Well, things took a while, but I am back, I am alive, and I HAVE DRUGS!!!!!!!!!!

Monday was "the" day. Headed into the hospital and spoke first to the Nuclear Med guy, then to the Health Physics guy (who... just reiterated what the other dude said). But they told me no Nook, no phone - too much risk of contamination. Well okay, woulda been nice to know ahead of time, but hey, there's a TV. Then went and was admitted, taken to my room. Top floor, ALL the way at the end - I guess when you're leaking radioactive waste (literally), you get the penthouse! A big ole sign on the door warning no more than 5 minutes in the room for anyone, NO visitors. There's a spot outside the door for people to put on protective boots and gloves, a spot just inside the door for them to remove them before leaving, a bin for them to be discarded. Inside, there's a plastic-like paper on the floor, plastic wrap on a lot of stuff, more paper on the window sill and shelves. A nice, yellow bin with a big Radioactive Waste symbol on it. Oh so colorful.

Around 2, they brought in "the item." A big plastic cube with a fan to ensure no particles escape. The doctor put another canister inside (about the size of a large beer can, solid lead). He unscrewed the top and I see he top of a small bottle. He used a tool to unscrew that top, and handed me a straw. And, in we went. A little tiny bit of something, metallic-tasting. He squirted water into the bottle, sucked that up. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. And that, kids, is that. All done. He cleaned up and left. Two hours to let it get into my system, and dinner. (We're not getting into the food)

Yesterday, they took several readings, but my radiation levels weren't low enough to come home just yet, so it was today. Early this morning though... yeaaah! So I put my regular clothes back on and left my confinement to wait to be discharged with a whole list of week-long prohibitions/instructions (nothing really hard, mostly about maintaining distance for a few days). Well... in true hospital style, they took their merry time processing the discharge, so I was given a voucher for down in the cafe. I headed down and I'm pretty sure I had a food-gasm. I looked around, comprehension dawning. I could have ANYTHING I WANTED!!!!!!! I didn't go completely crazy though, but I made sure I'd be happy. Well, it only came to like $6 of the $10 voucher, so the lady told me to go get more. Well... okay then. Umm... a slice of cheesecake and two candy bars (figured I'd give one to the roomie). $10 on the dot, perfect. OMFG. I have never known such pleasure from a chocolate chip cookie. And the caramel cheesecake, I honestly think I moaned.

So, I'm home. I have my drugs (a short-acting one to get into my system fast, the longer-acting one to build up to normal levels). And I can eat wheat I want again. Oh... one of my restrictions is that I can't cook (I guess they figure I'll spit in the roomie's food) for several days. So... ordering in. I can dig dat. Life is good! Only downside, I can't have the corgi in the bedroom with me at night - he won't respect the 6-foot rule, I know. So.... the doggies stay in the kitchen. Oh well.