Prostate treatment

At last the prostate treatment and countdown has begun. By my calculations it should be completed during the first week of June. Thirty seven treatments in all, 5 days a week. We've had three.

Radiotherapy is painless and very quick - each treatment takes approximately 10 minutes, but getting to and from the hospital and waiting your turn is what takes the time.

To date there aren't any really obvious side-effects, though Rick gets tired easily, which is probably a combination of the hormone and radiotherapy and other recent events. He took hormone tablets for 4 weeks and had a hormone implant halfway through that time in the hope of shrinking the prostate before radiotherapy.

On the way to Adelaide last Wednesday we stopped off in Tailem Bend for a checkup with the cardiologist who is very pleased with Rick's progress, but he is still unable to lift or to do very much due to the healing of the sternum. Fortunately he enjoys walking because that's about the limit of his physical activity - anything more than that causes him discomfort for a few days afterwards.

In the meantime I have almost finished painting at the unit - I know it's taken a long time - one dear friend even suggested I like painting so much that I am on the second round. I do NOT like painting that much!

Last week I managed one coat on the doors of the three rooms involved - as soon as I've done the final coat I'll post some photos of the finished product. We are extremely pleased with the new look bathroom/toilet/laundry, which took a little longer than anticipated, but the wait was worth it.