Brenda’s Progress #13

Hi Everyone

Today marked yet another milestone in Brenda’s Progress. Today was Brenda’s last Radiotherapy session. This milestone was met with mixed emotions. In one way it was a happy occasion, the end of a treatment phase, progress, a time to celebrate. We did celebrate; we went to Garden City Shopping Centre for some lunch and retail therapy. This was Brenda’s first shop since her operation and it was made possible with the use of a wheelchair provided by the Shopping Centre Management gratis.

In another way it was a sadder occasion. It marked the end of a regular trip to Wembley to meet the Clinic staff and other patients with whom you share your war stories along the way. The Staff at the Radiotherapy Clinic have been absolutely wonderful. Each day Brenda was greeted with “How are you today Sunshine?â€? by the Receptionist Lynda.
Lynda is such a bubbly person nothing seemed to daunt her (except for the Dockers losing to the West Coast Eagles). Lynda seems to be able to bring a smile to most patients some of whom are suffering quite badly.

Brenda and Lynda

Next we would go in for treatment. These ladies had so much patience setting the machine up, positioning Brenda in the right spot but also having time to see that Brenda was comfortable physically and emotionally as they did. We were always greeted with a smile and would find something to raise a laugh or a giggle no matter which ladies were present. One of the ladies had been there for each of Brenda’s treatments and today was no exception. Helen purposely delayed her break so that she could be there for Brenda’s last treatment.

Veronica, Kaz and Helen at the Console of Machine #3

Preparing for treatment.

Mask on ready to start.

Today Brenda wore one of her night time hats for a laugh. It was a reddy colour with Smiley faces on it. Yesterday she did the same with her teddy bear and hearts hat. The girls loved them and so did her doctor when we saw him yesterday.

Brenda and I wanted some way to say thank you so we decided we should take in a cake so that all the staff could enjoy with their morning tea break. We had our friend Kylie make a mud cake and ice it with a note from Brenda. We presented the cake to Lynda who was quite overwhelmed. Other staff were delighted with the cake and a photo was taken and put on the wall behind the Reception desk. Lynda also put a copy of the picture of her and Brenda up as well. Lynda also delayed taking her break so that she could be there when we finished treatment. As we were leaving we were speaking to Lynda and we realized that she attended the same primary school that Robert and Sarah went to.

Cake

Thank you note on the cake.

During the later part of the treatment we made the acquaintance of several patients and carers. One was Cheryl and Frank. Frank also had a brain tumor and had had his operation by the same surgeon as Brenda a week before hers in the same hospital, same ward. Both Cheryl and Frank were wonderful to talk to sharing our experiences as patients and carers. Another patient was Debbie who was having some problem with treatment and almost gave up last week but she is continuing and will have her last treatment tomorrow. These are special people willing to share and help ease the pain. We have exchanged contact details and hope to be in contact soon.

Now it’s time to relax for a few weeks. Time to let the treatment have a chance of doing it’s good work. A time to regain some strength.

Pastor Pattie and Pastor Murray visited this afternoon to mark the end of treatment and the beginning of the next. They bought flowers and a Smiley balloon. We had a wonderful chat. We thank them both for their prayers today.

God Bless

Love to you all

Steve

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Brenda’s Progress #12

Things have settled down a bit. We both went to the Cancer Council to see one of their counsellors. He was very good and helped with a couple of suggestions that may help relieve some of the pressure. One was that instead of me stressing about work why don’t I take 1 or 2 days leave each week that way I won’t feel guilty about not getting back to work on time each day and we can spend it doing what we like.

The treatment is drawing to an end. The radiotherapy finishes Wed 17th Aug so that’s only 7 sessions left. The Chemo course finishes Fri 19th Aug then it’s a month off. The Surgeon has ordered a MRI scan for the 31st Aug and we see him on the 9th Sept. Bit of a wait between the scan and the surgeon but the Radiotherapy Oncologist will see if he can see us just after the scan. We are hoping the result is that tumour is the same size or smaller than immediately after surgery.

Brenda is looking like a well loved teddy at the moment, her hair has fallen out where the radiation enters and leaves her head. As she says something must be happening as her hair is shrinking so must the tumour.

We hope to spend a few days with Brenda’s Parents in Collie during her month off. Collie is about 200 kilometres away but just over a 2 hour drive. Then we also want to spend some time at Karri Valley, it is about 3 and a half hours away. It is a gorgeous spot in amongst the tall trees. It has chalets and motel rooms that extend over a man made lake. When the children were younger we took a caravan down there several times as they had a caravan park there but now they only have the chalets and motel accommodation.

Have a look
http://www.karrivalleyresort.com.au/

Cheers

Steve