Halloween travels

Happy Halloween!

I got up extra-early today as I had a dentist's appointment. It's the first dentist's appointment I've had since the cancer came back, so we had a lot to talk about. One of the side effects of the bisphosphonates is osteonecrosis of the jaw. It happens more commonly with the IV type of these drugs, but there's a chance it could happen with the pill form that I'm currently taking. And it could happen that I wind up taking the IV form if I don't tolerate the pill form well, so we need to keep an eye on this. I'll be seeing my dentist every 4 1/2 months to make sure that my teeth are still ok. Next time I see her, she'll do a big xray of my whole head that we'll use as a baseline to track changes to the bones.

Also, since we need to be sure that my teeth are strong and cavity-free, I have to get a fluoride rinse to be used every day. And since the lack of estrogen in my body can cause dry mouth (which happened while I was on Tamoxifen), leading to cavities, I have to get some other stuff to keep my mouth moistened. Of course I have to drink lots and lots of water, too :)

Afterwards I went to the passport office. As of January 8, 2007, Canadian citizens traveling to the United States by plane will require a passport. I don't know that I'll be going there or anywhere else, but it makes sense to get a passport now, before the big rush in December. I should receive the passport in about two weeks.

When I got home, I had a big nap followed by decorating our place for Halloween. You can see our decorations here. They're not that great as the stuff we have isn't that expensive, but I think the overall effect is pretty good. We like to decorate the place a bit to encourage kids to come so that we can give out candy. This year, we got 42 kids, up from last year's 25. I'm pleased with that - I like seeing the costumes, especially on the little kids. They are so cute! Several people complimented us on our pumpkins as well.