THE MEETING WITH DR. GROVER

Hmmmmm.... At what age do you start worrying that your doctor is actually a college freshman instead of a highly respected Radiological Oncologist with the requisite number of initials after his name? I'm not sure what Odel expected, but I can tell you that I was mighty surprised when Dr. Ryan Grover came striding into the little exam room where we waited. I pictured someone authoritative, knowledgeable, and certainly OLDER than ME... but I guess if a doctor is much older than me, s/he is thinking about retirement.

Though he appears only slightly older than teenaged, Dr. Ryan definitely seems knowledgeable, as well as patient, thorough and considerate. Thus began our first day of getting to know prostate cancer, it's treatment and the side effects.

Here's a graphic representation of the troublesome bugger. We saw lots of similar graphics as Dr. Grover discussed the specifics of treatment, the areas that need to be radiated, and the areas that they try not to radiate. I'll spare you all the gory details. Suffice to say, Odel continues to feel that PBT is a better choice for him than surgery, so on we go.

Tomorrow Odel will have a CT scan and be fitted for his immobilizing "pod", and a starting date for treatments, probably ten to fifteen days from now, will be finalized. One of the tasks for today was to sign all the insurance papers - thank you, Medicare - so everything is ready to proceed.

It was lunch time when we finished, so we walked over to the University cafeteria, a surprisingly grim and depressing place. The salad bar was nice, but the fake meats in unappealingly colored sauces turned us both off. The dining area was even worse - fabric-covered chairs stained with the spilled meals of who knows how many students, drab, worn carpeting... ick. I don't think we'll be eating THERE often.

Then we headed over to the Drayson Center, where we immediately checked out the new Smoothie Bar - looks like a much better choice for lunch from now on. Odel had been over for a workout on Friday; yesterday was my first day. Since I wasn't bent and hobbling from the experience, I pushed myself a little harder today - then collapsed into the spa to recover.

I have one more photo for you, from the weekend. We spent time driving around, getting our bearings and exploring a bit. On Saturday, we took a hike on a nearby trail in a hillside park. It is easy to see why "fire weather" is so feared here - the hills are tinder dry.

The big white building in the center of the photo is LLUMC, with San Bernardino and the mountains beyond. Smog free! Now if we could just get the temperature to drop 10 degrees during the day... perfect.