The Road to Radiation...Planning Time!

Good News!

Radiation is set to take place next week! I never thought I would get used to hospitals, but I have...I didn't really have nerves going into this because it all feels so familiar still. The Allison Radiation Oncology Center is really nice with nice people (and I got to see my cancer friend Julie there too by surprise!), however no one can replace my chemo nurses...you have a lot to compete with radiation nurses :) My appointment lasted about 3 hours and they explained everything, I explained everything, and no questions were left unanswered. It was a very smooth transition for me ironically because I knew more about what was going on with the cancer in my body, so I could understand what he was talking about so much better. I remember that first consult appointment back in June and my head was spinning the whole time my oncologist was talking about chemo treatments.

So I start next Wednesday by going in and getting my 'mold' made and tattoos on my body. This is done so that they position me in exactly the same spot so that the radiation beam hits the exact spot every time. Then, I will most likely start with the actual radiation treatments the week after that. The treatment only takes ten to twenty minutes at the most, and I will get radiation 20 times, Monday through Fridays with the weekends and holidays off. After that, we do another scan and that's when we will hopefully hear the word REMISSION! I should be all done with treatments by January 15!!

With lots of my questions answered, the most important one I got answered was why we are doing radiation. With the many years of research done, they have found that the combination of chemo and radiation treatments together have the best results of never having this kind of cancer again...AWESOME! Totally in awe of doctors having the brains to figure things out that save my life. Thank you God for the brains you gave them.

The only side effects they say I will have is fatigue, irritated skin, and some trouble swallowing because the esophagus is right in the way of the radiation beam needed to hit the tumors. Also, I need to have a mammogram done every year because I am more likely to have breast cancer in the future. That's a lot to swallow, so I'm gonna worry about that tomorrow... I'm really tired now and I'm going to bed. Gotta let this all sink in and I'll fill you in on even more of the details later when I can think straight.

Overall, I am okay with this decision to get the radiation because ultimately, it is going to heal my body of the cancer that struck it. I'm showing this cancer who's boss!