Fini

Yahoo!!! I am now finished with my proton beam radiation treatment! After 2 months and 39 treatments, it is hard to believe I am done. My treatment was scheduled for 2 pm Tuesday, but upon arriving at the UFPTI my gantry was running 25 minutes late. Then within a couple of minutes it was 45 minutes late...

Waiting in the lobby at the proton institute is never a difficult or trying task. There is always somebody to visit with. Ellen and I fell into a conversation with 2 couples, one from PA, one thinking seriously about RVing fulltime. So that wait time turned into a nice conversation. One of the best side effects of the proton treatment is that we have made some great friends while waiting for my 15 ounces of water to make its way to my bladder so I would be 'ready' for treatment.

One couple, Marshall and Lucy Kendall from Freedom, NH, is having us over for dinner tonight. Marshall's hooby is woodworking, notably lathe work, and when the Kendall's traveled to Jacksonville, he brought along a bunch of his woodshop equipment, including a table lathe! He has turned some bowls and chalices in the garage of his condo. Lucy does floral and decorative painting on Marshall's creations, so she brought her paints and brushes.

I finally finished my treatment at almost 4 pm, so that was actually an hour and a half delay, but no big thing, the main thing is we can now do whatever we want from day to day. It was a sad/fond farewell to the great folks on my gantry crew, hugging them all, with them wishing us the best. We also parted ways with Marquita, the sweet receptionist who always met us with a big smile. We will be back in August, for a 6 month checkup...so hopefully we can see some of these great people again.

Last night we had dinner with Jon Dahl, former teacher we knew from Fort Dodge. He was fixing to fly to Colorado to see his first granddaughter. Had a great visit with him (Cindy was already in CO) at a Longhorn Steakhouse near the JAX Airport. We're pretty sure we will have a place to stay when we come down for future check ups. Thanks John for the invite!