All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them , back click to return to this blog.
as allways the best place to start is at the begining and for us that was March of 07 . Gaylene was diagnosed with a Brain Tumer and given it's location an operation was not an option. We knew this pretty much at the begining and knew if Gaylene decided to go with a treatment then Radio-Therapy would be the likely option , we did'nt think of chemo-therapy but as it turn's out ..........well , at this point ? thats ok. Why?
prolly best I show you .
This pic was taken in Jan 07 just prior to all this starting. At this time Gaylene was power walking 5k's (3 miles) each day as well as working an eleven hour day four days a week. Then as most of you Mums/Wifes know ....there's the Kids to look after includeing in this case the husband (me), a house to run and yerrr .......you get the pic .
not a lota meat on the bones ay.....so with one eye on a possable course of Radio-Therapy *sometime* in the future Gaylene embarked on a Diet of less exercise , Vitermins , TBL-12 and just some good healthy eating.....and prior to embarking upon the Chemo/Radio-therapy ? I think she was looking great but! I'm biased of course 
So~! that's the background and as i've illuded to , Gaylenes now into week 5 of Chemo-therapy in which she takes 120mgs of Temozolomide tablets nightly and 10 treatments of 20 into her Radio-therapy. For the Radio-therapy we have to be in Dunedin on a Monday though to Friday for four weeks.
Hands up anybody that finds that hard to understand ?
Nooooo-One?? bewdy~!
So on any given Monday we leave our home in Otautau and travel to Dunedin , a trip of approx 3 hr's. Upon arriveing in Dunedin we normally check into the lodgeing which is located about a mile or so North of the Hospital on SH1 . The first night there they had put us into the newly refurbished unit , very nice ! but right beside the bloody highway and you know....it get's old when your trying to get off to sleep and you just don't hear the traffic but start listerning for it ?
yer , it did . So we had a move to an older unit at the back and mate? she's as good as gold . Everythings there one needs and sure it's not home but were happy as one can be when your away from home . Take a look .....here's the outside and were in the bottom /middle one.
near enough ay. No , they are not two Levels ........the top Level is a seperate Unit.
before I show the next pic ....lets just keep it between ourselves ok? The one thing with digertal Camera's is shutter lag , you don't allways get the pic you think your,ve shot 
now turn around...looking towards the front of the Unit though the lounge and yup ...T.V ! These pic's were taken first thing in the morning just before we headed off to the Hospital for a treatment.
fairly cool this morning so for you folks up North I took a shot of the car iced up......
it's ice, really LOL.........
At first Dunedin was a bit of a bitch to drive around in , the one-way streets took a bit of getting used to and i only tryied to go the wrong way once 
It's all worked out quite good regarding getting to the Hospital , wer've been given a card that we display on the dash and this allows us to park underneath .Only once have we struggled to find a park but a bit of a nosey and sure enuff .....of course , in looking around I stumbled across the pic below , quite neat I thought and to date it's been there every day.
psssst.......it's a ol 750 Yamahahaha 
So from the car to the lift inside is only 20-30 mtres max and then it's up one floor to the Oncology Department were Gaylene reports into the reception . Another 20Mtrs down the corridoor is the waiting room for the patiants about to be cooked (be given Radio-Therapy) and their support person/s. It's not bad as far as Hospital waiting rooms go , there's a dozen or so chairs that have some comfitt and a Table in the middle with 10 yr old magizenes on it...one a those coffee type tables. At one end is a higher table with a jig-saw in the process, everyones wellicome to have a crack at it and a lot do. Interesting in that as the days part at times so does the jig-saws or it's allways in a differant state. No worrys about running outer them as there's boxs and boxs of em.........some stacked under and around the T.V. i've yet to see going. There's a sink over to the left with provisions to make a cuppa Tea or Coffee and there's fresh water avaliable. Upon the start of treatment the patiants are advised to drink at least 2 litres of water dayly , this is to prevent headaches . Well , thats the waiting area.....boreing as shit eh ?
heh heh heh.....I'm not sure i've been to a waiting room quite like it , un-like a Doctors or Dentists were everyone try's to make as little noise as possable and heaven forbid you make bloody eye contact or Sneeze!!!
