Skip to main content

Rite of Passage

I knew going into retirement things would be different. Not just sleeping in and going places but also trying new things. 
As you all have read in an earlier post Jan and I did go to Hawaii soon after my retirement and that was fun. But at about the same time I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. That was not one of the "new things" I wanted to try but at least I now have the time to deal with it. And 9 weeks is the time it will take.
I started radiation therapy on June 3, 2020 and will continue for nine weeks 5 days a week. No missing treatments! The doctors office is not far from my house so travel time is not bad and once I get into the groove of things I think each visit will only be about 20 minuets. 
I've had 3 treatments so far and the radiation technologists, nurses and staff at West Florida Radiation Therapy are all very nice and caring. They have quite an efficient system there for treating a bunch of old guys with prostate cancer. Dr. Micheal Galloway is my radiation oncologist and seems to be very
knowledgeable in treating my cancer. 
The machine that I am being treated with is a Varian RapidArc machine. The time I am actually lying in the machine is a very short time. And I am lying in exactly the same position each time. That is thanks to several things. To the right of the RapidArc you can see a rack with what looks like blue pillows. Those are "molded" hard pillows of each patients legs and heals. Everyone has one of
their very own. I also have three tattooed dots in a line below my waist that they line a laser up with. Then I think they fine tune my position and check the position of my prostate with an x-ray or CAT scan.  I also have two gold markers inserted permanently in my prostate to help align the radiation used to treat my cancer.  I'm sure I'll learn more as my treatment continues.
This picture gives you an idea of how big the RapidArc is. 

 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Quest

With my retirement looming I feel that I need an activity, a reason to get up in the morning. A quest to give my life meaning. I've been puttering around the house the last few days. Cleaning and arranging things around the house. Moving stuff from one place to another to create what I imagine is order in my life. I'm beginning to realize I've got about as much order in my life as I want. I have found that my most creative ideas come from the chaos around me. So L'm going to take a different route. Last night I was watching "The Hobbit" and thought a quest is what I need.  A quest is what it is then. But unfortunately there is no Smaug for me to battle. Using Bilbo Baggins and the Hobbits as my guide on this quest I decided that meals should be part of this retirement quest. Here is my plan. A Quest " Seafood Resturants I'm Goina Eat At "  Some of these places I have already eaten at but they deserve a second try. Others are new to me and ...
1 comment
Read more

Radiation Therapy

Dr. Galloway and the gang over at West Florida Radiation Therapy have developed a very efficient process of treating their patients. I arrive about 5 minutes before my scheduled treatment time. The waiting room is often empty in spite of having plenty of chairs. I have my temperature taken and wash my hands. Then within a minute or two I will have my name called. As I'm going back to the treatment room there is usually another guy just coming out of that room.  When the technicians are ready they call me in and I climb onto the treatment table. After I'm on the table my feet and legs are aligned using a hard pillow that is molded to my legs and feet. Then the table is moved into position and the technicians adjust me using lasers and my aiming tattoos.  The techs then leave the room and the machines take over. First two arm move into position to x-ray me to determine the position of my prostate. The table will make slight adjustments itself to move me into the best position. A...
2 comments
Read more

Year and a Day

For a year and a day I have been waiting and on March 16th 2021 I received the second of the required vaccines needed to prevent covid 19. It has been a long strange journey to get here. During this time I have learned about myself and others.  Last January Jan and I took a big trip to Hawaii. It was great we flew from Tampa to Hawaii in a big plane packed in with a bunch of people we did not know. No masks or excessive hand washing. I'm not even sure we carried any hand sanitizer. While there we ate out at  restaurants and visited sights with lots of people.  I also just started my retirement in January and had planned to do lots of fun things. I was going to get involved with volunteering in my community. Jan and I were going to travel and see things. Then before I could even get started on March 15, 2020 everything came to a screeching halt.  Next thing I know we are sitting at home watching Netflix and figuring how to order groceries online. I broke out the sewin...
1 comment
Read more