treatnum=(treatmax*0.5)-1

In other words we are one treatment short of being 50% complete. I have two daughters and a wife that make a living involving computers so I thought it would be fun to send them an equation today. I have also been reading that geeks are becoming cool, so along with blogging I are doing what I can.

Actually I thought of this equation this morning while I had my treatment, as I was trying to think of anything that would distract me. It was a bit of adventure as there were computer problems after I was locked down. There is a fan like mechanism that you can hear spin up to speed just before the protons begin to flow. Today the fan was running for a long time and then it stopped. It made me flash back to the approaches to EAT that are aborted and you go back to Seattle. It seemed like quite a while before they came in to tell me to lay still, they had to replace a power supply. It took another 15 minutes or so for the fan to start again, and then the "beeps" that signify radiation beam flow were very slow. They have told me before they have metering devices that sum the dosage and that some days there is a lower "flow" rate. By the time I got out I was heading to a restroom with great haste. They want you to have a full bladder when you go in for treatment, so any significant delay makes you uncomfortable to say the least. There is a story that makes the rounds of someone that laid there for 2 hours before receiving treatment. I personally think it is folk lore, as anything over 45 minutes and I would be calling for mission abort.

There are no treatments until Tuesday, so a long weekend of rain (really) and then back to the pod.

Hope everyone has a great New Year.

California Christmas

We spent an unusual Christmas day which included a visit with Sulley Monster and a very scary "Twilight Zone" elevator ride (See above). The elevator ride drops you about 6 floors and this picture was taken near the middle of that drop. Ruth tells me that the gentleman in the lower left is flashing the gang sign "22" on the way down. I wouldn't know as I was just trying to keep my lunch down.

We also went to the Ontario mall the day after Christmas, what a crush of people. When we left around 1:00 pm you could hardly walk in the hallways there were so many people. Some of the cash register lines had 30-40 people waiting. Ruth commented that her ears were ringing after we left because of all the noise. There is a safety minute here, leave Randy at home next time.

The weather was great for Karen's visit, warm enough for her to soak up some sunshine. We really enjoyed her visit, she is a lot of fun. She had an interesting experience as she was leaving as someone attempted to steal her coat at the airport. She got the attention of security personnel and was able to recover her coat. I was proud of how well she handled the situation.

Treatment number 18 is complete. This one was not smooth as they had to recalibrate the machine a couple of times during the treatment. I had to lie very still for about 20 minutes, which I am told is not my strength. However, I was glad to get done as one of the other "gantry's" was down all morning due to technical problems and those patients were stacking up in the waiting room as I was heading out.

Ruth headed out today to visit the Ligotti's in San Diego for a couple of days. Being frugal I decided not to rent a car while she gone but would ride the bike instead. I just did the clock arithmetic for the morning treatment and I am currently questioning my judgment on this issue. I do recall, however, there is a good donut shop between here and the hospital.

We sure enjoy the comments and emails, thank you for making us smile.

Tour of Proton Center

This is in front of the elevator I take to go down two floors to level B where I lay in this white "pod" and the porton beams shoot through me from the machine on the right.

Treatment number 17 is now in the books and shortly after finishing this teatment we drove to the Ontario airport and met Karen. On our way back to Redlands we stopped again at the treatment center where they gave us a quick tour. Ruth and Karen were able to sneak a peek back in the Gantry. Here are some photos that Karen took.

Go Tar Heels

A fellow patient called yesterday and invited me to the USC v. North Carolina basketball game last night in downtown Los Angeles. We left Redlands around 3:30 and went through rush hour traffic and arrived at the USC campus around 5:30 p.m. I never thought I would meet someone that liked to get to events earlier than I did, but we had to wait about a hour for the gates to even open. We made a slight mistake at the McDonald's across the street as my proton buddy began yelling, " Go Tar Heels" at the top of his voice. He is from North Carolina, and was really into the event. However, this did not go over too well with a couple of rather large gentleman that were graduates of USC and we attracted the attention of the security guard. Yes, there is a security guard at McDonald's, and he was packing heat. We made a quick exit, me leading the way and my friend still yapping.

The game was really fun. College basketball is a great venue. I would guess that at least a third of the crowd was in Carolina Blue. Luckily we were in a section with nearly all North Carolina fans, many as rabid as my friend. Our beloved Tar Heels were upset by USC, making for a quiet ride home. We caught I-110 northbound out of the stadium and it was jammed with cars, six lanes wide, at 10:00 pm. I continue to be amazed at the volumes of traffic.

Treatment number 16 was completed without a hitch. Early morning treatments are definitely more prompt. Two gentleman were completing their treatments today so the mood was pretty festive in the waiting room. It is business as usual tomorrow, then a three day break over Christmas.

Happy Holiday to everyone!

Smooth Sailing

Treatments numbered 14 and 15 have been completed. The process seems routine, very smooth sailing. The treatment time has been moved up to 6:15 a.m. each day and it is working out well. It seems the treatment is more prompt early in the morning. A lot of the very early appointments are guys that are completing their treatment. All are very excited to be near the end. Most have said they experienced very little in the way of side effects so that is good to hear.

