Radiation and some small accomplishments

I have now had several radiation treatments and I am happy to report that everything is going well. The time I spend in the treatment room is very short. Positioning me on the uncomfortable table just takes a couple of minutes. I get maneuvered to a precise angle which is measured in degrees and my arms are placed overhead and put in armrests.  My techs are Diem and Al and so far they have taken me before my scheduled appointment time.

They go out of the room and the machines whir and move for maybe ten minutes.  Music plays in the background, and  I try to sing along in my head to the Mama's and Papa's or Barbra Streisand. I also pray for the success of this last chapter in my battle.

I drove in one day though driving in the city is like maneuvering around an obstacle course! Twice this week I took BART which I don't mind. I get on BART at the Fruitvale station where there is always paid parking available. I get off at the Montgomery St. station then get on the 38L bus to Geary and Divisadero which takes 14 minutes then walk two blocks to the hospital. Riding public transportation is interesting because you get to see the true face of San Francisco. There are many seniors; Asian, Russian and Hispanic. I will try to remember some of the more colorful characters for my creative writing.

On the return downtown I took the 38L and Uber. On one bus ride, the driver complained to me how difficult it is to get down Geary with the delays due to the huge construction project which won't be finished until 2018. He said it will be an underground streetcar going to Chinatown at a cost of a billion dollars.

My Uber driver was a young man who when I told him why I was at Mt. Zion had an interesting conversation with me about his father who had cancer but died of a heart ailment. He told me how his father used to work in the shipyards and got injured on the job.  Everyone has a story to tell.

I now see some familiar faces from chemotherapy waiting for their turns for radiation in the waiting room. We chat in a general way about our hair growing back or other light subjects. No one wants to go in to detail about her particular situation. We all put on a good face and try to be upbeat. Some of us wear colorful kimonos instead of hospital gowns which we received as a gift. Mine is purple and black and quite elegant. They are silky and much more comfortable than the usual gown. The husband of a patient donated them to the hospital for women undergoing radiation.


I am  proud of the fact that I am back to doing more writing. I have been taking my favorite writing workshop on Thursday mornings, Lakeshore Writers, with Teresa Burns Gunther. I was worried that maybe I could not write as I had done previously but I jumped right in. It is wonderful to hear the "voices" of the eight other women in my group with their distinctive styles of writing. We listen to each other and echo back what we like in each other's pieces.

 I also have been participating in a writer's "boot camp" which I had done two other times.  I work with a writer from Los Angeles, Linda Schreyer. who sends out several prompts every other day over twenty days. I select one of the prompts and write 1000 words which I email back to her. I get a critique on the ten pieces I have written in an hour long phone session with her. I was hesitant to sign up for this as well as I thought I would not be able to do it but happily I am back in the saddle cranking out my thousand words every other day. It is great discipline though this round I am doing more creative nonfiction than straight fiction. As one might expect, my current health situation has popped up in several of the pieces.

Another little milestone was my first 2.5 mile walk  to Skyline High from my house which involves a few serious hills. I remembered how even walking a couple of blocks was challenging when I was undergoing chemo.  Jeff and I  went on Saturday morning early. It was a beautiful February day, cool and sunny. Lush spring blooms dotted trees everywhere. I love this season with the pink blossoms and  daffodils and irises poking through the ground. Spring is a time of hope and renewal, and this is how I am feeling as well, looking forward to my return to good health.