The last 3 weeks have been fairly routine as far as Elaine is concerned. We started with a little bit of drama having to get the van registered in WA some 8 weeks ahead of expectations which sort of messed around with our budgets (stamp duty for the changeover was horrendous) and I must say my equilibrium having to deal with governmental stupidity and on top of that a government website.

Back to more important things, we had an appointment with the radiation oncologist on Monday the 26th and the news was basically good. Most of Elaine's tumours had either shrunk or stayed the same, particularly those in her head which were all reduced dramatically or had disappeared. This was the area of her last treatment. However there were 2 new ones in her lower abdomen and he decided to treat these as well as giving the one near her shoulder blade another blast. This is what we had expected and treatment was to start the following Tuesday (Monday was a long weekend so we packed the van and headed north for a few days getting back in time for the first session).

The treatment was 5 bouts of radiation each expected to last about 1/2 hour. As it happens the first was nearly an hour and the last only about 20 minutes. It is normal for radiotherapy to initially inflame the lesions, with a resulting increase in pain, and that is what Elaine is putting up with at the moment. Increasing pain means increasing medication which results in fatigue and a little confusion. So madam being madam does things that she should not do, like walking outside the house without her walker, and that mean more falls risk and the need for me to be more vigilant.

However she is basically doing well within those parameters and we look forward to good results from this round of treatment.

Just out of interest the government pays me for being Elaine's carer, thus eliminating the need for expensive hospitalisation. The rate of pay is about 30cents per hour or $8.50 per day, generous isn't it!