Wow! Time is just flying by! I'm on my last two weeks of treatment and can't wait to get back home. A lot of people going through Proton Beam treatment here at Loma Linda call it a Radiation Vacation. There was one guy here that said he was dropped from the prayer list at his local church after they found out how much of a good time he was having. But that's the wonderful thing about this treatment. It's painless, has minimal side affects during and after treatment, and since you are here in Southern California during treatment you might as well enjoy yourself, hence, Radiation Vacation. That's all a part of the healing process.
I feel good, I'm having a great time, and I have met a lot of great people here. The whole treatment process is so positive, and everybody you come in contact with whether it's a staff member or another patient are all so positive. Being in a positive low stress atmosphere has a tremendous affect on the healing process.
My experience during this treatment makes me wonder why this option for treatment is not so publicly well known like the other options that have potentialy bad side affects. I feel sorry for the men who choose to have a prostectomy based soley upon the recommendation of their Urologists, when they could have been spared the risk of incontinence, impotency, or even death.
I challenge any Urologist with prostate cancer to research Proton Beam cancer treatment and compare it to the other options available and their side affects and then ask them what treatment option would you choose based on their research. I bet they would choose Proton Beam over sugery any day.
Jeanette and I took a tour of the internal workings of the proton beam facility the other day, and it is absolutely amazing how it works. There are so many intrical parts to the system that it is mind boggling that it even works. But it does work and has been operating and curing cancer patients since 1990. Something I did not know before the tour was that NASA uses one of the treatment rooms for research on how proton particles affect equipment and gear used by astronauts in space since solar flares contain proton particles. And my urologist said this was a gimmick. Obviously he didn't know what he was talking about.
So yeah I'm having a good time while my cancer is being annihilated by the powerful proton beam. In contrast, I could have been laying in a bed for several weeks with a cathater or colostomy bag on my side risking infection, then later having to go back and get a device inserted in my bladder to control my urine, and have no sex life during recovery and most likely none afterwards.
My activities during the past two weeks.
Week Six
Saturday the 26th of July
I went back down to San Diego and spent the whole day on the aircraft carrier USS Midway, which is a museum now. It was a self guided narrated tour of the whole ship. It was pretty spectacular. They also have aircraft displayed on the hangar and flight deck levels. The weather was great and I thoroughly enjoyed the day there.
Flight Deck
Hangar Deck
This is the War Room where the first stages of Desert Storm was orchestrated from. They even had Paul Arnett on the TV still reporting live from Baghdag. Amazing! Somebody needs to tell him that Desert Storm has been over for nearly eighteen years now.
I asked this guy if I could buy some Viagra and there was dead silence. I take it this Sailor has been on a Long Hard Cruise.
Even the Captain of the ship looked a little stoned. Geeze these guys need some Liberty!
And now a word from our Captain.
Sunday the 27th of July
My neighbors Jan and Craig came to visit me on their way to San Francisco. They treated me to dinner for my birthday and we had a great time together. It was great to see them and I really appreciated their visit. I feel so lucky that I have such great neighbors.
Jan and Craig playing remote wars
You all already know what happened on Tuesday the 29th. Yes the earth quake, something I'll never forget. Jeanette arrived later that day and spent the rest of the week with me. My neice Andrea also drove out Friday night and spent the weekend with Jeanette and I.
Thursday Jeanette and I went to Long Beach and visited the Aquarium Of The Pacific. This was a very nice aquarium! We even got to pet the sharks and sting rays. I had no idea that sharks felt like sand paper. This is definitely something to see if you're in the the area. Word of advice, go later in the afternoon when all the bus loads of kids have left.
After the aquarium we walked around the harbor and enjoyed the views of the lighthouse and the Queen Mary. We then had a late lunch and headed back to the RV. Again, the weather was perfect!
The Aquarium of the Pacific
Long Beach Harbor and The Queen Mary
Jeanette feeding the birds
They had an amazing display of various species of Jellyfish
Saturday we all went to Hollywood and spent the day there. We took one of the tours that took us through Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Rodeo Drive. It was fun, but man what a Rat Race! People and traffic everywhere!
Jeanette and Andrea on the Tour Bus or was it a rolled van with the top cut off.
Hollywood Blvd. (Can you spot the Tin Man?)
Week Seven
I took a ride up to a small town in the mountains near Palm Springs called Idelwild. It was nice to escape the heat of the desert and take in some fresh air and smell the pines. I kind of got a bad taste of the town itself when I first arrived though. I had to pee as usual and I was trying to find a restroom to use,and encountered "Restrooms For Customers Only" signs everywhere I went. At first I respected their wish and obeyed the signs but it got to be rediculus and I had to pee really bad. I confess, Yes, I used a restroom at a place and I was not a customer. I'm sorry, unknown Idelwild business, for using your restroom, but before I could spend any time or money in your town I had to pee first. Geez!
Then I was getting hungry and wanted to have lunch before heading back down to the valley and I encountered another Idelwild challenge, Parking! Everywhere I pulled into there were the signs, "Parking for such & such establishment ONLY" I'm thinking, this town doesn't want you to pee or park but they want you to spend your money there. I finally found a parking spot, had lunch and left this frustrating town. Never going back there!
This looks like an assuming quiet, relaxing, mountain village, but lurking around every corner are those annoying signs. "Don't pee here","Don't Poop here", "Don't Park here", "No Stopping", "No Standing", "Welcome to Idelwild now Leave!"
View on the way up the mountain.
Jeanette flew in to town Friday afternoon and we visited Disneyland Saturday and went on a tour of the Proton Beam Center at Loma Linda on Sunday.
There I'm caught up again!
Look at all the Perdy Flowers in Didney Land!
No comments:
Post a Comment