I went to radiation, ate a bagel from Panera, just realized I forgot to eat anything else. I don't have much appetite and very few foods appeal to me. Although I forgot to eat even when I healthy, if I was involved in a project. Tomorrow I plan to make myself eat. I told my daughter not to worry about fixing dinner because I had a frozen Stouffer's lasange, but I forgot about it. Oh well. It had double meat, too.
The man across the street, who is always working in beautiful yard, came about 6' into our yard to talk to my daughter and meet the dog. He had been working on patching his driveway. He was carrying the thing he did that with -- long handled, like a rake, but not a rake. He gestured widely with his other arm while talking.
This alarmed the dog and he barked and lunged at the guy. My dog doesn't bite or nip people, and is very friendly even when he is acting protective. I came to the door and told the man to lay the tool on the ground and to stop waving his arm while he talked because he was alarming the dog. He didn't do it.
My daughter took the dog inside, where he barked and growled at the man while I talked to him.
Chemo has affected my eyesight. I could not make out the man's features. I thought he was the son of the man who lives across the street, maybe 45 years old. We talked about his fear of getting vaccinated for Covid because he has diabetes. I told him that my husband is elderly and has diabetes and had no side effects from the Phizer vaccine. Meanwhile, my daughter is in the house freaking out because she got three feet from him and he wasn't vaccinated. She is afraid of bringing Covid home to me although she takes every precaution not to.
I have the - not a screen door - glass panels from 1954 barely open while I talk to him for a long time. I never get to talk to people in person except my husband, my daughter, and medical people because I have cancer. My immune system doesn't work very well. I am fully vaccinated.
Anyway, we had a nice chat, probably for 1/2 an hour (he was not near me at all).
I came in the house and said that must be the neighbor's son because he was only about 45. No, my daughter said, he must be at least 80. Well, I had wondered about that because he said his mother was good friends with the woman who owned the house before she died. That woman's son is my landlord and is one of my best friends. This guy just seemed so much younger. He's like my 77 year old landlord, physically fit. My landlord picked up my 207 lb husband when he fell, carried him across the room, and settled him in a chair. My husband is a dead weight when he falls and is helped up -- not on purpose.
To get the dog to calm down I sat in the dog bed in the living room and called him to me. I gave him lots of attention, then the dog left. Without thinking about it, I got out of the dog bed on my hands and knees and stood straight up. For an entire year, if I have to sit on the floor, I have to crawl to various pieces of furniture until I find one that will help me stand, and even when I do it takes about 5 minutes before I succeed.
Being able to stand without doing that is a miracle! It means I am finally starting to recover from chemo side-effects. And I've been trying to stand up from a chair or the couch without holding onto the chair arms and kind of heaving myself up. It finally worked today -- I just stood up without help. So two miracles. I know these are little tiny achievements, but they mean recovery has started.
As for my eyesight, I cannot risk going to get an eye exam and get my lenses replaced because so many people here are unmasked. The doc is worried that I will get Covid. Meanwhile, I hope my eyesight starts improving. Meanwhile I will need to see an ophthalmologist soon because this is worrying me a lot. Radiation will be done next week, so I will make an appointment after that. Also need a CAT scan before I see the oncologist again. Come to think of it I should just call my oncologist about my eyes on Monday. It is too weird to talk to someone and not be able to make out their facial features when they are standing in my front yard.
Then I talked to my kids on the phone -- the boys have hightailed it to California to live. I am reading a biography of Mister Rogers, and was surprised to find out one of my sons is also interested in him. I think Mr. Rogers was the real deal, not a faker, and the book is fascinating to me.. This was a good surprise, and my son and I talked about Mr. Rogers for a long time.
My stepdaughter's husband is a trucker who works at night. I called him and we talked about anything and everything for about an hour.
Then I read my Mr. Rogers book. I need to go to sleep. It is 2:39 a.m. I didn't take any naps today, and even though I didn't accomplish much, I had a full day. My plans were to surprise my daughter when she got home by doing housework. But while thinking about the biggest bang for the buck, I forgot to do it.
Also, I took the dog out for a potty break twice. He understands that I am ill and is perfectly behaved. I check for rabbit in the yard first because his prey drive is stronger than he can control. He decided to sit down and watch for rabbits. To get him to come into the house, my daughter says let's go find Mom and he comes right in. So I told him that. He made it all the way to the door when he realized he had been tricked. I am MOM! The expression on his face was priceless, but I did not laugh out loud. He kept his dignity and came right into the house.
