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.