I’m nearly six weeks into my seven-week series of daily radiation treatments. I’ve met several fellow radiation patients as we rotate through the waiting room.
Everyone has a story. Some have unhappier stories than others: Unhappy – “I got cancer.” Unhappier – “My woman dumped me when I got cancer.”
I met a guy yesterday who’s treating for throat cancer. His body is fighting the radiation by generating a super flem that adheres to the inside his throat. He said mornings are the worst part of each day. When he wakes he spends a block of time doing some serious throat clearing. For him, it’s a matter of life and breath.
I didn’t realize until I was driving home that if there was ever an expert who might advise me on a product or routine that would clear my throat, he might well be the one. Certainly, he would be on the cutting edge. He may have discovered something that works for him that might quell my daily (sometimes quite intense) throat clearing episodes.
Our appointments are not always scheduled for the same time each day, so I was happy when I caught him there today. I told him I’ve had (endoscopy) test after (allergy) test and prescription after prescription trying to solve or determine the cause of my constant throat clearing.
“Have you found anything that works well for clearing your throat?” I asked. He answered, “Well, I really don’t like it, but what clears my throat the best is when I throw-up… that really clears it!”
We don’t get treatments on weekends or holidays, so I got to make my annual trip to Brookings and visit my brother, Loren, over the Memorial Day weekend. I hoped to help him organize his pictures (on three computers).
I’ve been sorting, tagging, naming, dating, and deleting duplicates of my picture files for years, and I can’t yet say they are completely organized. I don’t know why I thought we’d organize his pictures in one weekend, but we got a good start.
We also checked the rebuild progress on his custom three-wheel Triumph, and attended a car show.
The owner of this glowing ’56 Chevy inherited it from his dad. He proudly showed us how his dad detailed the back of the license plate so it could be read in the reflection of the bumper.
