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.