We woke up late today! WOHOOOOOO! Some R&R was definitely in order. We all needed some bike maintenance after such a rainy day, the day before. Today was spent hanging out, exploring the town, and fixing up our bikes. The most important part however, was that we had an opportunity to tour the Avera Queen of Peace Cancer Center. The technicians there showed us and diligently explained how their radiation machine and CT scan work. It was a cool opportunity to see how cancer patients are treated. The machines are new to us, like the mask or the tool that is aimed to keep patients in the same position for the CT scan. However, personally, I can feel the pain behind the hard board patients lay on for the radiation. It is hard because radiation needs accuracy and any tiny error can damage the healthy tissue and cause bad results. Besides the radiation machines, we also had a chance to learn from another technician how chemotherapy is given to patients. The cost of the chemotherapy and radiation treatment varies a lot and therefore it can be a burden to some people who don’t have health insurance. Today was a very informative day. It was cool to see firsthand how cancer patients are treated. Tomorrow we continue our quest westward!
