but we expected that because we knew the receptionist had to book us in at the same time as someone else. Phil told Dr Camilleri that he wanted to go with the radiotherapy treatment. We thought we'd made the major decision but Dr Camilleri had another question for Phil to answer. He explained that the prostate moves on a daily basis and they had just got a new machine in Northampton Hospital which can follow the precise movement of the prostate which makes the external beam radiotherapy more precise. This sounded good but then he explained that gold seeds need to be first implanted in the prostate so the machine can track any movement. Unfortunately the procedure for implanting the gold seeds is the same as procedure as the biopsy, the only difference is that there are 3 needles as opposed to 12.
I could see Phil visibly shrink in his chair and I explained to the doctor that Phil was traumatised by the biopsy, in fact I still don't think he is over the trauma and asked whether there was any chance of a anaesthetic. Apparently there isn't but Phil could be given something to relax him. The good thing about tracking the movement of the prostate during radiotherapy is that it can lessen the damage to the rectum and bladder. Once again, the decision has to be made by Phil alone and we have a week to let the doc know whether we are going for the gold seed implants or not. I suspect it will be the latter.
After our appointment, I dropped Phil at work and then he was back a couple of hours later for his fish and chip lunch, his weekly Friday treat. We share a portion of fish and chips between us so its not too naughty. Phil's weight loss has slowed right down. Only a pound last week and he is only one pound away from losing his first stone. He really does need to step up on his exercise. The new seat is now fitted on the exercise bike and the large gel cover arrived on Saturday so we are all good to go. Phil has promised me faithfully that he will do a 20 minute stint every day after work this week but we shall see.
On Friday afternoon I went to see Jan in Westcroft for a cup of tea. She gave me a lovely jewellery box as a belated Christmas present. It's quite lovely and even though it should really be in my bedroom, it now has pride of place on my white high gloss units in the lounge. On Friday evening Sandy popped over in her dressing gown and gave me a lovely bunch of flowers as a thank you for supper (silly girl, there was really no need) and also a box of eggs freshly laid by her chickens. We had these for breakfast on Saturday morning with soya bread soldiers and it made a nice change.
Phil came with me to the gym on Saturday and we both had a reasonable work out. It was a shame the weather was so foul; we were considering going to see a film but we were waiting on someone coming round. On Thursday I finally got round to putting an ad on the GumTree website offering Phil's 15th edition of the Britannica Encyclopedia for free as long as the buyer collected. John from Aylesbury emailed me first and came mid afternoon to collect the books. I have been wanting to get rid of these books for years as I'm fed up of lugging them from house to house each time we move. The set is beautifully bound and even though I love to chuck things in the tip, I couldn't bring myself to throw them out. John, from Aylesbury, wanted the books for his dad as he collects them. I am just really pleased they have gone to a good home. Must use this GumTree website more often, I'd rather give away then chuck away.
After John left with the books, Phil got stuck into writing his book whilst I cooked for a couple of hours, broccoli soup minus the cheese because dairy is banned and a tomato sauce for pasta. I had a real urge for chocolate so went to the shop to get some. Saturday evening was sat in front of the telly watching loads of episodes of 24. I'm afraid to say I stuffed my face, 2 packets of crisps, a whole packet of munchies and I even started on the chocolate orange that I brought for me and Harriet to share. I rarely do this but still, it's not very fair on Phil who had to settle with a small bowl of nuts.
On Sunday Phil picked up G from Northampton and she drove the KA to Melton where they had lunch with Phil's mum and dad. I took myself to the gym for half an hour on the cross trainer as I really wasn't in the mood. Afterwards I went to the carvery at Peartree Bridge for roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Seeing it was such a grey day, I was surprised it really wasn't that busy. Lunch was good and I was sat next to a group of old folks who kept trying to engage me in conversation. I think they felt sorry that I was dining alone but honestly this doesn't bother me in the slightest. It's just nice to eat a meal that you haven't had to cook yourself. The rest of my Sunday was deliciously lazy; bit of ironing, Sunday papers, some telly and more chocolate.
Dr Camilleri gave Phil a prescription for the hormone drugs at our meeting which I picked up from the chemist in Newport. He will have to take the hormone 'Casodex' for 3 months and he started on Friday. I am a little worried because on reading the leaflet the common side affects are horrible. They include: hot flushes, nausea, itching, dry skin, impotence, feeling weak, loss of hair or hair regrowth and weight gain. The uncommon side affects are even worse. I suppose the common affect vary from person to person, its early days so we shall just wait and see.
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