The plane on the trip up was a turboprop instead of a jet. It makes the trip a few minutes longer, but one advantage is that the fuselage is UNDER the wing, so you get a better view of what's below. I was sitting on the left side of the plane, so I spotted MANY places that I could identify. Shortly after we passed Masada (which I could definitely see), flying over the Dead Sea, we actually began our descent, continuing over Samaria just north of Jerusalem. I snapped today's pic of the day as we were making our final descent. It shows most of the coastline of Tel Aviv, just as we were flying out over the Mediterranean Sea:
When I arrived in Tel Aviv, I walked to the Ichilov (Souraski) Hospital, which took a little over an hour. It was a little hot in the sun, but most of the walk was in the shade, which made it quite pleasant despite 65% humidity.
When I got to the hospital, I went into the adjacent mall first to cool off and browse around a bit. I had agreed to meet a friend there, who lives in Tel Aviv, at 11:30. He actually arrived early, and so we had even more time to visit. We just sat in the food court and, eventually, had coffee (him) and Coke Zero (me), before we had to go to our respective appointments at the hospital (his was just after 1:00, and mine was at 1:30).
The results from my MRI are still not in, so we still don't know if the cancer is confined strictly to the prostate or not. However, the results WILL be in in a few more days, and the path forward is now clear. If the tumor is NOT confined to the prostate, radiation is the best option because it would probably be necessary even after a surgery. If it IS only in the prostate, then surgery (a radical prostatectomy) is probably the best because, in the fairly unlikely case that it's not successful, salvage radiation can later be done, whereas the reverse is NOT the case.
I have made another appointment with the oncologist in case radiation IS needed but will cancel it if it's not and only return to him after the surgery in that case. Next, I need to make an appointment with a urologist at Ichilov to discuss the options and then make the final decision. So, things are moving forward, and it was a successful trip.
I ate lunch in the mall by the hospital. I had a sort of folded over "pizza" (I actually have no idea what it's called) that contained cheese, egg, and spinach (I think), but no tomato at all, and was very delicious. I had also had it after my previous visit with the oncologist there.
I decided to travel back to the airport by bus instead of walking because it was pretty hot in the afternoon (and, of course, humid). It wasn't really much, if any, quicker, though, because I had to take 2 buses, waiting quite a while for the 2nd one, and, of course, they did NOT take the most direct route. But the Moovit application was VERY using in helping me know how to do it.
On the way back, I got an SMS from the airline telling me that the flight would be delayed an hour. Of course, I continued to the airport anyway, but I got there WAY early. I got myself hydrated, though, and passed the time without getting bored. When I first got there, there was a large group of Dati (religious, meaning, of course, orthodox) Israeli girls (probably high school students) who were waiting for a flight to somewhere (I didn't catch where). As any large group of females that age, they were somewhat annoying, so I was rather glad when it was finally time for them to leave.
I took more pictures on my way back, even though this time is was a jet. I was sitting in row 9, so I was in FRONT of the wing. This time I specifically requested the left side so that I'd again be opposite the sun. In one picture, it's possible, just barely, to see the Jordan River Valley, the Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee), and even the peak of Mt. Hermon, the highest point in Israel, which is very near Syria and Lebanon. I also got a picture a little later of what I'm pretty sure is Amman, Jordan. I also got a number of pictures in the Arava and a nice view of both Eilat AND Aqaba as we circled around over the Gulf before our final approach to the airport.
When I arrived back in Eilat, it was 40ºC (104ºC) out, according to the announcement on the plane (and that felt about right), so I took a bus home (which I had planned to do, knowing what the forecast was). I got home just after 7:30.
I walked a total of 9.15 kilometers today.
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