Dawn Brocco's Life & Design Blog

Next Fana segment coming later today.

In the meantime, will relay yesterday morning's zapping experience.

The machine got up to zap #6, then it moved all the way to the right as it usually does for zap #7. Then. Nothing. Whirring of motors. But. Then. Nothing. Oh, crap, I'm thinking, it's gotta screw up NOW? I'm almost done.

Eventually it moves and zaps a little. More moving and motor-whirring, but no zapping. The intercom is on and I can hear the techs talking but it's very muffled, can't make out what they're saying.

AS I'm lying there, with that stupid tight mask on, NOT moving, mentally telling them to let me out already.

Then a tech comes in and unsnaps the mask. He's still lowering the table and I sit bolt upright,, making him nervous, afraid I'll jump off before it's low enough. Good ! I'm thinking. But, what i said was, I thought you were trying to test my patience!

Seems there's 135 motors in this puppy and some refused to work. So, he asks me to go wait in the ladies' waiting room, as my *treatment* wasn't finished.. I said I can't. He asked where I gotta be. (At these moments, I wish I had a high-level job, like a Judge, so I could say I need to be in court to do some sentencing.)

But I couldn't well say I had to be home to make potato salad and brew iced tea for the family. Doesn't have the same important punch.

But I did say that hubby is already late for work (they had moved my appt 10 minutes later than usual), and can't he just add this bit of missing treatment to the end of my treatments.

Then, THEN, he says it would have been an hour and half wait for the repair guy to come fix the motors. And he expected me to wait all that time to finish, what, 2 minutes of zapping. I think all the extra hours they're working (I hear they're open at 7 and close now at 6 - SO many more patients) is altering his sense of reasonability. Or else, they really don't expect anyone to have a life outside daily trips for radiation.

So, I go and change into my clothes and the waiting room is full. The tech is explaining the problem, to a collective moan, and then they teased me for breaking the machine! If only I had the power.