Alex spent the afternoon playing with his laptop and using the internet, apart from the regular nurses visits to check on his progress. He had his last morphine injection at 2pm. The idea was to get him re-established on his medications again. Alex felt well enough to come home, and wanted to leave that afternoon. The nurses wanted to keep him in overnight just to check that the pain levels weren't going to be a problem and that the medication levels were correct.
I was waiting at home to see who would win! OK, I had lots to do so I wasn't just waiting for my nailpolish to dry!
Late afternoon I found out that Alex had won, and so I went to collect him and we arrived home in time for me to cook a late-ish dinner. Once again, it was great to have him home and he was much happier. However, in the early hours of this morning (Tuesday 4th) he did discover why it may have been a good idea to stay in hospital.
We spent a quiet morning at home today before heading off for the first of the radiotherapy sessions. We headed off back to RPA and we were thankful that we didn't have to worry about parking. One of the nice bits is that there is a parking section for those who are having radiotherapy, and they validate the parking tickets and provide us with a permit to cover the time we'll be visiting. This saves a lot of time driving around trying to find a parking spot - it's a very busy area. It probably wouldn't look good if we arrived on the bike, even if Alex was up to it!
As this was our first session, Atirak (one of the very friendly technicians/staff) spent some time letting us know what to expect and the procedure for each of the visits. He said that for the first 3 visits, they will be taking x-rays as well as zapping Alex with the radiotherapy dose. He is having a large dose, and the cumulative effect of this should - hopefully - kill off all the cancer cells. Having the weekends off will give the body a chance to recover a bit.
So Alex was given a hospital gown - this time, he keeps the gown and he will hand it in at the end of the last session. I'm sure he won't forget!
There is an advantage to the gown - um, hmmm, now what was it? I'm sure there was one, but I'll have to let you all know in another posting. Anyone who can spot the advantage then please let us know. Alex is NOT off to the shops, the blue bag is to hold his t-shirt, jumper etc while he's being zapped.
Atirak and Lyndal made sure that he was positioned correctly on the bench/slap/bed, which took about 5 minutes. The atmosphere was good. Alex was happy to be there because finally this is the start of actually getting better. Lyndal explained that during the process, he'd be alone in the room but they could hear and see him from where they'd be sitting outside, and if he felt uncomfortable then he was just to say so, and they'd stop the process.
As Atirak had mentioned earlier, the hardest part of the whole process was just to stay still for the time it took.
Once Alex was positioned correctly, everyone left the room. 'Non participating chauffeurs' were asked to sit in the waiting area just across from where the staff were operating the machines and keeping an eye on Alex.
During the 10 minutes that the treatment took, there was silence at first but then a few other staff members arrived and everyone was comparing what they'd had for lunch. Listening to what they'd all had made me quite hungry. One of the girls was trying to get a booking at Grub & Tucker, apparently a popular restaurant and by the time they'd all discussed this, I was beginning to think we should try it later as well.
Alex needed some R&R time after it finished, just to adjust to moving again. Lying absolutely still even for that time meant it was quite painful to move around again.
After we left we headed to his office. Alex won his fight with the computer and was then able to catch up on a bit of paperwork. I packed some orders and then we headed off to Hurstville for a delivery.
We arrived home just after 5pm. Alex was tired but had no side effects from his first treatment. We had a small dinner. His appetite is obviously seriously reduced and his taste buds are off on an overseas holiday somewhere, because everything now has a different taste. We're both hoping that they will come back eventually, along with his appetite.
I'm waiting to see if he glows in the dark tonight .......
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