TOUGH MORNING AND EVENING

This morning was a tough one for mom. A nurse came in about nine, explained why it had to be done, and then shaved mom's head. She explained that the MRI had to have many little markers on the scalp so they could map the location of the tumor, and in order to make those little stick on markers stick, they had to shave her head. Then she asked mom if that would be okay. Mom's retort was: would it make any difference if I said it wasn't okay? She still has a little spunk left in her. We went to the oncology department this noon and those nice folks handed us a basket of hats/caps/scarves and said to take what we wanted. We picked out two; a soft cottony mint green and a silky blue floral one. Thanks much oncology.

Then we waited until about 1:30 for the MRI. It was a sedated test so mom couldn't eat beforehand. Why they have to make people go so long into the day without eating or drinking is not clear to me. Couldn't they do those people first? She did well, and was back around 2:30, not even realizing that she had been sedated.

The highlight of the day was the more than thirty minutes we spent in the hallway during the tornado warning. I heard the sirens howling and mentioned it to the nurse. She said they would announce over the intercom if there was a warning. She didn't finish her statement when the intercom blared a tornado warning. So we pulled mom's bed over to the doorway and spent the next half hour watching the TV set across the hall while the weather people explained the different cells and highlighted the locations where the tornado touched down.

We were safe. It rained, and the wind blew, but it was not a tornado. The news tonight is telling about a Boy Scout Camp in Iowa that wasn't as lucky as we were, as they are reporting 4 deaths.