<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal"> From&nbsp;Andy&nbsp;... <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">I’ll try to catch you all up on what’s happened and what is continuing to be my new normal. <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">On September 8th, I went into the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC) to start my high-dose stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). I had three sessions over one week, and each one was supposed to be a bit worse than the one before.<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">After the first radiation session, I returned to the Behnke Family House (BFH), where I was staying, to figure out the rest of my day. The BFH was donated to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center (FHCC) for cancer patients in treatment to have a place to stay that wasn’t the high cost of a Seattle hotel. At six stories high, the first two floors house the front desk, laundry room, and facilities management. The second floor was most impressive. It has many places to sit and read, think, play cards, put puzzles together, or talk to fellow residents.<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">The other parts include a classroom, meditation room, kids’ playroom, and audio-visual room complete with a few hundred CDs, but the most impressive part was the kitchen.&nbsp;There were about eight refrigerators, a couple of freezers, an ice machine, industrial dishwashers, and seven complete stations where we could cook our own meals. The kitchens are better stocked than my house.&nbsp;<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">You have to buy your own food, and they provide a shuttle service three times a day to Safeway, or they will buy it for you if you aren’t able to go out. There is a dining room, if you so choose to eat there, or you can always take food to your own room. My room had a microwave oven and a small refrigerator/freezer.<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">The place is very quiet, mainly due to the residents all being sick. They had a signup list for the patients and caregivers to get free haircuts or wig styling for those who need that type of service, all free of charge.<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">Now back to my journey! I felt pretty good after the 45-minute bombardment of radiation when I got back to BFH, so I went to find the ice machine. A nice young man who I later remembered seeing on my first visit to FHCC took me to the kitchen area and showed me where to get ice. This young man, when I first saw him, was about 6’4” and may have weighed 100 pounds. I didn’t think he had much time left! This time, he is still 6’4” but was about 180 pounds and looked very healthy.<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">Anyway, as I was getting ice, something didn’t feel right, and so for the next half hour, I puked my guts out in one of the kitchen sinks. Luckily, there was nothing in my stomach, so I didn’t make a mess. I went back to my room and stayed in bed until the next afternoon. Each session after that, I felt worse than the time before.&nbsp; I had planned on staying at BFH until Sunday the 14th to give me a chance to recover enough for the 6-hour drive home.<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">I left on Saturday, which made someone else able to stay at the BFH house. It’s always full.<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">I made it home and went to bed. I’ve had headaches and dizziness since my treatments. It is getting better, but I don’t think I’ll ever get to my old normal.<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">Now I was thinking Peter Parker (Spider-Man) got bitten by a spider that was irradiated, and he became a superhero. I had three high doses of radiation, no spider bite, and nothing—nothing! I was in the process of trying to figure out who would be my sidekick and what our titles would be. Oh well. I’ll just stay Andy and continue the fight as long as I can.<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">Once again, thank you all for the encouragement and support! I really can’t do it without you.<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<p style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="MsoNormal">Two more chains …

Andy Parker

Update: 2025 #5 No Golfing for this (non)Superhero – by Deb Parker