Why Bill Misses His Radiation Visits

After 40 rounds of radiation to treat aggressive prostate cancer, Bill is surprised to admit he actually misses his daily trips from his home in Edgemont to MidLantic Urology’s Advanced Radiation Center in Plymouth Meeting.

“It was not a fun drive. Depending on the time of day, sometimes it was like the Indy 500,” he laughs.

So why would this 77-year-old with aggressive cancer miss his radiation sessions?

“It’s the people,” he recalls. “Everyone, and I mean everyone, was so professional, so capable. They obviously cared a great deal about me and their other patients.”

Because Bill is a very modest, private person, he was anxious about stripping down and then climbing on the table for each treatment session. “But the women were so understanding and accepting of my need for privacy. As I was undressing they would hold up a cloth and turn their head. It may seem like a little thing, but they treated me with dignity, and it meant so much.”

During a couple of sessions Bill’s anxiety got the best of him. “I needed to talk to someone. The nurse who I spoke with understood completely where I was coming from. She didn’t tell me what to do but instead made suggestions of ways I might feel less anxious.”

Bill recalls the doctors he saw were equally as kind.

“Every week I’d meet with a doctor to review my progress. I asked a lot of questions, but they would always answer every one of them and never rushed me,” he says.

On Bill’s final treatment day, his six-year-old granddaughter made the trip with him and his wife.

“You ring a bell to signify your last treatment. The staff let my granddaughter ring it too. Of course she rang it excessively! But everyone just smiled and let her. That last visit, and every visit, was so pleasant,” Bill remembers.

Although happy to be finished with radiation, within a week Bill says, “I was in a semi-depressed state because I just missed everyone. I had seen 11 different technicians, and every one of them was so kind and put me at ease. For something as personal as cancer, when you have people who truly care for you, it makes all the worrying tolerable. That’s why I miss them so much.”