The Mapping Begins on August 7th ...

I feel like a new continent; a new world. I am going to be explored and mapped on August 7th, 2007.

I received a call from the Nova Scotia Cancer Clinic yesterday. It was a phone call I was honestly hoping "they" would forget to make. I was in the wonderful state of denial again; nothing wrong with me! She told me "I begin the radiation therapy process at 1:00 pm on August 7.". Be there and be empty was her message. Being empty of course means I have to take a laxative the night before to make sure my the intestines and colon are empty before I get mapped.

Mapping is the first step of this process. The good folks at the Cancer Clinic and Dr. H. must where to "shoot" the radiation gun. This obviously seems like a smart thing to do. They will mark me with a small tattoo (or target) to make the process easier in the future. Once this is completed, the Oncologist will plan a strategy for the treatment; how many sessions, what dose of radiation and how "wide" a swathe the beam should be. Once that is determined, all I have to do is wait for a spot to get into the radiation queue. I am not sure when the sessions will begin, but I am assuming sometimes in mid to late August and Dr. H has committed to having my radiation therapy completed no later than December 1. Wow, fighting the monster is taking a lot of time, isn't it!

I was told there are 150 patients being treated every day at the Dixon Centre in Halifax and the radiation machine operates from 7:00 AM to 5:30 PM every day, Monday to Friday. That is a lot of people, so I better not be late when I find out my weekly time slot!

"A", Max and I are off to Ottawa soon to see Boh, Justin and Winter for a few days. In fact, we are going to babysit the little man for a couple of days while his Mom and Dad are away camping. This will be great. One thing I have learnt from this "monster episode" is that I want to take advantage of every moment I get with family, especially the grandkids. They are true human legacies.

More tomorrow.