We went to the Tuesday night potluck at Loma Linda Springs and it was interesting. There were a couple of women at the gathering that are being treated for rare forms of spine cancer with proton treatment. They seemed to be doing well and were very upbeat about their progress. Listening to them it makes you think you are "lucky" to have a more treatable form of cancer.

Somehow I ended up in charge of the Wednesday radiation patient golf scramble. The organizer is finishing up his treatment and on the way back to Florida. He told me it was easy. I have heard that before.

We are looking forward to having our youngest daughter Karen join us for the long Christmas weekend. She flies in on Friday and is excited to see some sunshine. There are no treatments on the Monday following Christmas so we have a 3 day "weekend".

We are hoping that we continue to have calm waters and the wind at our back.

Christmas tree in the 4 lane

Treatment number 13 and the Monday visit to the clinic are completed. Everything is really going well. They have moved my treatment earlier and tomorrow it will be at 6:15 am. Even for a morning person this is a pretty early treatment as you need to be up for about an hour to empty the bladder and complete the refill procedure just prior to the treatment.

We went to visit San Diego again this weekend. Heard some interesting things on the radio on the way down. The first is that if you want to go to Mexico to get steroids you have to have a Doctor in Mexico write the prescription. Apparently it is not a good idea to take any weapons when you visit the Doctor. This was a radio advertisement by the Chamber of Commerce for a border city. I am thinking that carbo loading is a safer way to bulk up.

The second was the report of a Christmas tree down in the 4 lane of I-5 causing a large back up. I don't recall backing up any traffic when the trees have blown off my car.

We helped Emily and Peter put on a beginners adventure "race" on Sunday at Lake Hodges in Escondito, CA. Peter was the race creator and director and I am pretty sure my title was Assistant Race Director. Emily asked Peter to put this together as part of her birthday present. The event consisted of mountain biking, kayaking, navigation, basketball, and some golf. The participants really had a good time and it was fun to help with the event. Two of the racers were originally from Chile and they surprised us with a traditional Chilean meal at the end of the event . The first dish was pastel de choclo, similar to a shepherd pie or casserole, made with meat and layer of mashed corn. The second dish was de horno empanadas de pino which is traditional turnover pie. (de horno-baked, frito-fried, de pino-with a meat and onion filling, de queso-cheese, de mariscos-seafood) . It was really good. I stayed away from the hot sauce that went with it, and endured the "wimp" comments rather calmly. One of the technicians on Gantry 3 is from Chile and seemed to be impressed that we had tried empanadas.

I am off to try and find a few presents, a little earlier than usual but I seem to have a bit of time on my hands.

Sophomore Class of Feb 06

Feeling really special today. I get to put a yellow dot on my badge denoting my "Sophomore" status as having completed 1/4 of my treatments. That is, I would put a yellow dot on my badge if I could locate it. It has been temporally misplaced. The search will begin in earnest prior to Monday, being sans badge is not a good thing. I believe it was misplaced during my bike ride into treatment yesterday or possibly the donut shop on the way back. Treatments numbered 11 and 12 went without incident. The morning schedule fits me well, I like getting it out of the way early in the day. The waiting room was filled with the music of Christmas carols played on the piano by the spouse of an incoming patient. This is an impressive couple, they had received the diagnosis just two weeks ago, had thoroughly researched the options, and made it out to LA from North Carolina to start treatment. A lot of people have chosen not to begin treatment until after the New Year, and they were more than willing to take a slot.
I spent most of the day yesterday helping out at the Christmas party for pediatric radiation patients. They had a great Santa Claus and hundreds of gifts to give to the little ones. A group of proton patients were enlisted to haul the presents from the wrapping area and then be Santa's helper. It tugged at my heart to see these kids, many of which have brain and eye cancers that are being treated with proton therapy. They have a wonderful spirit and show great courage. They loved seeing Santa Claus, and it was great to see the joy on their faces. I think the holiday spirit officially arrived for me yesterday. Our 14 inch (not foot) Christmas tree just hadn't done the trick.

We are headed to Encinitas to help with an adventure outing that Peter Ligotti is putting together for Emily. It includes biking, kayaking, hiking and some surprise events that I cannot disclose until after the race. If I disclose the other elements Peter will make me do intervals at the track, and that is not a good thing.

I can't think of anything catchy for Monday's treatment number 13. I would appreciate any ideas.

Perfect 10

Treatment number 10 went very smoothly. It is fun to meet the morning "BOB's", most of which are much farther along in their treatments. It was a pretty lively discussion this morning on the philosophy of the death penalty. Both sides of the spectrum were represented and it was still going on as I was leaving. It is surprising how many of the patients stay around the waiting room long after their treatment. I pretty much burn rubber when mine is complete. They said today that my treatment time will stay at 7:30 a.m. unless they tell me different.

