Positively Phoebe

**This post was transferred from the now defunct "The Long Ease" blog.** Treatment Day: 16 Today's treatment was uneventful.  Nothing particularly exciting nor aggravating. I learned that "Elbow Room" on HGTV involves a contractor making really overdone and impractical renovations to people's homes to give them more space.  Things that seem cool, but are really just going to be impossible disasters when they break.  I was not impressed.  Although one episode did make me want a treehouse. When I was finished, I had a nice chat with some of the staff about how I'm feeling and no one really seems to know if there will be a definitive type of "knowing" for me with this.  Just that this general sense of feeling somewhat less terrible might be leading to continued less and less terrible until it's no longer terrible at all.  Time is all that will tell. So I'm staying patient.  The patient patient. Meanwhile, my bathroom trips have...

**This post was transferred from the now defunct "The Long Ease" blog.** Treatment Day: 15 They had pre-warned me that the regular Monday/Tuesday doctor was on vacation, and that the doctor filling in was the one who doesn't bother to show up til 9. I arrived at 8:45.  No sign of him.  They told me to hang out in the waiting room and finish my coffee and to head back around 8:55.  At 9:00am, the nurse paged the doctor to see where he was.  At 9:05, he called to say he'd be there in 15 minutes.  25 minutes later, he showed up. I get my Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) emailed to me from my insurance company as they become available.  So far, I have not yet received anything for the actual oxygen chamber treatments, but I've gotten several for the doctors' fees for just BEING THERE.  Mind you, I have not ONCE seen or been seen by any of these guys.  And yet they are billing my insurance company between $150 and $400 a DAY just to show up late ...

**This post was transferred from the now defunct "The Long Ease" blog.** I've been seriously failing as a blogger. Apologies tendered. Thing is, blogging has, for well over a decade now, been a big part of my life.  And to be completely honest, this past year, I really feel like I've been failing at many aspects of life.  Blogging is just the tip of the iceberg. All this crap started just under a year ago, I think.  And by "all this crap" I mean "radiation cystitis" or "pelvic radiation disease" or, if I want to be more, you know, flowery... "the fucking hell that is late side effects from my cancer treatment". Between the pain, the need to pee 24/7, the leaky faucet (so to speak), the multiple surgical procedures and multiple infections, and the overall lack of relief from these things, I have withdrawn from a lot more than just blog writing.  I have barely been able to work out, having completely lost hold o...