Patience, my dear, Patience

Being a patient at the radiotherapy department of St. Luke's hospital is no joke. It will really test one's patience!

I have had four days of RT now; today is my fifth. So far, I still have to find the right time to be there. Monday, I showed up at 11:00AM and finished at 12:10NN. Tuesday, I was there by 10:40AM, finished by 12:15NN. I guess the 20 minutes did not really make much of a difference. Wednesday, I showed up at 11:20AM, finished at 2PM. And then yesterday, I got stuck in traffic, got to the hospital by 12:10NN; finally finished by 3PM!

The "veterans" of the radiotherapy sessions have spouted much wisdom, saying that by day 3, you'd be able to know what time to show up so that you won't have wait too long for your turn. As it turns out, I still can't predict what time to show up at the hospital. It is said that usually, by 11:30, there would be only a few patients left, so your maximum waiting time is around 30 minutes.

Well, it simply wasn't the case the past two days. The line got longer and longer. The hospital's SOP is that all the out-patients are bumped down the list whenever an in-patient shows up. It seems that there were in-patients a plenty who would show up intermittently. Why can't they just schedule these in-patients from 5AM (when the department is supposedly to start treatments) until 9AM? And then the out-patients after that?

This phase of my treatment will really be a test of my patience. I hope to build it up and not get calluses on my rear end from prolonged seating in the process.