THE WAIT IS OVER

Jan 10/10

Who would ever think that someone was looking forward to starting medical treatments?  Well, we’ve been waiting for this for months now and I was quite excited to get started last Monday.  My doctor has recommended 25 radiation treatments that are administered once a day from Monday to Friday so I will be done on February 8.

The whole process is fascinating as there is a lot of science, doctors and therapists and a big machine behind it all.  The patient (that’s me) gets positioned on a table and is lined up to a pre-determined spot using measurements from skin tattoos, laser beams and computer images.  Once in position, a big lens directs the beam at different widths and different lengths of time to one side of the target area.  This is repeated from the other side and then you’re done.  My radiation beams are about 15, 4 and 1 second in duration so I’m only being treated for a short while.

http://www.beasurvivor.com/video/mov28a.html

if this doesn't play, try going in this way:

http://www.beasurvivor.com/ch063.htm

There are 3 radiation units operational in Kelowna right now and they are treating people every 12 minutes for 10 hours a day.  That’s about 150 people per day and they are from all walks of life.  We’ve met people from Prince George, Kelowna, Westbank and Christina Lake this past week and may see some of them in the next few weeks.  It has been humbling to realize how fortunate I am when I see the struggles and challenges of others who are here, some of them back for second and third treatments.

I have no side effects from the treatment yet so we are walking and working out daily.  The evidence of all the Christmas goodies has already disappeared which is a good feeling.

We’ve added jigsaw puzzles to our indoor activities and we have really enjoyed working on them.  I never did puzzles before and it can be both addictive and frustrating, but such a feeling of accomplishment as it gets filled in.  Here’s a photo of our current puzzle:

So it’s back to the routine again tomorrow—almost like having a job.