Today when I was on the table and they had lined me up and drawn on me with Sharpie and we had joked about something, they left to go push buttons, and I started coughing. I tried to cough quietly without moving, but that is almost impossible. So Brooke and Marcie had to come back, and Marcie said that the only cough drop she had was nasty-tasting, but she brought it anyway. It wasn't so bad, and I was able to stop coughing.

Lining me up again didn't take very long, and Brooke said that once they had a patient who insisted that her toes began itching as soon as they left the room. I think I will bring a throat drop every day, and put it in my mouth while I'm gowning. Less work that way.

I do not feel like doing very much, but getting out of the house in time to drop Reuben where he is going and get in the radiation doors by 10 has become the Big Goal. If I want to shower and be able to use lotion, I have to do it before 8 a.m. I'm not to use deodorant at all. So far my skin hasn't really changed. Today was session # 7.

Last night Reuben said to me, "I wish your hair was like before, and you didn't wear hats." I have to agree about the hair part, but I like wearing hats. A little fuzz is starting to grow, and James, Nicole, and Paul were here one day and they said I should wear one of those elastic headbands with a giant flower or bow, like little girl-babies do, or stick a bow on my head with Karo syrup. Someone else I know but can't recall precisely whom, at this juncture, calls them "head tourniquets."