Like Kate wrote, last nights entry was lost so I'll give the condensed version of this week. I arrived back at the lodge on Sunday evening. The drive was easy as I was supplied with a great book on tape "Charlie Wilson's War" from Mary (thanks Mary). Those books really make driving go by fast and this one in particular, revolving around Americas involvement in the Soviet/Afgan war of the late 70's to late 80's, was of particular interest to me. So interesting in fact I have continued to listen to the book in the room on the portable CD/clock radio provided.
Woke up early Monday ready for treatment but feeling somewhat tired and nauseous. Returned to the room after radiation and just felt like resting and that's what I did.....for the rest of the day. I guess I had no idea how tired I was from the weekend, driving, playing Leaf Champion of the World while walking to the UnderCliff with Matt (the champ) and Kate (former champ), Sat. night college football on TV (Alabama vs. LSU), then the drive back on Sunday. Anyway I just sort of vegged that day, only up a few times to eat and then I settled in front of a TV in the lounge to watch Monday Night Football.
Felt much better when I woke up Tuesday. There is a small workout room here so I hit it about 0730 to ride the stationary bike and some light calisthenics. Treatment at 0915 and then I wanted some eggs and toast, over easy, con tocino (a shout out to my awesome Spanish teacher Richard Wallace), hash browns and some OJ. Still feeling great I headed out to the bookstore, which is attached to the mall. After a few hours of online work, internet surfing, book reading, and book browsing I decide that I'm going to join that elite group of exercisers known as the
Mall Walkers. To my surprise it was not so bad. I put away my things in the car and returned to the mall and begin to walk - as close to the edge of the halls as possible, going down every hall, and walking a little faster than I normally would. Oh ya, you would not mistake me for a casual shopper. Oh no, it was obvious what I had on my mind, some intense training....in the mall. So after two laps and a small personal finish line celebration I headed back to the lodge. After listening to a little more of my book I started to get hungry. Hunger is a funny thing now. When it happens I have to eat. If I wait it sometimes goes away. Also, if I get hungry for something, like Buffalo Wild Wings, that is all that will satisfy me....or so I think. So I have this hankering for BWW and on my drive over there I see a Chili's and all of sudden BWW sounds awful and Chili's classic nachos is all that will work. So, into Chili's I go and the nachos were great. It's still Tuesday and really all I'm doing is killing time till Kate gets here which won't be till around 11 that night. It's raining out and I know the drive is probably rough on her and the few times I call her I could tell she really didn't want to talk and drive at the same time (which is nothing like her) so the weather must have really been bad. Once she arrives though all is good again and my life seems to be back to normal. We spend Wed (it actually snowed all morning here) getting treatment and going back to the bookstore to work and walk the mall. Upon our arrival back at the lodge I attempted to blog and you know how that ended.
I just want to tell you a little about this fantastic team of medical professionals who have attended to me since I began coming up here a little over a month ago. I have two medical doctors. My radiation oncologist is Dr. Sun (I like to call her Dr. Sun with the ray gun). She was born and Educated in China, sees my scans daily as she monitors the treatment, physically examines me weekly, and has made herself available to me anytime I feel like I might need to talk to her. Her enthusiasm for what she does is (to use a medical term) infectious and if we were on a sandlot picking medical teams I would pick her first. She just looks like someone you would want on your team. My other doctor is the medical oncologist; he is in charge of the Chemo. His name is Dr. Wehbe, educated in the Middle East. If you have ever sat in a room with a professional of any vocation and felt a sense of competency, then you know the feeling I had when I was first introduced to Dr. Wehbe. He was honest and open about the diagnosis and what his role in the treatment was going to be. I look forward to my visits with him because they're fun, I enjoy his bedside manner. He has also made a point to let me know that he is only a phone call away, anytime, if needed....and he means it. These two doctors are always on time, always in great spirits, and always followed by at least one fellow/resident/or medical student. I can't tell you how eager these (I'll collectively call them students and pardon if I have insulted any of the medical professionals out there) students are. They have the biggest smiles on their face as the doctor and I engage in our dialogue and they look as if they just can't wait to get their hands on you, finally, a real live patient they can go over with a fine tooth comb, find all the abnormalities, figure out what should be done and report out to the doctor. They are all extremely attentive and bright and have been held in the starting gate for so long that finally practicing must be an overwhelming feeling.
Everyone knows that in any organization there is a cadre of people without which it just simply will not work. In this huge medical complex set on the picturesque campus of Iowa University, that group is the nurses. I have one assigned to me, ya, one assigned to
me. I'll have her for the duration. Her name is Peggy. Again I can call her anytime, see her anytime, and she usually calls me every other day or so. She knows more about how I'm supposed to look than I do. If she detects anything that she thinks might not look right, she's on it. She coordinates all of my visits throughout the hospital clinics, attends all of my meetings, ensures that my prescriptions are called in or delivered to me and is just the overall go to person if there is a question on the minds of anyone on the team. She was meant for this and she never lets up.
The ditch diggers and dirt slingers as I like to call them are the technicians on the front line of all this care. They are in the labs, pharmacies, radiation monitors, and radiation room where I get my treatment. They have been fantastic. There are four that attend during my daily treatments. One comes to the waiting room with a smile and eye to eye contact. They walk me past the vast array of monitors where my scans are being readied, and into the room where they ask "in any pain today Randy", "not today" I say. The other techs are readying the machine making casual conversation with me and they get me all ready. They get me comfortable with a warm blanket from the oven, get the favorite radio station on Serious radio, then with a firm hand on my shoulder one asks, "ready to rock", "lets rock" I reply and the music gets loud as they get to their stations and do their extremely delicate work.
To the teachers out there I want to say that this all comes together because students listen. Yes, they're listening, and I'm glad.
