Okay, a more in-depth post, if you're interested...

So I was pretty darn excited to hear Dr. O'Malley say no chemo & out with the feeding tube ~ Yay! Maybe it was the donuts ~ made fresh daily at the Ice House, yo.

Always ready with goodies I am.

Trish Dooley

The first lady we meet at our appointment was Trish Dooley. I thought her job looked like fun. She put me through my paces on how much movement I could do with my mouth & different vowels. Then she got out an assortment of foods & drinks for me to try to swallow. This was the Best Test Ever & I passed with flying colors. Trish suggested that my nose tube could come out. Yippee! Thank you, Trish!

Next stop, Dr. O'Malley. He concurred with Trish and 1-2-3! out came the tube. Craig was amazed how long it was ~ gross, say I.
He said everything was healing nicely and set me up for my next appointment with Dr. Ahn, a Radiation Oncologist for the next day. We said good by to our friends at Doc O'Malley's office ~ a wonderful team of people whom we had total confidence in. (Plus, they complimented my baking.)

Dorota (R) and her lil' sister!

The next day, my wonderful husband drove once more down that awful road, misnamed the Schuylkill Expressway for our consultation with Dr. Peter Ahn. I thought radiation would be once a week for a few weeks. WRONG. It will be five days a week for six weeks. I will make this my new part time job, as one of Dr. Ahn's nurses said I would be able to drive myself. My heart also sank as I heard what radiation does to your teeth. My teeth have sucked down thousands of dollars already to keep 'em from misbehaving. I think I may have to have a few that my dentist & I have been watching, pulled. sob!
   • I will have to apply flouride gel to my teeth daily for the rest of my life. 
   • My saliva glands will be fried so I will have dry mouth for the rest of my life.
   • I may have to have a stomach feeding tube put in towards the end of the treatment because my throat will be too sore to take food & drink.
All those years of smoking were SO NOT WORTH THIS. This is what I did to myself.
The good side is, it will get rid of my facial hair on my chinny-chin-chin:) and most of all, hopefully will fry any cancer cells still running amok in my neck.

I was given a booklet describing what radiation treatment entailed. The cover looks more like planning for End of Life. What do you think? What exactly are they saying with the lighthouse illustration? Rough seas ahead?

There was a few things in it that made me giggle. This is one of them:

 Whew~ I'm so relieved! But I so was hoping to be able to heat up a can of Progresso in my arm pit.

After hearing all this dismal news, I was feeling a little weepy because I'm a Dental Wimp. All's I can say is Thank God for Fairy God Mothers and Fairy God Friends. One friend decorated our entranceway for the season, plus left a fun goody bag, full of delightful & thoughtful things. I know I'll be using that Teddy, Mo!

Shadow approves of Mums

Corn Shock & adorable scarecrow decor added.

Ain't he cute?

A Bounty of Booty Bag delights! The shaw around Teddy is a Prayer Shaw, knitted by the
 Ladies of First Methodist Church in Phoenixville. Thank you ladies!

So, my 80 year old mother in law not only braved our big exuberant dog, but made her way up our railless steps with that Prayer Shaw that the ladies of her church made just for me! I love you Mom! My friend Mo also left these words of advise for when things seem overwhelming:

"How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!" 

I think I'll start on the tail:)