscript set in northeastern British Columbia (but lacking significant lumberjacks and there is not a single mention of a Scotch pine although there are some noble Larches); my agent is shopping it around (the manuscript, not the tree). Presently, and very pseudonymously, collaborating on hard SF [focus on world-building and xenolinguistics] with a friend who's a bit more hard-bitten at the SF game than I am.

Am big believer in pseudonymy as long as I yet intend to work professionally in some other endeavour (altho' I could fairly argue that I am already retired as of the end of last year). Besides which, I collect such grand characters that way.....

ETA 1: Various offset reasons for wanting to work behind a frequently-changing literary pseudonym, but major one is that I am the only female working in a hands-on professional capacity within my particular industry/country pair, and as has already been pointed out, I am kidding myself if I think that I am all that obscure. Some of my co-workers would be probably a bit cool towards the idea of having a writer wandering around taking head-snapshots of them as potential characters. And no, I really do try not to write myself into the story; got over that in middle-school. ^_^

ETA 2: And should ask, "what your genre?" (she said, giggling)....

[annathepiper]

Cool beans! Now, are you published as well as agented? Are there Canadian-pubbed novels with your name on them? ^_^

I've got a friend who came out with her first books through Dragon Moon Press, but last I checked, they don't take unsolicited submissions anymore. She figured at the time that she might have an easier time getting into print via a smaller Canadian press than she would with the large NY publishers.