August 5, 2025

Since Nathan and I decided that it'd be best to continue the rest of my treatment be done at VCU, this week is full of appts up there. Obviously last Friday we traveled there for my mammogram, Tuesday we went to the Tappahannock location for an MRI, stayed at a nearby hotel for the night, and then it's back to Stony Point for an appt with my oncologist there. Hannah (Tracey's daughter) was able to come stay at our house for the week and help take care of the critters while we were gone. Thank God for friends/family! 

Tuesday's appt was scheduled for 4pm, arrive by 3:30pm. We left our house around 10:30am to give us drive time and allow for potential stops and/or traffic. We arrived in Tappahannock about 2:30. We stopped at the hotel to ensure our reservation was there then drove a little ways down the road to check out the area. We stumbled across a place called Acme Antiques which was right beside Acme Ice Cream Parlor. I really wanted to go in and check out the ice cream parlor as they has some really neat looking retro things inside (like a life size Betty Boop) but opted to not test myself since I was not supposed to eat or drink 4 hours prior to my MRI. We walked over to the antique shop and checked that out. There was some really neat things inside but prices were a bit higher than we liked. The place was so large that there was a second floor. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to go upstairs. We left and made our way to the hospital to go ahead and check in for my MRI despite it still being a bit early.

They got me all checked in and called back to the dressing room relatively quickly. There was someone else in the MRI machine and the tech said they only had about 5 more minutes so there wasn't a long wait. 

Undressed, gown on, IV stuck in my left arm... I sat in the dressing room and waited my turn. Nathan waited in the waiting area. I actually started to doze off listening to the rhythm of the MRI machine thru the wall. 

My turn. They brought me into the MRI room and I hopped up onto the table and assumed the uncomfortable position on the table. If you recall from my prior MRI post, it's not the most delightful position for a woman to be in but the breasts have to dangle for them to get good images. 

They put the headphones on me once I was positioned correctly. Then away we go. It didn't take me long to fall asleep. Despite the headphones playing music in my ears, all I could hear was the sounds of the MRI machine. For whatever reason, it always puts me to sleep. This test typically only takes about 20 minutes. When the tech woke me, I was in a sound, deep sleep. If I thought my arms would have been ok and not sore from being over my head, I'd have asked them to put me back in for another 30 min so I could finish my nap. LOL

After dressing and rejoining Nathan, the tech walks us towards the lobby. Nathan asked her about how long it might take to get the results back, to which she replied that it might take up to 3 weeks because they were so backed up in Radiology. Not exactly what we wanted to hear, but what can you do but hurry up and wait. 

Off we go, heading back to the hotel. We had passed an Italian restaurant earlier on our drive so we decided to stop there before going in for the night. 

Let me first say, if you are ever in Tappahannock, you MUST stop at Roberto Italian Restaurant. Nathan and I are huge fans of "mom n pop" diners so when we saw this one, we decided to check it out. We walked in and were about knocked over by the amazing smell of authentic Italian cooking. We get seated and, who we could only assume was the owner, took care of us. Mr. Italian accent starts describing the specials for the day, describes the "pink sauce" and other things we asked about. Never got his name, but full blown Italian accent, and so energetic and genuinely happy to have us as guests. 

Nathan orders the seafood linguini and I order the fettuccini alfredo. We also ordered salads ahead of time and the "mozzarella logs". Homemade salad dressings...homemade sauces... MMMMHMMM.... The mozzarella logs were 5-6 inches long, STUFFED with cheese and lightly breaded and sooo good! Homemade bread came out with our meals. My dish was so big it could have easily fed us both with leftovers. His dish was the same in size and much to out surprise, LOADED with seafood! Every noodle he moved showed more seafood. His shrimps were like the size of Chick-fil-et nuggets. There were muscles, clams, shrimps..... he was in heaven. So much so that he couldn't finish it all. Then come the dessert options... Mr. Italian accent was describing the options is such great detail and excitement that I had to get some to go. Cannoli it was. When I opened the container later on at the hotel room and saw the size of if, it was floored. It was HUGE! And quite yummy!! We definitely got what we paid for and it was worth every single penny! The atmosphere inside was very friendly and inviting too. There was a beautiful mural on the ceiling too... I wish I could have gotten a better picture of it.

The hotel accommodations were nice. Nothing elaborate here. The hallway was like being in Alaska, but otherwise it was nice. Basic continental style breakfast set up in the back of the lobby. Nathan and I got settled in our room and proceeded to work remotely for the next few hours before hitting the sack.

We did have reservations set up at the Doorways in downtown, thanks to Freda, but we ended up not keeping the reservations set up for us - distance, timing, parking, deciding we'd let someone who needed it more have it, variety of reasons. Knowing that is always an options is quite the load off of already stressful times.