
Table setting. Hand coloured etching.
Today we drove for the 7th time to a special clinic for radiation. There and back is around 140KM. We drive at around 100km an hour. The car has speed control. However, the use of it gives my foot a cramp. I prefer to keep working the pedal. There is also something frightening of a car going on its own volution. I am not sure about sitting in a self-drive vehicle. In any case we will be driving for many days yet, with a total of 25-35 radiation treatments.
The clinic itself is a jolly experience. This is surprising. Most or all of the patients have some kind of cancer. Perhaps the fear of getting cancer has at least been relieved by the certainty of the patients’ diagnoses. There is no more doubt. Still, jolliness and having cancer seems an oxymoron. The clinic has two waiting rooms. One has a TV which is always on, droning on a commercial channel most of the time. The inane dribble on channel 7 by incessantly smirking presenters will do no good to any patient, not even those that are jolly and in remission. I change it over to the National Broadcaster’s news, ABC, channel 24. This gives News. Even there, the announcers seem to be laughing all the time too. I wonder what do they suffer from? Is the news from the Trump’s US or Syria so hilarious? Perhaps the TV bosses tell the announcers to be cheerful despite the carnage shown. It surprises me that no one protests when I change the channel. Mind you, no one watches it much. They prefer to talk.
The other waiting room is a better place. They have bookshelves with many books to either read while waiting or take home in exchange for books patients might like to swap with. In any case, both rooms have patients waiting for treatment. Most have a specific given time and as the treatment only lasts a few minutes, many are in and out quickly. The undressing and re-dressing takes more time. The atmosphere is of geniality. I suppose there is a solid common bond. They all have cancer. The radiation perhaps also aids with a kind of warming glow. Shared problems together is a great binder and the laughter in the waiting rooms reflects this very well. Each time we leave the clinic we are both in great spirits.
Maarten is one of the patients whose time of treatment coincides of that of Helvi. He is Dutch born and 82 years old. He arrived here with his parents in 1953. I did in 1956. His Dutch language is still fluent and so is his brain. His parents settled in Wollongong with his father building a house there. He told me he created a Dutch choir in Wollongong which is still ongoing. Maarten also plays a recorder and when well enough attends courses run by U3A. http://sohiu3a.org.au/ I think he likes classical music. I will ask him next time. I am a sucker for classical music.
We meet each day at the clinic together with many others. Many arrive by Community buses with carers. Some are in wheel-chairs. We met a couple. The wife gets her nose radiated. She suffers a melanoma and hopes the treatment will prevent losing her nose. Perhaps in total, we spend at the most 45 minutes at this clinic. We drive home and sometimes take a lunch at the Sushi take away in Mittagong or the Thai place back home in Bowral. The daily trip means we have to put travel on hold. But, the experience each day at the clinic is a good compromise. Perhaps not a holiday but a good unexpected bonus of joy with strong people on the edge. The snippets of social exchanges between other patients is very exhilarating.
We like the daily visits.
Tags: abc., books, Bowral, Cancer, Channel7, Clinic, Exchange, Mittagong, Syria, Trump, TV, US, Wollongong
April 24, 2018 at 11:08 am |
I hope the treatment is being effective for Helvi.
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April 24, 2018 at 10:41 pm |
So far so good. Love your poem ‘repairing the road.’
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April 25, 2018 at 5:14 am
Thank you.
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April 24, 2018 at 12:33 pm |
Best of luck with everything. I hope Helvi continues to do well with the treatment. Positivity is a good weapon to have against illness, and it seems you two and everyone else at the clinic has it.
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April 24, 2018 at 10:48 pm |
The clinic is well designed with waiting rooms with coffee and tea equipment including Gumtree biscuits. It doesn’t take much to get a conversation going. And then there are books for those that want to read. I don’t know who turns the TV back onto the commercial channels but I just keep changing to the National Broadcaster. (ABC) without inane prattle and endless advertisements.
I mean elderly people with cancer are not into buying giants SUV vehicles that get driven through raging rivers or up giant boulders.
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April 24, 2018 at 11:28 pm
I don’t blame you. I’d turn the channel too.
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April 24, 2018 at 12:40 pm |
I must say when I went for treatment at Wollongong Hospital I had a good experience too. There wasn’t any interaction with other patients put the hospital staff provided a friendly and positive atmosphere.
