Post Therapy Follow-up

January 11, 2024

     Below is a reenactment of me ringing the bell after my fifth radiation therapy treatment, right before Christmas. The nurse asked me to ring it after that last dose. At that moment, it hadn’t dawned on me how important of a tradition this is. Now I know.

11:00 AM

     Arrived at the hospital early as appointment wasn’t until noon. Last time I arrived with only minutes to spare so when scheduling today’s ride, I planned accordingly. Straight to Starbucks I headed and here’s a special shoutout to Linda H. for the gift card which purchased today’s java. 

     Looking at this photo, I think, ‘good grief’ I needed more than one cup this morning. More sleep is in order too. I also need a haircut. That’ll come tomorrow! Too wet to sit outside so I loafed inside the hospital before heading to oncology.

11:45 AM

     After signing in, I was required to fill some paperwork out. I had done this before, but not since pre-radiation therapy. For some reason or the other I hadn’t mention it, until now, maybe because of its sensitive nature. 😂😂 There were sex questions one after another. They asked things like “Can it, does it, how long (not length for you weirdos), penetrate.” You get the idea. Then questions about the other side, while ending with general physical questions like dizziness, tiredness and the like.

     I hadn’t completely finished filling out the forms. I was whisked into an exam room. There,  Dr Z went over my responses with me while typing them into the system. He went over the treatment results and as far as it goes, I’m doing OK. I’ll see him again in three months and have another PSA blood draw a week before that visit. 

     We talked about how misconceived everyone’s notion of radiation therapy is. Chernobyl is likely to blame for much of this misconception. My blogging about the disease and obviously this photo op was a topic too!

     Looking back at the process, the worst part had been being told I had cancer to begin with. That had gotten my mind spinning. Not the ‘why me’ syndrome, but who do I want to tell. Who can I talk to. Who all do you want to let know. Fearing the pain, which in reality there was none, except for the bathroom trips ate at me as well. But they have medicine for that, and it worked.

     I spoke with Doc and thought of Franklin Roosevelt’s speech. It included the words, there’s “nothing to fear but fear itself.” I had feared that set of elevators and the loss associated with me using them years prior.

To the woman at the top of the ‘wrong elevator at the right time’, I wish you a ‘Happy Birthday’. (1/13) I hope there are many more to come. And know I wouldn’t have missed that ‘high’ for the world.

     To the woman still out there waiting for me, I offer Winston Churchill’s words. He said, “It has been said words are the only things which last forever.” These words are created by me. As long as they flow from me to this keyboard, I will be here waiting. 

     I want to thank each of you who have supported me during this journey. Writing it has provided me with tremendous help. Knowing you’ve been reading it even more! 

     I’ll be starting on a new ‘Meet Me’ tomorrow with a fantastic soul that I believe you’ll truly enjoy. But if you haven’t read the latest, ‘Meet: Heidi Harris‘ be sure to check it out. You’ll see, we actually meet in the middle. It’s good. It’s fun. It’s her without politics! A super nice person!

     Until next time, this is the rest of the story.

You can find my sites on Linktree.  And if you enjoy my writings, please consider hitting that cup of coffee and making a donation. Thank you!