Posted January 9, 2024
"Do we get a welcome water? I'm Elite." Bob laughed at me checking into the Rochester Marriott Mayo Clinic Area. Well, it's true. One of the perks of the AmEx Platinum with the insane annual fee is that I'm automatically Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite, which gets me fuck all but a couple bottles of Costco water and a 2 pm checkout.
There was a moment when I thought getting in the car at 5:30 am tomorrow would be totally fine to get down here in time for my first appointment of the day, a 7:30 CT scan. That's hilarious. Instead, we got a room a half a block from where I need to be at Mayo, I can leave the hotel room five minutes before my scan, and that's much better. After that CT scan, I show up for labs at 11, then report for my PET scan study at noon o'clock, get the radioactive solution injected at exactly 12:30, go have lunch, and get rolled into the scanner at 2 pm sharp. We see my Mayo oncologist Dr. Lionel at 3:15, and that's my day. The thing I'm struggling with right now is whether I'll go back to bed between the first scan and my lab appointment, or eat the free breakfast at the hotel, which ends at 9:30. My life is full of difficult decisions.
This will be my first scan since starting the immunotherapy treatment. Bob asked me if I was nervous about it, and I said I hadn't really been thinking about it. Then I was very short tempered as we packed up to head to Rochester tonight, so maybe I'm a little stressed. Every dull ache in my belly or stitch in my side is a sign that the cancer is raging out of control. It's definitely not from McDonald's drive through or throwing heavy luggage around. It's the cancer. Definitely.
As I wait to die, I guess I can set up Practice Hospice. I'll lounge in my Recovery Lair (aka our guest bedroom), watch Below Deck and shows on PBS Masterpiece, and have a little bell to summon Bob. I'll take callers, who will bring me artisan chocolates or artisan cheese with artisan crackers. I'll eventually get bored and bribe Bob with the promise of Cat Cookies to go with me to Trader Joe's to see what they have there now.
I just looked on the Trader Joe's website and they don't seem to carry Cat Cookies any more, so that plan is ruined. Now that Abbie is gone, I don't think I can even languish properly without that dog in the bed, watching me every second. Everything is ruined and I want to smash things but I'm completely fine.
I'm fine.