Radiation, basketball and Bush
Radiation. I started radiation therapy yesterday and had another treatment today. It's pretty bizarre. I first went there for a "simulation," where they have you lie on a table with a bean bag under the area which will be irradiated. Somehow, after you leave and before your next appointment, the bean bag hardens sort of like a cast. It ensures that you are always in exactly the same position so that the radiation will be delivered to that exact spot. They take measurements which are entered into a computer. That involves a lot of pushing and pulling by people while you're lying on the incredibly uncomfortable table. They take some x-rays and you're good to go.
The actual treatment is relatively quick. The machine moves around you while you try to stay completely still and relaxed. I've spent my time meditating because it's the best way for me to just let go physically. Everyone leaves the room, of course, while radiation is being delivered. It's just you and the machine. When you're finished, they hang your bean bag up like a body bag or something.
My treatment will continue for 33 days, five days a week. I get to have the weekends off to recuperate. I'm not allowed to wear a bra while we're doing this because of the potential for chafing and, thus, infection. I'm still trying to get accustomed to not having a prosthesis. I wear cotton tee shirts (required) and then a loose button-up shirt over it. That's supposed to disguise the fact that I only have one breast. It doesn't really work.
I decided that, since I look weird anyway, I might as well go without my wig for a while. I drive around without it all of the time because it's extremely hot. At work, I've been wearing a pink baseball cap, whether or not it matches the rest of the clothes I have on. It hasn't for the past two days. I'm working up to not wearing anything; it's suprisingly difficult. It's become an incredibly intimate act to allow others to see me bald. I'm actually more comfortable letting them see I only have one breast.
Basketball. Luckily, we're in the middle of basketball playoff season. I've been so tired lately that I tend to sleep during at least some portion of every game. I sleep sitting up on the sofa. It's actually pretty impressive. My team is officially the Knicks, but since they still suck, I've had to whore myself out to other teams. I'm pretty much into Phoenix right not, which will probably mean they're doomed to lose. Whenever I support a team, they start losing. Teams should start paying me not to support them.
I'm also fond of Detroit, but I still have trouble getting over the whole Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman period. I really hated them then and, even though they've left their thug-ish ways behind, some kernel of distaste for the team remains.
Dallas used to be one of my teams until they managed to lose Steve Nash and Michael Findley. I'm never going to be able to forgive them for that. My co-workers are all crazed about San Antonio, but I hate the owner of the Spurs so I'm not as fond of the team as they are.
The best news is that L.A. lost last night. That means Kobe lost. I really loathe Kobe...along with virtually everyone else in America.
Bush. Speaking of loathing. Can his poll numbers continue to tank? Yes, I believe they can. What the fuck were all of the people who voted for him thinking? Did anyone read the news during the buildup to war in Iraq? Apparently not. Of course, our journalists haven't made it easy to find the truth. I think they've just gotten so sensitive about their alleged political bias that they just fell all over themselves sucking up to W. God forbid that the American people know the truth about The Moron. It's just so much more important to not be thought of as having a "liberal bias."
I could go on and on with this, but suffice it to say that I'm happy that the poll numbers continue to slide southward. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, folks.
