Radiation

I've neglected this blog for quite sometime. I've been keeping myself busy because I've been feeling so good. While there are still some side effects of chemo lingering (a bit of numbness in the toes) it certainly isn't the same as receiving the treatment. I've been told the chemo stays in the body for 2 months after the last treatment. Three weeks after my last chemo I had to go for another blood test to make sure my levels were up again. That same day I started radiation.

July 12th, my first radiation treatment. The radiation therapist went through all the skin care and side effects information with me before I was "zapped". Unlike the planning session this only took 10 minutes. I'm given the first beam on the left of the affected breast and then the other side. Again laying still is the hardest part but as I reach my last treatment it's a piece of cake. By tomorrow I will have received all my 16 treatments and I would have gone every day except weekends. I was told that after 2 weeks I may feel radiation fatique. I wouldn't say it's similar to feeling tired it's more like a lack of energy. I've found that if I'm busy in the morning by the afternoon I need to rest. The breast area is also a bit red, similar to a mild sunburn. They recommended a non lanolin cream called Glaxal Base. Swelling, tenderness around the nipple and scar area, and short shooting pain is common. I've had all of these but they haven't been bothersome. The cream has helped quite a bit. They also recommended I do not use anti perspirant only a deodorant because of the metals in anti persipirants. This is difficult to find but I did find one called "Tom's of Maine". I can recognize all the ingredients in it unlike regular anti perspirants/deodorants. A health food store is another recommended place to find this product. But I tell you, I will never go back to anti perspirants again. I never really thought about what I put on my pits until I attempted to read the ingredients. I don't want to put anything on these armpits that I do not recognize. They have also recommended I follow my skin care regime 2 weeks after radiation ends because of the after effects which linger.

All in all radiation is a piece of cake compared to chemo. I find I am more relaxed when I am there. The fatique is annoying but I know it won't last long. Since I go every day I normally have the same radiation therapists working on me so I have that comfort level of familiar faces. I am truly grateful to have the people I do. They have been more than accomodating and they always make sure I am comfortable. Whenever I walk over to the Cancer clinic (only a 5 minute walk from my home) if I am entering the front of the clinic I always see the banner they have hanging from the building. It reads - "Hope is here". I have always taken these words into the building with me and with the people they have working in there they have provided this hope to everyone. While I have had a couple of negative experiences with negative people the good shines through.

I can't believe that tomorrow is it, my last treatment. It's been a long road and January when chemo began seems so far away now. I still have a lot more to write about but that will be for another day.