The Unwelcome Guest

Most days the dog and I trot round to Kennington Park. It’s particularly beautiful at the moment with the leaves on the London Planes turning to shades of gold and brown. Rusty, being gold-leaf coloured, disappears as if she’s wearing camouflage.

I remember taking this walk just over a year ago, not long after the mutt came from Battersea to share our life. It was a scary time, I’d just been diagnosed with prostate cancer and I had no idea what the future held. I wasn’t even sure I had a future.

Things have changed for the better and I have every reason to believe Bucket and I will be taking the same stroll next year. But I know from interaction with others that the early days, just after diagnosis are tricky. My life felt out of control; slipping from my grip.

I’m currently having two day’s grace from Radiotherapy while the doo-dat is jacked up and serviced. I want it over but can’t deny it’s quite pleasant to get some time off.

I’ve had 26 rides in the doughnut of doom and have a further 13 to complete the course. I asked Aaron, one of the radiographers, how many patients he treats in a day and he told me it’s between thirty and forty. That’s a lot of prostates getting clobbered by just one machine.

Sorry to bang on about the side-effects of radiotherapy yet again, but something needs to be made clear. I was warned that about a month in many people feel overcome with tiredness and fatigue. I’m feeling a little tired myself for the simple reason that I’m now getting up to pee four times a night. I’m wearing out the Axminster on the way to the bathroom. I’d assumed fatigue would be a direct product of the treatment rather than a side-effect of the side-effects. Breaking News: Man feels sleepy because he’s not sleeping very well.

I’m now scanning the internet to find side-effect free medication that’ll stop me talking about sodding side-effects.

Moving right along, I want to introduce you to a new member of the early morning cancer crew, another of us lads (Lads! Who are we kidding?) who sit waiting for our doughnut appointment. I’m calling him Stringbean and I thought to shake things up, I’d tell his story in the style of Damon Runyon.

Such a guy as wears shorts

So it’s round 9 bells and we’re all sitting in the paddock, waiting for one of the radio jockeys to come in saying, quite formal: ‘Please start drinking Mr Preen’ on account of we need to get outside of a jug of water to fill our bladders, so the ray guns are hitting their target. And there are the usual jokes like ‘I’m having a little whiskey with my water today’, which aren’t funny but hey some of us like a little whiskey now we have cancer an’ all.

We are a gabby bunch talking of this and that with someone crying the blues about Radiotherapy, Hormone-therapy Tomotherapy and Brachytherapy until most of us are wondering if there’s some kind of therapy that’ll put a sock in his mouth.

Just then a new guy busts in. So of course we give him the big hello, nice to see you, haven’t seen you before and so on. He’s a tall string bean of a guy, maybe seventy with white hair and not so remarkable except he’s wearing shorts, a t-shirt and trainers. We’re all thinking, who is this wingnut wearing beach clothes in the middle of autumn? Of course, being English we stay shtum and Stringbean sits down and we lapse into silence and wait our turn on the doughnut.

Next day we’re there shooting the breeze when in comes Stringbean once again sporting the shorts, t-shirt and trainers rig. This is too much for me so I’m saying: What’s with this garb? Are you jogging here? No Stringbean says, I’m coming from Bromley and taking a train and a bus. And I say you must be some kind of chump, it’s freezing out there.

What you say is true, he says, but a story goes with it. Well of course we all love a story and are all ears, even those of us who don’t hear so good no more.

Stringbean starts and it sounds like he’s crying the blues along with Mr Therapy. I’m working hard all my life, he says, and sometimes I’m on Easy Street and have plenty of scratch and other times no scratch at all, maybe not even two bobs to rub together. One time a dame gives me the run-out powder and I’m sad as all get out.

And all us greybeards are going: tell me about it, been there done that, because we’re thinking we are great sages about life and very likely had the same ups and downs ourselves. Though of course young people are claiming we know nothing at all and maybe not even that much, which is very fair because that’s how we think about them.

Stringbean continues: A couple of years ago I retire from my job in the government department and by now I have a few bobs to my name, a little pension income every month and life is very sweet. And one day I’m waking up and not running for the 6.15 train when suddenly it hits me: I’m on holiday for the rest of my life! And now I’m such a guy as wears holiday clothes 24/7.

Well this sounds fine to one and all except we live in England where the temperature is lower than a limbo dancer and he’ll be lucky not to get chilblains to go along with his prostate cancer, but of course we keep that to ourselves.