Found the Mountains

As far as treatments go this week is much the same as prior weeks. I have now hit the 2/3 mark. I am zapped every day with little change in routine. Every day has been on time with a few earlier than scheduled. Earlier lets me play tennis which I have recently taken up after a 15 year hiatus. Tennis is a tough game. It requires a lot of precision in timming and control. I am getting more consistant. I'm getting better.

I am now experiencing a side effect of the treatment, slow urinary stream. It's annoying to stand there and wait for it to start and then dribble out. The odd thing is slow urination happens from about 7:00PM to about 5:00AM. Why then? I just don't know. All other times it’s normal. There is no pattern I can associate with food, fluid, alcohol or any other consumption. It may be just associated with the body slowing down in anticipation of going to sleep. Advil helps some but does not really work well. The general reason slow urination is so common is the protons attack everything within the prostate which includes the urethra. If you remember the urethra goes through the center of the prostate. It’s in the direct line of fire. It get’s inflamed. I would also not be surprised if the two sphincters on each side of the prostate and the bladder also feel some of the effect of the protons and become irritated.

The good news is everything else works normally.

Although tennis dominates two days a week it is not all we do. Since Connye has been back we have gone in search of tourist stuff and visits to relatives in the area. I’m really surprised how many relatives we have close to Loma Linda. With each stop we have also tried to find a hike just to make sure we both get exercise. This last Friday we went to Idyllwild where Connye has a cousin and where we also found a very nice hike in Humber Park, Devil’s Slide trail.

Connye at the Devil's Slide Trail head

On Sunday Connye whent to visit a good friend in San Diego and I went up the local mountains to Forest Falls to hike the Vivian Creek trail. The hike was recommended by the radiation technicians on gantry one, the machine I am treated on. It is a kike quite similar to Mt. Sanitas in Boulder. For those not familiar with either trail they are steep with numerous switch backs and take about an hour to get up almost 2,000 feet. It was fun to be outside enjoying the cool air of the mountains. It felt particularly good to not get winded going up to 7,000 feet. I think I am actually staying in shape.

Coming down Vivian Creek trail