Off Ramp Loma Linda: Week 10

Week 10: Nov. 22-Nov. 28

The final countdown begins. 40 treatments down and 5 to go! This is a great milestone for which to be thankful. This Thanksgiving week was one that we had not anticipated a year ago, but this season we are still full of thanks for the many blessings and experiences that have come our way: new friends, special times with family & friends in Southern California, and a big step forwards completing prostate cancer treatment.

This was a short week for treatments as the proton center was closed Thursday through Sunday for the holiday. Our week began with our last visit to Trinity Church in Redlands where once again we were nourished in the teaching of God’s word. Finding Trinity was another aspect of this adventure for which we are truly thankful.

Sunday afternoon we paid a visit to Kimberly Crest Mansion for a tour of the house and grounds. It is a beautiful home which can be found in the California Registry of Historical Landmarks. The house has been described as being “an excellent example of Chateauesque architecture.” It was constructed in 1897 with many modern conveniences not readily available for the time period. We are going to miss the beauty and variety this area has to offer (not to mention the mild weather to which we have grown accustomed).

We spent the remainder of the week in Seal Beach, Long Beach and Oceanside with family to complete this Thanksgiving week. We missed our family back home in Vancouver, Washington, but our house up north was still the site for the local family get together as our daughters and their families joined there for food and fun. We do indeed have much for which we are thankful.

Off Ramp: Loma Linda Week 9

Week 9: Nov. 15-Nov. 21

Once again we started the day off Sunday by attending the early service at Trinity Church where we have really felt at home. Later that morning we had the privilege of attending the annual “BOB Brunch” held here at LLUMC. Bob Marckini hosted the morning’s activities which included messages from past proton patients and LLUMC dignitaries. Dr. Jerry Slater (Chair, Radiation Medicine) presented some of the exciting developments with protons and Dr. Richard Hart (president of the university) likewise with the medical school. Dr. Slater’s father, Dr. James Slater, pioneered proton beam therapy at Loma Linda. This was another one of those reminders of being in the right place at the right time.

Saying good-bye to new friends was a theme that unfolded this week. Each week a number of people “graduate” from their treatment, but now is the time we are beginning to bid adieu to those who started their treatment close to when we did ours. I am down to eight to go after Friday’s treatment and then I will have my turn at graduating.

A surprise friendship that developed while we were here was with the young mother with a brain tumor we mentioned in an earlier post—a surprise in the fact that all of our other friendships have come from the ranks of the prostate cancer patients. There are not many patients here in the proton program with a “zero” PSA. Well, Mary is one of them. We enjoyed a hike with her husband, Brian, Tuesday afternoon as well as a couple of meals with them during the rest of the week. The last we heard they were heading down the old Route 66 on their way home to Nebraska.

Friendships are not necessarily part of the cure, but they are part of the healing process. The protons and the staff here at LLUMC are taking care of the cure; relationships provide venues for healing to take place. We are thankful for friends new and old that have shared in this experience and enriched out lives throughout our stay.

Saturdays typically provide us with the opportunity for new experiences. This time it was an outing to downtown Riverside and a visit to the Mission Inn which is a national historic landmark hotel and spa. After Thanksgiving begins their festival of lights in celebration of the Christmas season so we anticipate another visit there before we leave. Saturday evening we took advantage of our proton discount and enjoyed another performance by the San Bernardino Symphony. This time Robert Schumann’s finale symphonic work was featured along with the talents of young piano virtuoso Kyle Shafiee.

Off Ramp: Loma Linda Week 8

Week 8: Nov. 8 - Nov.14

Sunday the week started out for us with a jaunt to Trinity Church in Redlands for the early service and then it was off to Martha Green (café) for brunch with our good friends visiting from Orlando. In the afternoon all four of us headed to Irvine where we spent the rest of the day celebrating with family and friends at my sister’s wedding. A fun by-product to the weekend was being introduced to a new game to us called Bananagrams. It’s a game similar to Speed Scrabble.

Treatments 28 through 32 went off without a hitch and moved us closer to the magic number of 45. Presently I am on track to be finished on December 4th. Until then the routine remains about the same: drink my 16 ounces of water, show up at the Level B waiting room, get changed into my oh so chic hospital gown, walk down the hall to Gantry 3, climb into my pod, receive my balloon, get two x-rays, count off 30 beeps from the Geiger counter indicating protons are being delivered, and then climb out and head back to my temporary home away from home.

Our self guided Boot Camp style workouts began this week now that we our on our own. The membership to the Dayson Center has proven to be a great asset for us.

At the Wednesday evening proton meeting we were privileged to have Bob Marckini as our guest speaker. His book “You Can Beat Cancer and You Don’t Need Surgery to Do It” was very influential in my decision to choose proton therapy. He is also the founder of the Brotherhood of the Balloon (BOB). This is an organization that provides support to prostate cancer patients around the world. Yes I am a BOB member. We are looking forward to attending the BOB Brunch this coming Sunday here at LLUMC.

Saturday we worked in an excursion to the Joshua Tree National Park. It is a little over an hour to the south. It is a beautiful high desert park and a favorite to rock climbers. We finally got a chance to wear some of our fall attire as the temperatures hovered in the upper 50’s. We wrapped up the evening with dinner at Citrone Restaurant and Bar, which is one of many great restaurants in the area. The best I can describe it is Californian influenced Italian cuisine.

Off Ramp: Loma Linda Week 7

Week 7: Nov. 1 - Nov.7

The weeks are flying by with 27 treatments under my belt. This week can be summed up as “relational.” It seems like all week long friends new and old crossed our paths. Sunday we started out by taking a trip down to Seal Beach for Diane to attend a wedding shower for my sister and for me to hang out with my Dad. It was a great day at the beach.

It was a bit bittersweet to wrap up Boot Camp this week. The main reason for the sense of sadness was mostly relational. Charles and Courtney have been great and we consider it a privilege to call them our friends. Our Boot Camp partner, Calvin, will be wrapping up his medical treatment soon so it was probably our last time to see him. We were able to spend some quality time with him Thursday afternoon sharing the “bonus” blessings from each of our times here at Loma Linda. It is obvious that we are each here for more than protons. We are determined to keep up our workouts and also maintain our connections with our Boot Camp troop. The sweet part about wrapping up Boot Camp is knowing we made it through it.

We also had the privilege of being blessed by a visit from some dear friends of ours from Orlando, Florida. Friday I was able to have them join me in Gantry 3 where Brian, the technician, introduced them to protons. Like all who see this firsthand, they were truly impressed with this technology.

Saturday it was off to Palm Springs for another day in the sun just hanging out with our good friends from Florida. Each day is a gift and we did unwrap the present.