"The Mask" part two

Did you ever see the movie "the mask" with Jim Carrey? That was the movie that came to my mind when Diane had her appt. on Monday to have her custom mask created for her upcoming radiation treatments. As she told the story, it kept getting stranger like a weird science fiction movie, with a little bit of bondage a go go thrown in.
She had to lay down on this long metal table, and was asked to put in two mouth guards, along with a tongue guard! With three things in her mouth, unable to talk, the assistant then straps her down to the table, starting with her wrist, and the strap then going to her feet and then up to her other wrist, so she doesn't move. (glad she's not claustrophobic, the next item would put her over the top). A thin white plastic mesh type material is taken out of a really warm cooker type machine and placed over her head and chest, and they proceed to tell her "You have to stay perfectly still, and you will feel the your face getting real hot, but it will only last a really short time". The hot material then slowly cools, and hardens as it conforms to her face and chest precisely. She had to stay there for twenty minutes! What if she had to sneeze? Diane kept saying to herself, "OK, I'm getting through this, it's not that bad". She thinks the guy in the room was new at this and she was hoping that she didn't have to do it over. There were several people in the room, and one of them had bad breath, talking right to Diane, saying, "hold on, it's almost over". (Diane should have requested a nose guard as well!)
After a long wait, with her back getting sore from laying in one position for so long, it was finally over and her "mask" was done. Like Jim Carrey, I expected her to sit upright, take off the mask and say "SAAAMOKIN!!!" She will go in for a test run on Sept 19 and then start her first dose of radiation on Sept 22.
One of her friends called and asked "how are you doing?". Her comment was "Physically fine, but emotionally a little up and down". She is tired of getting poked and prodded by all sorts of people. During one of our late night conversations she opened up to me and said "People that haven't gone through this just can't relate to what I'm feeling right now". There are some friends of hers that have or are going through this now, and they know what she is talking about. She realizes her lifestyle and diet is changing, and worrying about becoming an old boring person. (If she is old and boring, then Palin is a left wing liberal who hangs out with Feinstein up in the trees at Berkeley.) There are adjustments to be made as we go through this, and it is the change that Di is reflecting on, realizing once again she is going to be a cancer survivor times two. Will it come back? Will the new radiation cause something else to happen down the road? Does this affect her immune system which is not real strong?

There are up and down times, like the roller coaster through life we are all riding. You hope for mostly up times, and there are an abundance of those. Most of the down times are a small percentage and though very real, Diane is not usually in a negative mood. A call, card or an E-mail from a friend helps out her attitude, and she realizes she is not going through this alone, but with a whole community of people who love her, who care about her, at her side. That is helping her whole disposition with this disease, and she realizes she is not alone, she is blessed with God's love, the love of her family and the love of her friends. (and that's a whole lotta love!)

We are going to stop the dinner schedule for the next week, we feel that we can now take care of that, Diane is at Safeway all the time now. The last month has been AMAZING, with all the great meals and offers of support coming in. Thanks to everyone for helping out, we feel very special, and my stomach feels very very special, because it is a lot bigger now, darn it!
We will start up the meals again when Diane starts her radiation treatments, so an E-mail will go out in the next week for those wanting to help out. We still hear from friends that are actually frustrated that they can't get on fast enough to sign up for a meal. Hold on, your chance will come!
First day of radiation is scheduled for Monday Sept 22. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers!