The Lighter Side

I had my radiation consultation this week. It is at the same clinic as where I have been going for chemo. There is a Chemo side of the clinic and a radiation side. As I walked into the Radiation side, several of the employees there greeted me with 'Welcome to the lighter side.' That sounded like good news to me. Everyone said that radiation is a breeze compared to chemo so I hope that is the case.

I met with my new doctor, Dr. Avizonis, a radiation oncologist. She is really nice and explained everything to me. So here is the run down on my next and last part of my treatment.

Having radiation ups my % points of my cancer not coming back. They like to do radiation anytime the tumor is more then 5 centimeters. Mine was 9. Those 2 factors is why I will be having radiation.

I will have 13 days of radiation. I go to the clinic every day (Mon-Fri) to receive radiation. The appointment is really fast though, they line me up to the machine, zap me really quick and I am done. So I will only miss an hour of work each day.

The most common side effects are fatigue, a sore throat, and skin redness (like a sunburn.) They say most of these side effects start towards the end of treatment and then go away pretty quickly after I am done. I will not get nauseous because they are radiating my neck and chest area where my tumor was. I guess you only get nauseous on radiation if they radiate your stomach areas. I will lose my hair on the back of my neck due to the radiation being targeted on my neck. A few more weeks of wearing a hat won't kill me, but the top of my hair is already growing back.

The other news that I think a lot of people will be disappointed in is that I don't have to get tattooed. I know everyone was anxious to see my tattoo dots. Instead they made a face and shoulder mold of me and they will put that on me each day and line the machine up to the marks on this cast type thing. So I will be strapped down but it will ensure that I don't move and am in the exact right position each day. To make up for not seeing my tattoos, I promise to take a picture of me in my 'mask.' Trust me it will be well worth it when you see this crazy thing over me. I wish I had my camera with me the other day, but I promise to post it next week.

So I start radiation next Wednesday, with a 'dry run' scheduled for the day before. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and there won't be any mishaps. The thing with radiation that makes me nervous is there can be some pretty permanent side effects if they aren't careful. But the benefits outweigh the risks by far so I am moving forward.

Keep praying for me! Thanks!