For having metastatic kidney cancer, I’m one of the lucky ones. My disease seems to be in remission and the treatments to keep it that way haven’t given me horrible side effects (like losing hair). But the disease DOES kind of tie me to the oncology clinic. Every four weeks, at least.
It also comes with quarterly CT
scans and the occasional MRI. And those can be a nuisance. It’s not just having
the scans; it’s having the contrast with the scans. I have to drink something
prior and then have some dye injected via an IV during.
I was supposed to have my last CT scan
on Tuesday. I drank the contrast two hours before and checked in at radiology
15 minutes before my scheduled scan. Except the system was down. They could
conduct the scan, but they didn’t have access to my lab work to see if they
should DO the scan. It got so late, that the stuff I drank was no longer viable
and they had to reschedule.
So now I gotta repeat the process on
the 11th. I can’t imagine drinking that stuff is all that healthy.
Or even getting injected with the dye. But there’s not much I can do about
that.
Like I said, it’s a nuisance. It
hasn’t gotten me sick…yet. Same with the hormone-therapy pills I have to take
for my breast cancer. I have some side effects, but they aren’t debilitating.
Thank goodness!
I guess this is what normal is for
me now. Just like getting old!
Here’s what I read since my last
update:
Book 5
Title: Starter Villain
Year of publication: 2023
Author: John Scalzi
Genre: Humorous
Series: N/A
# of Pages: 262
Paper or plastic: Trade paperback
How obtained: Purchased from B&N
Blurb from Book: Inheriting your uncle’s supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who’s running the place.
Charlie’s life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.
Then his long-lost uncle, Jake, dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie.
But becoming a supervillain isn’t all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they’re coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital.
It’s up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyper-intelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good.
In a dog-eat-dog world…be a cat.
Recommend: Yes
My thoughts: This was an interesting story and I enjoyed it. Certainly different than what I normally read. But I follow John Scalzi on social media and he lives in Ohio, so I just had to try him out and that cover is kind of what hooked me. If you like humorous stories with a bunch of weird stuff, give it a try.
I finally finished watching Star Trek: Voyager. I’m
still surprised at how I knew all the characters, but it was like watching the
series for the first time. Bizarre, huh? Now I’m starting Quantum Leap
(w/Scott Bakula). I loved that show when it aired, but I’m guessing my
re-watching will be like Voyager: seeing it for the first time. I just
don’t know if I can blame my lack of memory on old age or the cancer drugs.
Heck, it might be both!
Happy Reading!
Stacy