The Proton Experience help desk (aka "Ruth") has figured out how to include pictures so our goal is to take some pictures this week of the treatment areas and post them here. The picture today is the outside deck of our small apartment this morning in Redlands. It is a one bedroom unit, about 800 square feet. The rent is about 2.5 times as you would see in Wenatchee. There are 6 units to a group and my guess is there is about 50 groups of buildings in the compound. We are the only tenant in our 6 plex, makes me wonder why they are raising rents.

We are going to fight through our head colds and play in the patient golf scramble this afternoon. It is supposed to be non-competitive, but I am pretty sure our group won last week.

Quick Nine

You would think that a quick 9 would relate to a Sunday afternoon of golf, trying to squeeze a few holes before sundown. However, in this time warp it is knocking down two treatments in just over 12 hours. The Monday night treatment went smoothly, and then was surprised by a 7:30 am appointment on Tuesday morning. That treatment was delayed by a couple of hours, causing me to miss a meal for the first time in a couple of years. They told me that this was my "permanent" time which will be interesting.

We met a couple from Brewster that had started about a week earlier in the program. Turns out his brother owns the Western market in Wenatchee, we had a good chat about how cold the weather was back home. If it is any consolation a high pressure system has caused a bit of smog to settle in over Redlands, which is a new experience for us. Another patient we chatted with this morning owned a business in New York city that had been in his family for 100 years. They manufacture custom silverware for hotels and private clients all over the world. He was a kick to talk to, had great stories about his travels.

I am feeling good, treatments seemingly have no effect. I did pick up a nasty head cold which everyone seems to go through as they get into the program.

Tomorrow is Bo Derek day, we are hoping that it will be a perfect "10".

Friday - Shut Out

I was looking forward to having my 8th treatment on Friday before heading down to San Diego for Emily's 28th birthday celebration. But when I got to the hospital I was met in the parking lot by another "Balloon Buddy" and told that no protons had been flowing all day. The other clue was the night shift technicians were both outside waiting for a bus. I went in anyway as I needed to confirm my Monday treatment time. There was quite a bit of confusion in the waiting room, two of the guys had their cars packed and were getting ready to return home as they were scheduled to receive their last treatment and had checked out of their accommodations. They couldn't bring themselves to leave, even though it had been announced that there would be no treatments. I felt sorry for them knowing that their stay would now extend over another weekend, which can be very hard for the guys out here without their wives. One in particular is a fellow Cougar that is a veterinarian in Eastern Oregon. Every time I saw him he had on his Cougar hat but Friday night it was pulled down over his eyes to hide his disappointment. He told me he had waited all day, having arranged the first appointment at 6:30 am, and finally conceded at 6:00 p.m. that it was not to be. In talking with other patients this happens once or twice during your treatment, but in some way it is good that they are very particular that everything is right before they deliver treatments.

The visit to San Diego was very relaxing, we really enjoyed seeing our family. They had a block party to make gingerbread houses, a tradition we started in our garage when the girls were little. They have great neighbors and it is interesting how much the neighbors interact. There are a lot of couples with young children, and it was fun to be around the kids and see how excited they were for the holidays.

Back to "work" tomorrow, hoping for a smooth No. 8.

Batten the Hatches- Frost Advisory

The big news from Redlands is that the temperature almost got low enough to have frost. All the local channels were running banners at the bottom of the screen warning about temperatures possibly reaching freezing. Breaking news, the frost did not appear.
I have now completed six treatments and everything is going well. I am not experiencing any side effects. My time slot is now more consistent at 6:30 pm. The request is in for an early morning slot, but I am a relative "newbie" so I don't have much choice.
There have been some surprises over this last week. First is how many Vietnam vets are being treated here, apparently the use of Agent Orange is a proven risk factor for prostate cancer in vets. There is a lot of discussion of the war in Iraq and Vietnam in the waiting room. These discussions have prompted me to begin reading a book on the history of the Vietnam war. This is a change for this avid reader of mystery novels. The second surprise is how much both of us miss our work. We knew that we would miss the people that we work with, they are such great people. The mental challenge of work is a bigger part of our lives than we realized.
We really enjoyed the weekend in San Diego, about a two hour drive away. We got to spend some quality time with our granddaughter Piper. She is a real character and a lot of fun to be around.
The sun is coming up on the horizon, I will check for frost and keep you posted.

Two down, standing by for Number 3

Greetings from Southern California. We traveled through a blizzard to arrive to sunny and warm weather in Redlands, CA. I started my treatments on Wednesday, and now have two complete. So far everything is going well, the waiting around is the hardest part. They had some mechanical problems earlier today, so this treatment is about a hour behind schedule. The waiting room has two internet connections so I thought I would try a post from here. The waiting room is jammed with people waiting so it is a bit hectic. Every time a name is called everybody thinks it is them and runs up to the desk. The lady, Levita, is very patient with everyone and somehow keeps a smile. It is a little like the gate agent trying to explain a delayed flight, it is not her fault but she is on the front lines. The people here at Loma Linda have been very nice, just as advertised. The biggest surprize so far is that the time of the treatments are not consistant. You get your time for the next treatment at the end of your session. Yesterday I was at 830 at night and today it was scheduled at 2:30. So far they haven't gotten between me and and a meal. They are calling my name, I think, and so will sign off.