March 6, 2023

I made it to Rochester on Sunday night about 11 pm our time, just a bit under 12 hours. Snow for about 50 miles slowed me down some. Snow the 5th of March in Minnesota wasn’t much of a surprise.

I am staying in a quaint motel that is far from new, but it is very nice. The radiation department at Mayo Clinic has an agreement with this one motel. Much better rate than the regular Mayo Clinic rate. It is old enough that there weren’t enough spaces to plug in all the stuff I brought. A four-space surge protector took care of that. The motel is just five blocks from the Clinic and they have their own shuttle bus if I need it.

I have one of five radiation treatments now behind me. Behind might be an appropriate word after the treatment and a CT Scan. Modesty isn’t in the ballpark.

I had 35 radiation treatments on my leg 22 years ago prior to surgery. This radiation is far different. Those 35 lasted maybe a minute or two. For this radiation I was on the table about 45 minutes. Maybe 15 to line up the machine with the tattoo markers, the other the actual radiation.

It uses photons, I believe, because that’s what the tech’s call the machine. I guess I should have listened better during science classes.

I was told to lie as perfectly still as possible. I hope I was still enough! I’d hate for them to radiate something they weren’t supposed to.

They put me on a “small width” platform the techs called the table. The huge machine rotates about every way possible, applying the radiation. As with the radiation before, I didn’t feel a thing. No pain. No pressure. The only discomfort was lying still for so long.

I do remember that the radiation before had a cumulative effect. The first few were one thing, the last few something quite different. I would expect the same outcome this time.

I have heard some folks say that radiation treatments made them feel tired. I’m not sure if that’s why I feel like I do this afternoon. It could be the 750-mile drive yesterday. It could be the mental strain of it all. It could be that I didn’t eat until after the radiation. However, I think it might be that I got up early and swam in the pool for half a mile. Maybe a combination of all of them.

One prayer concern. I am still waiting to hear when the bone scan will be scheduled. I am hoping that it gets done in time for the hematologist to have the results prior to my appointment with him a week from Thursday.

Some things to ponder. Mary pondered when the shepherds came to see the baby Jesus. My pondering isn’t quite that important.

1.) I am a blessed man, regardless. As I waited about half a hour before I was called (I was half an hour early getting there) every person called back for radiation was younger than I am. Cancer is no respecter of age.

2.) As I was lying on the table for the radiation and this machine is rotating, at one point it came rather close to my face. Not dangerously close, but close enough to make me aware of it.

The thought that came to me was this: I am trusting these folks with my life. I guess we do every time we take prescribed medicine or have a procedure or have some surgery done.

Trust when it comes to medical personnel is of utmost importance. I made the effort to return to Mayo Clinic because I trust them, especially when it comes to something a bit rare like dealing with two different types of cancer at the same time.

But trust is important in lots of areas of our lives. Teresa trusts me to be away for almost two weeks, as I do her while I am gone.

Kids learn to trust loving parents and parents their kids.

Lots of the relationships we have involve trust.

But when that trust is broken, it’s near to impossible to regain it.

The greatest struggle when it comes to trust for all of us involves the Lord Jesus. Are we willing to trust Him? Yes for eternity. For today might be a bit tougher. Trust and obey. Might be a good thought for a hymn.

3.) I am unworthy of being loved the way I am being loved through all of this.

4.) One more. I have found that there is a considerable difference between the temperature in a heated pool in Kentucky and a heated pool in Minnesota.