Monthly check-up

Tomorrow I'm once more due for a check-up at our local hospital - at the day clinic to be more precisely. It's the place where most cancer patients (and others with severe illnesses) come to get their treatment during the day/morning/afternoon (considering how long it takes). You see a lot of misery there, but most patients tend to be positive. Also the nursing staff and the doctors are great.

A friend of ours once asked me why I chose for the local city hospital to get my treatment, and not go to one of the major hospitals, like the ones in Leuven or Ghent. Well, I think you can be just as well off in a smaller one. I certainly cannot complain about the doctors who treated me. The surgeon that operated on me last year in July was very outspoken and discussed every step in the process with me. Also my oncologist speaks freely about what to expect. What they did and will do is just the same as they do in Leuven or Ghent and here in Dendermonde you're much more than just a number.

I'm lucky I don't have to suffer radiology or chemotherapy. People who only have one more kidney wouldn't endure that. So I'm in for the new generation of pills, which can work wonders. I'm having Votrient, which helps to prevent new growths and diminishes the ones that are there. Can't go too technical because I'm not a doctor. Up to now the medication does its job and with the dosis I take I don't have too many side-effects. I've learned to live with them. I use the bike more often to save my feet (because when I walk a lot, my feet would hurt like hell) and I always carry anti-diarrhea pills in my purse.

Once in three months I need to go for a scan of the lower body and every four weeks I have to be in the day clinic to have my bloods checked. The only negative thing is that this testing can take some hours... so you need to come prepared and have something to read and a smart phone to play with.