Mask maker, mask maker...

Corny reference, I know.

I went to have my mask made today. All and all, not horrible. Strange, but not horrible.

After all the preliminary going over of my medical history (AGAIN) and taking my picture (AGAIN), they got me up on the CT table. Head in the cradle, knees bent. They put the IV needle in (always the worst for me). Then I had to put my feet against the wooden blocks and grab the chains to relax my shoulders so they would be loose and even. They marked my neck incision with a row of the dots with metal nubs like they stick on you during a mammogram. Next, they softened a mouth guard for me, the smallest one they had (barely fit... who knew someone who talked this much could have such a small mouth). It is like a football player's (top only), except it is attached to a thick piece of hard plastic that protrudes out of my mouth and holds my top lip out of the way. They worked it into my mouth and I had to bite down to shape it. Then the mask was warmed. Actually it covers my head, neck and shoulders. It starts out flat, looking like a solid sheet of white plastic. They brought it out and three people simultaneously press it down over your face, shoulders and neck so it fits every groove and bolted it to the table. I have to keep my eyes closed because otherwise it touches my eyeballs. The mouth guard pokes out through the holes. After it was all pressed in place, they put on cooling mitts and patted it down to set it. Finally, they started the iodine in and took lots of CT pictures.

Truly not bad. Of course they were just taking pictures, not frying my tongue and neck, but still not bad at all. One of the techs commented that he never saw anyone so underwhelmed by the process before. I asked, "Does anyone actually scream or anything???" They said no, but most people don't like it. I said with two kids at home, this was the most quiet I had had in a long time.

Hopefully the all bodes well for the rest of this Grand Adventure. Here's hoping the Ethial injections don't make me puke. I already have the RX for Compazine and Zofram.