A bad sunburn, minus the sun

Yesterday's PDT wasn't as bad as the one the previous year, and in fact each one gets easier. Dr. Lin said that is because my skin is looking better and there are fewer areas to treat, which doesn't quite make sense to me because the blue light is directed at your entire face.

In any case, my memory had deceived me, because I wrote in my last post that I thought it was only five minutes (I corrected it) but it was actually 15 and so I wasn't entirely mentally prepared.

Although the time under the lights was easier, my face felt like it was on fire afterwards. Comfort food made by Margaret – shepherd's pie – and one of my little pills took the edge off. While we sat on the kitchen floor with her dogs, Margaret humored me by letting me show her third installment in the Marcel the Shell series, introduced to me by Joe and Katie.

Margaret giggled. I giggled. I do it every time. It can only help. I know I am not alone because as of this minute, it was viewed 2,433,667 times. So here it is, Marcel the Shell with Shoes on, Three.

On a more serious note, it was an incredible day to be in Boston on the day the city's beloved and longest-serving mayor, Tom Menino, died. There was such an outpouring of love, everywhere you looked and listened, even on the Pike, where signs at the eastern end read, "Thank you, Mayor Menino."

Naturally I couldn't take anything for my burning face while I was driving. I made it home, ran some errands and got Maddie from "Aunt Jane" and "Uncle Jim," who now take the same kind of good care of Maddie as Jane did when babysitting my children.

I wanted to see if I could do without another pill, but when I noticed that I was all clenched up in pain I decided that it was time. For Halloween I am playing the role of someone who fell asleep while lying in the sun on a very hot day. Luckily, although the treatment was not fun like a day at the beach, it should have the opposite effect – preventing skin cancer instead of creating it.