Power Sunbathing
My first radiation treatment was on the menu for today.
The radiology technicians seem to be a fun bunch. Today I met Claire and Eva, who walked me through the daily procedure.
Basically I check in every day at the desk and they let the technicians know that I have arrived. They will also confirm that my appointment for the next day is still as scheduled. Every Tuesday I receive my schedule of appointments for the next five days as each day is different. Then I get to change into my lovely hospital gown and head into the treatment room.
I then lay on a thin table and put my right arm over my head so they can access my right side. They use the tattoos to set up the radiation machine to ensure that I am getting the treatment in the right spot (although I'm not sure how they could miss it!). They use green and blue markers to write all over me. Maybe they can do some lypo suction while they are at it!
After the setup the technicians leave the room and zap me with the radiation machine from two different angles. I didn't feel anything when this was happening.
Of course, just after the treatment was done from the first angle, the machine broke down. So we had to move to another machine and do the setup all over again to finish the treatment from the second angle.
So I was there for about an hour instead of half an hour as would normally be expected. Hopefully things move smoother the next time.
At first I was going to refer to my radiation as selective nude sunbathing, because after several treatments I am going to have a wicked burn as if I was sunbathing topless. But they actually have the gown over me during the treatment....so I'll just call it Power Sunbathing from now on.
I am scheduled to have 30 treatments in total. 25 treatments to the whole breast and then 5 "boosts" to the surgery site only. So I will be finished power sunbathing on February 19th.
After power sunbathing I will start taking Tamoxifen, the anti-hormone pill. More details to follow when I have them.
Also, I have had 5 of 18 Herceptin treatments and am scheduled to be finished this treatment cycle on October 5th.
Not that I'm counting or anything.
On a more serious note, Kim and I were at yoga today when our teacher read a note that came from one of our classmates. As you know, those that attend yoga at Wellspring are caregivers, cancer patients, and cancer survivors. The note was from Nancy, who apparently had not been feeling well before Christmas with what she thought was pneumonia. Unfortunately, it is much more serious than that. Tests have shown that she has cancer in her lungs and around her heart and she is currently waiting to get into palliative care.
Of course, we were all stunned as Nancy has been doing well and attending yoga for quite some time. Our thoughts and prayers are with her.
A sobering day for sure.
Love CJ
The radiology technicians seem to be a fun bunch. Today I met Claire and Eva, who walked me through the daily procedure.
Basically I check in every day at the desk and they let the technicians know that I have arrived. They will also confirm that my appointment for the next day is still as scheduled. Every Tuesday I receive my schedule of appointments for the next five days as each day is different. Then I get to change into my lovely hospital gown and head into the treatment room.
I then lay on a thin table and put my right arm over my head so they can access my right side. They use the tattoos to set up the radiation machine to ensure that I am getting the treatment in the right spot (although I'm not sure how they could miss it!). They use green and blue markers to write all over me. Maybe they can do some lypo suction while they are at it!
After the setup the technicians leave the room and zap me with the radiation machine from two different angles. I didn't feel anything when this was happening.
Of course, just after the treatment was done from the first angle, the machine broke down. So we had to move to another machine and do the setup all over again to finish the treatment from the second angle.
So I was there for about an hour instead of half an hour as would normally be expected. Hopefully things move smoother the next time.
At first I was going to refer to my radiation as selective nude sunbathing, because after several treatments I am going to have a wicked burn as if I was sunbathing topless. But they actually have the gown over me during the treatment....so I'll just call it Power Sunbathing from now on.
I am scheduled to have 30 treatments in total. 25 treatments to the whole breast and then 5 "boosts" to the surgery site only. So I will be finished power sunbathing on February 19th.
After power sunbathing I will start taking Tamoxifen, the anti-hormone pill. More details to follow when I have them.
Also, I have had 5 of 18 Herceptin treatments and am scheduled to be finished this treatment cycle on October 5th.
Not that I'm counting or anything.
On a more serious note, Kim and I were at yoga today when our teacher read a note that came from one of our classmates. As you know, those that attend yoga at Wellspring are caregivers, cancer patients, and cancer survivors. The note was from Nancy, who apparently had not been feeling well before Christmas with what she thought was pneumonia. Unfortunately, it is much more serious than that. Tests have shown that she has cancer in her lungs and around her heart and she is currently waiting to get into palliative care.
Of course, we were all stunned as Nancy has been doing well and attending yoga for quite some time. Our thoughts and prayers are with her.
A sobering day for sure.
Love CJ
posted by Colleen @ 3:44 PM
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