Whilst we anxiously await radiotherapy treatment, it is also therapeutic to be at home over Easter, despite the fact that we would also have loved to have caught up with Anne and Kevin, down from Queensland for the long weekend.
Considering the number of medical trips already made this year and the number we still have to make - not to mention Rick's physical wellbeing - we just couldn't manage an extra trip. And Jessie and Kerran will be home for Easter, since Uni holidays started Maundy Thursday. Kerran has a compulsory camp in the second week and both he and Jessie have assignments to complete during the break.
The plan for Wednesday April 11th is as follows:
Cardiologist appointment (checkup post heart surgery), Tailem Bend (200kms) mid-morning.
Radiotherapy treatment begins in Adelaide (another 100kms) late afternoon.
Meeting with site supervisor re renovations in the afternoon.
What a way to spend a birthday! Nevertheless, we are both pleased we are getting the treatment underway. By the time it is all over, half the year will have passed, with many, many hours on the road and in doctors' rooms.
Prostate treatment (as distinct from shingles, hernia and heart treatment) consists of:
Hormone tablets for 4 weeks and a hormone implant in order to shrink the enlarged prostate prior to radiotherapy.
A fortnight ago we had a planning appointment in Adelaide to have a CT scan and to mark the precise spot where rays will be directed - he has a permanent tattoo on his stomach to show for it.
Now we are about to have one 15-minute treatment each week day for 37 treatments, which the oncologist says has a 60% chance of controlling the cancer.
Depending on how Rick copes with the radiation we hope to get late appointments on Mondays and early appointments on Fridays so that we can spend 4 nights in Adelaide and three at home each week for the duration. The radiotherapy centre is very accommodating but there are many other rural patients also trying for the same routine, so initially at least we'll have to take what comes our way.
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