Additional information
by Helmut Stefan (Author)
At the end of this summer, I was diagnosed with having prostate cancer. My doctor, the urologist and the radiation oncologist agreed, after the biopsy, that external radiation therapy was the best treatment for me. I went through the preparation process and then had 45 sessions of radiation therapy. I found this entire experience so fascinating that I kept a journal from the day of notification of a possible prostate problem to the completion of the therapy. After describing the preparation process, I broke down the narrative into daily experiences (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, etc.). I describe what I observed, what I feel; I reminisce while on the treatment table. I let my mind wander back to my childhood, my love of music, travels, etc. I call this experience the "FBC or the Full Bladder Club" (a full bladder is required for this form of radiation therapy). I subtitled it "One man's encounter with nine weeks of radiation therapy for prostate cancer. A story about an adult disease told with an adult sense of humor."
Author Biography
Helmut Stefan is a retired Chicago public school teacher who loves to read and to travel. Both of these passions have inspired him to write his stories, which always have an international flair. In 1998 he was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship to study "Mozart, the Man, his Music and his Vienna". This experience led him to write Trio in D minor, which was published in 2005. He and his wife Ingrid and their grown children live in the Chicago area.
