Tuesday, August 11th

Only 1 radiation treatment left! I was really tired on Friday afternoon and Saturday, but I got some energy back on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. That was perfect timing for having the Lindholms here. On Sunday, we had a great time catching up on all of our news and did a lot of laughing about different things we remembered. On Sunday evening, Andy and Tory stopped by and had dinner with all of us. I did the grilling and I think everybody had a great meal and a great time. On Monday morning, we took a driving tour of the flood area in Cedar Rapids, which is still pretty unbelievable. Then we went to the Red Frog for a Frog Burger (their version of a ½ lb. BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger). If you ever met Bengt, I'm sure you can almost hear him saying it's the best burger in the world - unbelievable! After lunch, Bengt and Gerd left for Thomson, IL. Carole and I were pretty sad to see them leave. Then it was nap time for me. I had a late radiation appointment on Monday because I knew the Lindholms were going to be here until after lunch plus we needed to take Andy and Tory to the airport for a 6:45 PM flight to Vancouver where they are headed on vacation. On the way to the airport, we stopped at a new place for a chocolate malt - Hyne's Dairy in Iowa city. The malt was close to being a new #1, but I've tasted so many, I'm having trouble keeping them straight in my mind.
On the way home today, we had a flat tire on Interstate 80. After all these trips back and forth, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Thanks goodness for AAA. They came fairly quickly, changed the tire and had us on our way home. Unfortunately, the guy reminded Carole that the spare tire (which is one of those compact spares) had a speed rating of 50 MPH. Being the rule following teacher she is, she didn't drive any faster than 50 the whole way home. She was stressed about the trucks on I-380 driving so fast and getting too close to her from behind. She was really tense by the time we got home. Needless to say, we got the blown tire replaced this afternoon. I'm pretty tired this evening, but still feel relatively well. I'm able to go up and down the stairs without a lot of trouble, and I'm not experiencing any major side-effects from the chemo medication. I'm starting to wonder if/when my hair will start to grow again. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.