Radiation Day 29 – Country music and adventures in the Healing Garden
Happy Friday, y’all! Here’s your beam room music rundown:
- “My Girl,” Dylan Scott – More country, and I’m here for it. Weird.
- “I Can’t Love You Back,” Easton Corbin – This title is a little deceptive. He’s actually singing about a woman whom he loved and lost. And, no matter how much he loves her, she’s not coming back. Heavy.
The Healing Garden
Big R drove me to MGH today, and then took the red line to her office in Downtown Crossing (taking advantage of our MGH parking discount). As a result, I had some time to kill after my radiation. After getting a (probably, mostly?) keto-friendly salad bowl at Anna’s Taqueria, I headed back to the hospital to spend a little time in the Ulberg Healing Garden on the 8th floor of the Yawkey building. It was a beautiful (if cloudy) day. It’s a lovely rooftop space with an adjoining peaceful indoor space with fountains, native plants, and a stunning view (see above) of the Charles River (or the “Charlie River” as toddler little R was fond of calling it).
Follow-up Upshot
I followed up with my neuro oncologist’s nurse practitioner today (you know, my N.O.’s N.P.). It turns out, all is well. My platelets are bouncing back (94 from 90 on Wednesday) now that I’ve been off chemo for a few days. On top of that, I never even got anywhere close to the concerning number (15 – 20) where they think/talk about a transfusion. Yay, me!
Keto Progress
I peed on a keto strip last night. And, after only two days of keto(ish) eating, I got a “moderate” reading. Perhaps the year plus that I spent practicing intermittent fasting made it easier for my body to switch metabolic modes. Fortuitous.
Finally, I watched big R take a single, solitary jalapeño popper from the hot bar at the grocery store today (sorry for outing you, baby!). Despite that, I’ve found it remarkably easy to exercise the self-discipline it takes to eat keto. We’ll see how I feel in a few weeks, but it’s amazing what a motivator cancer is.
This weekend I’ve got big plans to take it easy.