Two...

Good news and bad news today. The results of my sample have come back from the lab. There was no infection. That's the good news. The bad news is that this means that the cystitis is being caused by inflammation resulting from the radiotherapy. The doctor assures me that this will clear up once the final treatment is over. I have, however, obtained anti-inflammatory medication, since telling me that "it will improve next week" doesn't deal with the immediate effects on my life! Sometimes I wonder if doctors would be quite so blasé if they had to experience the pain that can be caused by something that they consider to be a relatively minor inconvenience!

Having said that, when I asked whether it could be arranged for me to see a female member of the medical team when I have to have internal examinations in the future, the doctor was very kind; he didn't take it personally and was sorry to hear that my previous experience of male medical personnel carrying out this procedure had been less than satisfactory. Although there is no regular female member of his consultant's team, he is going to "arrange something" for me because he believes that the patient's wishes should be respected. So, a big thank you for the more sensitive approach to patients that's found in medical training these days!

The follow-up timetable is still rather vague. Although, as I suspected, what the nurse told me last week was the "correct" version, it seems that there is still a degree of flexibility. More good news here is that I've now been told that my cancer was "very early stage" and that they don't expect to find anything at follow-up (at least not immediately). So, perhaps the radiotherapy will have been curative. My feeling is that this is the case, but I can't help but reflect upon the fact that, had follow-up when I first presented been more frequent than six monthly, I may not have needed radiotherapy at all! While it's pointless to dwell on the "what ifs?" and "if onlys", the fact that post radiotherapy follow-up is three-monthly does make me wonder why this doesn't happen in the initial stages up to diagnosis. Preventing the need for radiotherapy would surely be a lot cheaper in the long run than having to provide it for patients whose cancer had, as one of my doctors told me, "been missed"...

Meanwhile, the radiotherapy itself today was back to normal. No more dancing machines; instead, the four sites were treated in the usual order, starting with my back and moving around from left to right.

One of the people I regularly talk to in the waiting room finished treatment this morning - it was lovely to see them so happy, but I'll miss our morning chats, even though I only have...

Two more sessions... and counting...