Radiation Has Begun

Radiation: 6 weeks/5 days per week/30 sessions!

I am very happy to report that I've been to my radiation appointment twice now and it is very easy. The whole appointment takes about 10 minutes, the ladies who work with me are sweet tempered and explain my treatment clearly, it's painless, and I find it's a good opportunity for me to pray for some specific people as a good distraction to what's happening. Not that I'm nervous, but I use the time to be mindful of some special people and situations that I can just focus on prayer instead of being zapped.

I asked the technologist how long I can expect before  the predicted fatigue and skin irritation starts. She said that in 1-2 weeks I'll be noticing the fatigue and my skin will start getting more red in 3-4 weeks. She also said that by the time I'm at my 6 weeks with them, I will be MORE THAN READY to be done with them!

I really had no idea what would happen during radiation, so I took some pictures. This is what I look at while lying on the bed as the radiation beams are at work! It's a ceiling screen and there are 4 of them. They have lights behind it to illuminate the room. Very nice touch UC!

And these are the technologists that take such great care of me. I'm still learning their names, but next to me is Jenny, then Stephanie. I'll have  to work on remembering the other's name tomorrow.

So basically, I change into a stylish hospital gown, lie down on this bed, position my arms and head in the blue custom formed pillow and they take a few images to make sure I'm lined up accurately.

Some places actually tattoo patient's skin to make sure the machine is lined up, but they marked me with colored markers and put clear stickers over the marks. I have about 9 of these stickers on my abdomen, chest, and sides that I will keep on for  the entire 6 weeks.

Once I'm positioned, the circular head and side panels move to different positions and they line me up with with a green light beam matching the placement of my stickers, confirm placement, and it begins. Basically I take a deep breath in and hold it for 3-13 seconds, depending on which area they radiate. The machine beeps while it's treating me and then it rotates into the next position. I do this about 8-10 times until the ladies come back in the room a few minutes later. And I'm done! That's it.  Super easy. As for getting cancer treatment, it couldn't be easier! Normally I'm actually not covered with a towel for treatment, but you can see how it works here. The tubes near my waist are connected to a sensor that can tell how deeply I breathe when I hold my breath. Since the radiation is on the left side near my heart, I take deep breath holds to force my lungs into pushing my heart away from the area of radiation.

I need to apply moisturizers 3-5 times daily to the affected skin to keep it moist. I'm told it won't prevent the redness and irritation, but will help it. Tomorrow I will go buy an aloe leaf at the grocery store since aloe is great for this. But between that and nightly applying castor oil and daily putting on Ann Post's Whipped Neem Balm, I'm keeping my skin as moist as I know how!

Other than that medical news, I was an organizing beast in my kitchen and pantry this past weekend! Check out these lazy susan shelving units my very talented husband made for me!