To Canada

Back in July, Anand and I looked at the calendar and noted the dates of my proton beam treatments, my next immunotherapy infusion, and the start of his semester. Between the second and third of those items we found a free week, so we booked ourselves a flight to Nova Scotia to see my parents.

To be honest, the trip was a challenge, and if I could have waited a bit longer past my proton radiation treatment before traveling I would have done so. I still feel tired and weak a lot, and it is difficult for me to be out and about, where places to sit down, to lie down, to retreat from the public eye, or to find a bathroom are not as readily available as at home.

It was good to see everyone, though. There were lots of family members besides my parents to catch up with as well. Pictured is one of the horses from my family's horse tour business (an old photo, but still relevant).

Horse tours with Trot in Time

Every time I go to Nova Scotia I know that it could be the last time I will see my parents. This time my mother, who has Alzheimer's, forgot at one point that I was her daughter. That was a strange experience. Most of the time, though, she recognized both me and Anand and even asked after Gita.

Now we are home, and I have a paper to write up based on the talk I gave in June. I have a bit of a break from treatment, with no treatments scheduled in September. My next immunotherapy infusion is scheduled for October 1.

Finished

As of last night, I am finished with my proton therapy!

It was a bit complicated getting to that point, though. In fact, it was nearly 11:00 PM by the time we got home last night.

First we had a flat tire on the way to the treatment center. We tried to fix it with the tire-fixing spray can, but the damage was too great for that. Finally we just proceeded cautiously the rest of the way to the treatment center. I went in for my appointment, and Anand contacted a mobile tire fixer. The person came very promptly, and the whole episode ended up as less of a disaster than I feared. I was very glad, though, that I was not alone trying to deal with that and treatment at the same time. I wasn't even late for my appointment.

They were late for me, though. I had to wait for over an hour before they called me in. Then, when it got to the point when they were actually going to shoot the protons into me, something went wrong with the machine. They kept telling me to hold my breath but then telling me I could stop holding it just a few seconds later. This went on for some time. I lay there wondering whether this was some special treatment for the final round or whether the machine was broken and they were about to tell me I had to come back the next day and try again. Finally, much to my relief, the machine worked, and I was done.

So I got to ring the bell. I'll admit I felt a bit different ringing this bell than I did ringing the one after chemo last year. Completing a second course of treatment like this drives home the persistence of mesothelioma. I'm finished with this treatment, but I'm not finished with the disease.

Ringing the bell

For now, though, no more breathing through a snorkel while lying motionless in a machine! No more malaise-inducing radiation! I may well have fatigue for the next few weeks, but I can handle that. After a while (I'm really not sure how long—the radiation has to finish its work first), I'll get a scan and we'll see how well the protons did their job.

Over Halfway!

I am now over halfway through my course of proton radiation. I am so much looking forward to having it over! Today's session was uneventful, but I have to confess that I really don't like getting the treatment. I have to breathe through a "respiratory gating system" that involves having my nose pinched off and breathing through a snorkel-style mouthpiece while lying motionless. I hate to have things in my face that interfere with my breathing. There's a reason I never go snorkeling! But it's all in a good cause, and I only have four more treatments to go,

Here is a picture of the apparatus. When I actually get the treatment the cot rotates ninety degrees to situate me under the machine. The blue thing under the sheet at the head of the cot is a personalized head and armrest made to my specific measurements.

The proton beam apparatus

Meanwhile, the feline Proton continues to bring solace and amusement as well as danger to the houseplants.

Proton with a houseplant in his sights