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I just had radiation treatment #12 with 13 more to go. It would have been #13 but yesterday was a holiday, a newly declared one by President Duterte, so the unit was closed.

Like most unpleasant things in life where I am halfway finished, I think ‘Great – halfway there. I can do this.’ But of course the other side of my warped mind says, ‘OMG, only halfway!’

Janet and I have developed a routine. Our daily appointment is at 11:30. We get there early to get a little bit of paperwork and the payment out of the way, and then hang out in the unit. Often, I am taken early and rarely are we taken late. This couldn’t be the Philippines, could it?

Like with all other patients, an attendant comes out and takes me by the arm to lead me to the radiation machine room. But after a few sessions they realized they did not have to take me by the arm and stopped doing it. In reality I am far different from most of the patients here. Most of them clearly have serious cancer issues and many are doing chemo as well as the radiation. Janet has been asked by others, “What’s wrong with your husband? He seems fine.” And by comparison they are right.

We like to get in and get out as soon as possible and I am not looking to make friends. I knew early in life that a career in medicine was not in the cards for me because, you know, I don’t like seeing sick people.

There is one exception; a little girl is there for her daily treatments. I would guess she is 8 or 9. She is very friendly and greets everyone and calls us guapo/guapa. While we don’t know her exact prognosis, Janet found out from the girl’s mother that she has a brain tumor. Janet fell for her. Janet got her a stuffed dog from Toys R Us; that’s my Janet!

When I am escorted into the room I lie down on the table, they quickly set up the machine for my treatment and bang zoom I am told to stay still, they go to the control room and I get about 30 seconds of radiation. Once in a while I am gently threatened, “If you don’t stay still we will have to use the mask. And remember your eye is close to your nose; we don’t want radiation there.” I stay still! I know the routine like clockwork and am done in 5-10 minutes.

The side effects are minor. My nose is already as red as WC Fields’, for those old enough to know that reference. It itches like hell, as if I had a bad sunburn, which ironically is sort of what I have. I put lots of aloe on the thing. If we were home in Valencia, I could use the aloe plants that Janet raises. Who knew when a couple years back she started raising aloe that I would be a major consumer.

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Let me talk for a minute about my experience at Chong Hua Hospital in general and the radiation unit in particular. It’s been fantastic! The level of efficiency is incredible and everyone is very nice and sensitive to the patients. I have limited hospital experience but I cannot believe it could possibly be any better in an American hospital.

In addition, they seemed very concerned with saving me money. I documented in my last blog piece how PhilHealth discounted the treatment by over 50%. Since I do not have a Philippines Senior Card I could not get the senior discount of 20%. I blew it off at first, happy to get the Phil Health discount. But the office staff in the unit did not blow it off. Somehow (and I am unclear how) after our first couple treatments they did get me the senior discount. At this point the total cost of the treatment which I previously estimated at 60k now looks like it will be 40k. Truth is my daily treatment out of pocket cost is about the same as Janet and I would spend for a very nice lunch in Cebu.

About a week ago I got a call at 6:50AM from someone in the unit saying not to come in for my treatment until I received a follow up call; there was a machine problem and the engineer was on his way. Two hours later I got a callback saying to come in; all was fixed. This is above and beyond service, especially when you consider there are 54 daily radiation patients in the unit.

The other day we were sitting waiting for my day’s treatment. The oncologist approached me. “You look tired.” I was. She examined me and put the stethoscope to my lungs. “Just get more exercise and the fatigue will go away.” And she was right – it did. But again, above and beyond service, especially considering I am far from the most serious patient here.

There are at least two other foreigners getting treated in the unit. I haven’t made friends lol. One funny thing did happen. An attendant approached one day to get the next patient. He had clearly been told it was the foreigner’s turn. He looked back and forth at the two foreigners there before giggling and deciding it was the other foreigner to be taken. Let’s face it – it’s hard to tell the difference.

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Our lives are a bit boring outside of the treatment times. So we’ve done some shopping. For those interested in shopping experiences in Cebu City, Ayala Mall was nicely remodeled after the fire of a couple years ago. The new SM Seaside, which is supposed to be one of the largest malls in the world is nice but nothing out of the ordinary, except for its size. We also spent a chunk of yesterday in Landers Superstore, a Costco-like warehouse experience, selling mostly Western goods. It was nice, the cafe food was good and it would be great to have one in Dumaguete. Well, I can dream, can’t I?

I did have a bizarre experience at Ayala Mall. This falls under the category of really, really small world. We were in JB Music looking at strings and demoing an amp. A tall “foreigner” struck up a conversation about guitars. He wanted to tell me that he knows a good guitar tech in Cebu. I told him I am a guitar tech in Dumaguete and we start talking about that. There are so few real techs in the Philippines that I told him I have been contacted by customers from as far as Cebu City willing to bus and ferry to Dumaguete to get my services. I think of one particular guy who contacted me pre-Covid with a 50-year old Martin that needs a neck reset. He was gonna come to Duma but we were never able to connect and then the pandemic hit. Anyway my new guitar friend left and I went back to testing out the amp. About 20 minutes later a Filipino man, perhaps close to my age, approached me. “I hear you are from Dumaguete. I know a guitar guy there – Dave Weisbord.” “That’s me,” I said, completely shocked. That’s right – it was the guy with the 50 year old Martin!

Other than shopping and eating we are a bit bored. We are creatures of routine and I know Janet in particular misses her gardening and Zumba classes. We hit the gym here in the building and use the treadmill. I love to walk and it’s an OK substitute. I also brought my guitar so there is some normalcy for me. Plus we found a really good massage place nearby and Janet has Saturdays penciled in for a massage. Most importantly the liquor ban in Cebu City, going back to last year, was lifted the other day. So drinking just a little bit has become part of my protocol!

The city in general is a little depressing. The energy is less than normal and there seems to be more businesses and restaurants closed than in Duma. Even the hotel next door, one of the best in the Philippines, seems a shell of its former self; simply not enough guests to support it.

So, dear readers, 13 more to go! Can’t wait to go home!