Session 5
This was my first trip to Sunnybrook from work by TTC. I had a busy morning with a job interview at 9 AM, a meeting at 10 and treatment at 12. One subway and one bus trip later I made it early! No delays were posted on the sign and sure enough I was in quickly. Sitting there waiting I struck up a conversation with a very pleasant man who is also getting treatment for his prostate and is two weeks ahead of me. It was thrilled to hear he has no side effects yet. We chatted about the ins and outs of the hospital routines, the arbitrary time shifts and about the whole experience. He wound up talking about the blonde woman Cherie and I had observed a few days earlier and we agreed her story was painful and at the same time she wasn’t easy to relate to. Then she turned up. This time she came with two family members and what a difference. She was cheerful and related strictly to her family. It was a lesson for me on the critical importance of support as you are dealing with serious illness and potential death. I went in for my treatment including the scan and was back at my office for a two o’clock meeting with a little sushi in between.

Oh, I promised a new insight on why I fall asleep on the treatment table. I think it may have to do with how I deal with early morning insomnia. I put on my iPod on low volume and usually I go back to sleep after a few minutes, albeit sleep filled with interesting dreams. In the treatment room they always have music playing softly and when I lie there this may be simple behaviourism. I am programmed to sleep with the combination of bed and music.