So far, the worst week for me was the fifth..now as in the last two weeks, my skin is red and sore and the breast feels tender, but I’m no longer in enough pain to take Motrin or something stronger. I use aloe straight from the plant, the lotion provided by the facility, and a St. John’s Wort salve provided to me by Keewaydinoquay, a healer claiming Ojibway roots. The last two days I felt more wiped out than usual–not sick, just sleepy. I often zone out for twenty or thirty minutes while watching tv and awake to find I’ve missed the best part.

I got pretty hooked on tv during these past months when my brain battery seemed to be running down, so I’ve celebrated the end of six months of surgeries, recovery, and radiation treatments by cancelling my tv cable contract. Yesterday, for the price of two months of basic cable service, I purchased a DVD player and a set of rabbit ears from Radio Shack, rented three DVDs from the library, and checked out ten books. Today will be my last tv day.

And I finished painting this fish: a blue-spotted grouper– swimming out of the fire.