Part of the aloe vera plantation Dad has in his backyard. My Dad has two things he swears by to cure just about anything, aloe vera and rum. He puts aloe vera on everything—cuts, burns, bites. He eats it to help get rid of his gout. He even uses it as an aftershave and I have to say he's got very few wrinkles for a man who's pushing 90. And the rum, well, it works better than a sleeping tablet he says, and better than a pain killer. Dad had a brush with cancer recently. Just before Christmas 2011 he had a tumour removed from his vocal cords. The whole family worried, waiting for the results. Had the doctor got it all? He hadn't. Dad needed radiation therapy. At 85, with two clapped-out knees and a bad back, he insisted on getting the bus to the hospital. Dad's hard of hearing, so on the days where he had to see the specialist my mum would drive him. Mum was 83 and hadn't driven in the city for decades, yet she navigated the traffic with the skill of a London taxi driver but less swearing - being a lady, she left that to Dad. I drove him when I could. I'd sit in the waiting room while he went in to have his treatment, listening for the click, click sound his home-made, aluminium walking stick made on the polished vinyl floor. I went with him to the information session for those having radiation therapy on their throats. A team of specialists told us what to expect and how to deal with it. Eat soft foods because they're easier to swallow; drink thickened liquids; put sorbolene cream on the area where the radiation burns. Dad, of course, ignored this advice. Ate steak, drank rum, and slathered his throat with aloe vera. Everyone at the hospital commented on how good his throat looked, so he told other patients about his aloe vera treatment. And the rum, he said it helped get rid of the tickle in his throat...but then Dad would use any excuse for a snort of rum.
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