Here........there's an affinity ad,midst , take a look around and there's a better than an even chance some of these people are going to die , after all everyone here is being treated for cancer but you know? It's like in here with a commen bond between us that we get to be normal again ...just Joe and Joan blogs no differant to you or I and inspired by this , there's a cheery atmosphere that prevades the space. Where else can you sit in mirth with a waggleing finger discussing the colour of a strangers urine ? LOL guess you have to be there : )
The Treatment
ok , as near as I can relay the machine you can see in the pic below emitt's electrical radiation the same as a X-ray machine but at a far greater intenisty . In Gaylenes case we had allready had one visit prior to the treatment starting to get a few things prepped. One as you'll see is a white mask over her head , this we call a bucket. It's plastic and like a mesh which is a flat sheet that is soaked in warm water then molded over the patiants face/head . It then has a lip which has bolt holes that match the bolts on the bed Gaylenes lyeing on. The object of all this is to ensure the patiant car'nt move thu the treatment but more importantly to ensure the patiants head is in *exzactly* the same/right place each and everytime . To help with this Dot's are marked onto the bucket and by useing lasers from 3 differant points they can position the patiant into place.
Take a look..........here they are doing just that.
now you can see the bucket .....
and a last look as we leave the room.
now , Gaylene has to be in there by herself but the Technicians are not far away....infact you can see they have her on vidio and there a audio link as well....
and the entire treatment took less 20min's from arrivel to departure. The Cooking itself is only 3-4 mins in dureation and as we had an early appoinment? yup! you guessed it , the rest of the day was ours ......so around lunch time we headed down to the Rail Station. It's a basterd of a building to take a pic of but it's a bloody bewdy !! you can see my poor attempts below......
Beautifall building but the reason we are here is to catch a Train. I'd booked us onto the Taieri Gorge Railway and mate ? what a trip! This is only the second time wer've been on a rail trip and thoughly enjoyed it. I could ramble off facts and figuirs to you but if your interested go have a look at http://www.taieri.co.nz/ , me? I'm more interested in the sceanery.........and just out of Dunedin looking at the Taieri Plains
and yup , a glance at the rolling hills were about to head into.....
even a few Sheep!! These ones are being break - grazed
Now were into the hills and you can see the Pine Tree's .........
Here's one of the wrought Iron Viaducts...impressive engineering given the tools they had to work with back then....
There's been a fair bit of rain down here of late and you can see the rivers both dirty and up a tad.
I liked the way nature gives us a clear contrast in colours
Still in the *Hills*.....(Shit i took some bloody pics)
Hey look! a duck..........
ok , see that yellow on the hill ? That's Gorse and was introduced into New Zealand by the early settlers to use as Hedges.. Unfortinatly the bloody seed blew far and wide and prolific in growth? Gorse is now the scourge of many a farmer and cost New Zealand a LOT of money to try and control it. It's a basterd of a plant full of sharp prickles.....
now were gett'n into the start of the Gorge...
ere ya go.....a shot of the Train....
it's here you can see a change in the land...a lot of Rock.
Exalent Bridge...not wobbly at all!
More rock then anything now....
Look'n back
She's rugged country here....when the Railway was beeing built this point was three days on Horseback to the near'ist Doctor. 11 Men lost there lives in the construction of this Railway. What History dos'nt tell us is how many Wife's/Children also gave their souls ???
Here but one thing in the vast'ness shows Man's foot print
Where deep into Autumn (Fall) at the moment and still there's Colours
now, why would you errect a Monument in the middle of no-where? heh heh ....it's a tribute to the contrubution the working dogs have made upon this land
Pine forest .....and
see....?
Hard to take a pic that shows the gap..I recon a foot at most and you'll have to take my word on that as I was'nt going to stick my head out to far ......hehehe
I'lll zooooom in ....
remember that Gorse? Well , here's June standing front of some (She dosent like Gorse much)
nah! er ya go....all's good : )
Amazeing ay?
June and Gaylene
Ho! Myself , Gaylene and June
Myself and Gaylene...
Soccer anyone?
Well worth the visit they are. I don't know how many times I've blasted past on SH1 , allways with a desternation ahead and missed out.....Well , we haven't now!
-
A cocky with a sence of houmer!
And.......I'll finnish this blog with some colour......
continueing on from this blog is.....bye.........
