This is not my first proton therapy rodeo. I had proton therapy treatment for my prostate cancer in 2012. At that time there were only nine places in the USA where one could receive this type treatment. The closest to us was Jacksonville, Florida.
Some friends had a beach house in Jacksonville beach and offered the house for us to use during my six weeks of treatment. It was a radiation vacation for Cheryl and me. The time together was sweet for our marriage and for our spiritual growth-and it was fun to walk on the beach everyday.
A takeaway from my first treatment at Emory this past week was this: OK, I met my radiation oncologist, and he has been practicing head and neck medicine for 30 years, and I felt really good about him being my doctor. But, where did these kids who are actually administering the proton radiation come from?
On Friday for my second treatment, I entered the treatment gantry and this lovely young lady, who was one of the radiation therapists who would administer my treatment, greeted me and asked what type of music I would like to have played during my treatment. I was not focusing on music! I was focusing on how to keep from moving, how to keep my tongue pressed against the bite block in my mouth, how to keep from coughing and most of all how to focus on something other than the discomfort and claustrophobic sensations of the mask. I replied, “It doesn’t matter.” She said, “Would you mind if we played Christian music?” I said, “Of course not.”
The music helped relax me, and the time passed much more quickly. It did matter! I was so grateful for the young lady, but I was also grateful to the Lord for using her to help me feel so much more relaxed for the second treatment. From now on, I will tell them that I want Christian music played during my treatment.
Isn’t it great how the Lord uses people to help us in our time of need. I was also very mindful of the training and expertise that these young therapists possess to enable them to administer radiation from a $180 million cyclotron in just the right places to rid my body of any cancer cells.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24
2 comments:
God is good. We continue to pray. EM
an unexpected blessing from an unexpected individual at just the right time - serendipitous - sg
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