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April 24, 2018 at 10:53 pm |
The staff are fantastic, mainly young and cheerful. I think they must be handpicked. One young girl must have studied in China for her qualifications. It turns out she is actually Irish and speaks broad Irish. When I told her I thought she looked Irish, she laughed heartily. Everything is now possible, even being Irish with a Chinese exterior.
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April 24, 2018 at 1:06 pm |
Mrs M had a similar experience. I went with her once, or twice, as she was well enough to drive to the radiation oncology centre, which was about seven minutes away. Hope you are both starting to feel like it’s a downhill run.
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April 24, 2018 at 11:02 pm |
We both feel fine. Helvi has no symptoms at all. She is forever lighting up and cheering others, even those sunk in gloom.
While the drive is a bit monotonous she does a crossword or we just talk. Often both. Time flies.
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April 24, 2018 at 1:43 pm |
Good to know the clinic is a welcoming place.
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April 24, 2018 at 11:10 pm |
Yes, Peggy. It is almost worth just dropping by. Very cheerful people and one gets a ticket exempting one from a parking fine!
I stick it on the dashboard. ( drunk with power)
I enjoyed Brussel and its comic murals!
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April 24, 2018 at 4:36 pm |
Thinking of you both as Helvi’s treatment is on going. I guess that travelling for treatment must be a strain, but am glad for you that it the clinic is a positive place.
I love the artwork.
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April 24, 2018 at 11:14 pm |
Glad you liked the etching, Julia. Thank you.
I think that the clinic works very well being staffed by great positive people. It makes such a big difference. Helvi is also a very positive woman and that makes others respond with enthusiasm and cheerfulness.
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April 25, 2018 at 9:17 am
Not the same, but when my mum was receiving end of life care in the local hospice, I was bowled over by the love, care, sensitivity and positivity of the staff. Good nursing is a gift.
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April 24, 2018 at 6:02 pm |
My thoughts are with you and Helvi, Gerard. And I am pleased to hear that is is a positive experience. My brother went through extensive treatment for tongue cancer and has recovered, with his tongue. His doctor told me that Marshall was one of the most positive people he has ever met, and attributed his attitude to being an important factor in his recovery. –Curt
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April 24, 2018 at 11:20 pm |
Glad Marshall recovered with his tongue intact, Curt. Many say that being positive helps a lot.
You, planning a 1000 mile hike would have to be the most positive adventure, especially at 75 years.
You look out for those giant black bears, Curt!
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April 25, 2018 at 5:27 pm
The power of the mind can be pretty amazing.
And one definitely have to have a positive attitude to start out on a thousand mile hike at 75. Either that or be slightly crazy. 🙂 I plan on keeping a sharp eye out for the bears, even the smaller ones! –Curt
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April 24, 2018 at 6:32 pm |
Uplifting camaraderie is a positive thing too. You two are amazing. Being in a situation with other sufferers keeps everyone looking forward to good results. Good thoughts Gerard.
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April 24, 2018 at 11:25 pm |
With the book exchange I thought I smuggle my own book in as well. Would you believe that the next day it had gone? Someone must be reading my book. Can you believe it?
No radiation today as it is Anzac day. A day to remember the fallen soldiers of WW1 and all wars since.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac_Day
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April 24, 2018 at 7:58 pm |
It always amazes me that in waiting rooms, surgeries,some cafes, and other similar places, the TV channel always seems to be tuned to Channel Nine, and those waiting subjected to inanity. I’m glad you were able to change the channel! It’s also wonderful that the clinic is a positive place and I hope all goes well.
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April 24, 2018 at 11:34 pm |
Yes, Jane.
In the local cancer hospital here in Bowral, the TV is always on a commercial channel. I can’t find the remote and the TV is high up the wall. The patients are directly subjected to all sorts of drivel, mainly hair products or make-up re-hydration products. Many cancer patients don’t have hair and don’t always look fully hydrated.
When Helvi had her chemo therapy there, she was glad to escape that TV.
The radiation clinic at least leaves the remote so that it can get changed.
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April 24, 2018 at 11:12 pm |
With such a long journey to the clinic, I am glad it is a positive experience for you. It sounds like it is a treatment for both the body and the spirit.
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April 24, 2018 at 11:38 pm |
The journey is a bit long but on a double lane expressway it is not too bad. Large trucks are the main problem.
