Tuesday 12 December 2023

PART CXI – Bone density scan #8

🛀 BATHROOM RENO

We were ready to leave for Ottawa by 8 a.m., when we had a contractor show up. He was checking to see if he could replace our vanity. We booked him for the job, to be done Wednesday morn! YIPPEE!!!

Process of cancer treatment: Surgery, regular monitoring, quarterly PSA tests, it has been a journey. Hooray for Canadian healthcare. Our only ticket in was a health card. It costs us for parking, meals whilst on route, and gas.  

2013 <= this is when it all began.

PART I: Preparing for Consultation (Oct. 21)

It was time for another medical trip into Ottawa. Most of our treatments and tests have been in our health unit lately. Apparently, Smiths Falls hospital, much nearer to us, has a 1-year wait for bone scan density appointments. It is crucial to keep track of Joseph Brian's bone density. As once prostate cancer progresses, prostate cancer tends to go to the bones. This is one tool to let us know what is or isn't happening. 

We tried to relax as the snow began to fall. We headed out around 10:30, arriving by 12:00. Still snowing.  The ground is still quite warm, and the snow isn't sticking. We drove through blizzards, but we made it. 
I dropped Joseph off and went to find a parking spot. I had to park at the end of this row, into a snowbank. I took a photo to remind me where I parked!



Indoors we went. Almost everyone was wearing a mask. There was a form to fill in. They have to ensure that people having the test aren't pregnant, etc.!




There are plexiglass dividers between each of the chairs.

He wears sweatpants and running shoes, as you cannot have any metal on you. This is a photo from Wiki.


We were in and out by 12:15, and back on the road. Ottawa Post Office:

The 'new' bridge! 

This was an interesting spot. When we drove along here last they were tearing down trees to build. I know I wrote about it, with photos, but cannot find them. 


Across the highway from the development... Good fences make good neighbours!


The pub in North Gower was packed at 1:20. On a Monday. 

It had stopped snowing, but most of it melted on the ground.

By 2:00 we'd made it to Smiths Falls. On the road since 10:30, my stomach was growling. This contractor truck cheered us up! It was covered in lights. 

We picked up pizza (me) and chicken nuggets (him), wine (me), and headed home to eat. My tummy was grumbling. It was so good to be home. By 4, the sunset was solace. We were rather tired.



Our feet up, we watched parts 3 and 4 of our newest series: Agathe Koltès. Set in Brittany, it is the best way to travel. It is in French, with English subtitles. My French vocabulary is coming back some. 

15 comments:

RedPat said...

That is quite a journey for the day. Glad the snow didn't get bad.

Red said...

What a long stressful day. The weather just added to the challenge.

Olga said...

That has been some long journey in many ways. Such is life -- moments of worry and moments with pizza and wine -- a balancing act for sure.

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Thinking about you two. What an ordeal but at least your health care system is good.

Don't mean to get political but I am benefitting from "Socialism for old people" here in the states. I wish everybody could get it. I hardly ever pay a penny for anything.

Nancy J said...

A lot of travel , Probably much the same if we had to drive to Wellington, but our roads would not get the ice or snow like you do. Recently a crossword I was solving had a question about the Rideau Canal outdoor skating !!! Blog friends have enlarged my Geography knowledge hugely !!! Take care, keep warm.

Barbara Rogers said...

I like the waiting room separations. The ones around here are now letting folks sit right next to each other, and "suggesting" mask wearing as an option. Since I woke up today with a fever, I did a test, which was negative. I often get fevers after a rain! They are usually better with Tylenol. I'll test again tomorrow, but haven't lost sense of smell. Just knees hurting when I got up. I hope all the tests on your fella come out fine. Yes, you all sure did deserve that supper. That's a lot of driving, for a short period of test!

Divers and Sundry said...

I'm glad you have ready access to care and followup. It makes all the difference in the world.

I'm looking up the TV series. It's available on a service we subscribe to, so yayeee :)

DUTA said...

" Good fences make for good neighbors". This sentence put a bitter smile on my face. That's not always true, neither between neighborly houses, nor between neighborly countries.

Elephant's Child said...

Sunset is always a solace. I hope the scan went well and doesn't turn up any nasties.

Tom said...

...no one wears a mask here, even doctors!

Ontario Wanderer said...

His procedures were a lot faster than mine. I had my biopsy in early November and the bone scan will be in January and the CT scan will be in February and maybe in March I will start some radiation. The waiting is very frustrating!

Kathy G said...

It sounds like quite the day.

DeniseinVA said...

That was quite a day! Thanks for taking us along. Must have been great to get home. It’s good to know you are well taken care of up there. I will be thinking of you both. Thanks for the look at the French series. I don’t mind subtitles as I watched a lot of interesting things on TV with them growing up, and I swear I became a good reader because of it. Also a nice view into the world I didn’t know much about at the time.

Anvilcloud said...

We have watched series with subtitles, but have avoided them lately.

Jeanie said...

It sounds like a long but productive day! At least bone scans are relatively fast and not painful!