We always leave the clinic in high spirits and with a nice lunch afterwards, it is so good. In the evening we give ourselves a little boost with a different spirit named, Shiraz.
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April 24, 2018 at 11:41 pm
Excellent spirit choice. I approve.
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April 25, 2018 at 12:24 am |
Oh, my gosh! I love your Dinner Setting etching, Gerard! The colors are so cheerful! It makes me think of many positive times around tables, with loved ones, and good food and good conversation, and laughter! 🙂 Thank you for sharing your artwork!
I’m glad the clinic is a positive experience for Helvi and you. I know you two must bring joy to those you smile at, and talk to! 🙂 I continue to wish Helvi healing and the very best as she endures these treatments! I think of her and she encourages me.
Oh…I wish Maarten well, too.
In my cancer journey these past almost-3 years, I’ve meet some amazing, positive people! Sitting in waiting rooms, I prefer talking to other people, and reading…I do NOT enjoy a droning television.
I like asking questions, hearing people’s stories, and sharing a joke or a tease with them to make them laugh. I always go armed with a silly story or joke I can tell the doctor and medical personnel. 🙂
In your comment on my blogpost today, you mentioned your book. Have you thought about sharing some copies of your book with the clinic? To put in their waiting rooms?
HUGS!!! for you and Helvi and Milo!!! 🙂
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April 25, 2018 at 4:50 am |
Glad you like the etching, Caroline.
The copper plate is still in a box somewhere on the farm where we lived till ten years ago.
I did drop two of my books so far to the clinic. They were promptly snapped up and have disappeared, which pleased me no end. I might also give them to the book exchange here at the clinic in Bowral where we live.
The Bowral clinic gives Chemo therapy while the other clinic does the radiation.
I suppose that having cancer focusses people on the time left and what is essential.
I hope you are doing alright too, Caroline.
Hugs.
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April 25, 2018 at 6:52 am
OH! I love that people snapped up your books and are reading!!! 🙂
HUGS!!! 🙂
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April 25, 2018 at 4:06 am |
What a long daily journey, Gerard. It’s good to hear that you can find the uplifting side to this, as it must exhaust you both travelling so far.
Thanks for sharing your delightful etching! Sending best wishes and strength to keep up your positivity and enjoyment of life!
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April 25, 2018 at 5:57 am |
There is a wonderful short story written by Virginia Woolf, Barbara, ‘The death of a moth.’
It describes life from the viewpoint of a moth that only lives for one day. It concentrates on life and death, with death being inevitable for the moth (and all of us), but not without putting up a good fight.
The moth flitters around happily for the day which is its entire life. It then dies.
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April 25, 2018 at 6:29 am |
I shall look out for this short story, the subject appeals to me.
Thanks Gerard!
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April 25, 2018 at 2:30 pm |
Wonderful positivity Gerard. Finding jollity alongside cancer would never have occurred to me. I’m very happy it’s going well for Helvi.
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April 25, 2018 at 11:03 pm |
Thank you, Andrew.
Getting ready for another trip to radiation. I shall take another copy of my book ( almost there) to replace the ones that have been taken from the hospital’s book exchange.
In some Sydney suburbs, residents are installing boxes on the footpath specifically designed to leave and exchange books.
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April 27, 2018 at 8:38 pm |
I’m so glad to hear that Helvi is doing well with her treatments, and that the experience has been eased by the presence of attentive and skilled staff — not to mention the cheerfulness of other patients. I know several people who are going through cancer treatment just now, and a common thread in all the stories is the importance of attitude.
Just so you know, I’m not one who uses cruise control on a car, either. I enjoy driving, and I’m convinced I’m much safer when I’m in control. I certainly can’t control what others do, but as long as I have my vision and my reflexes, a little road trip will give me pleasure.
I enjoyed your mention of the little libraries, too. That seems to be a more and more common practice. Anything that puts books into more people’s hands is a good thing.
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April 27, 2018 at 10:44 pm |
Yes, Linda. The book exchanges are popping up in many places now together with neighbours getting together and organising planting boxes on he footpaths in which herbs and vegetables are growing for whoever to pick and eat.
A great idea.
So are the Universities with all sorts of courses being run for the aged. No diplomas or certificates but lots of ideas for the old to keep plugging along. I mean learning Chinese or Cryptic puzzles, Spanish and table tennis or Schubert or chess. It just goes on.
http://sohiu3a.org.au/?page_id=1004
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