This will be a very short summary of my radiation course of treatment. It began January 30, 2013 with the planning appointment. Films were taken to layout exactly where I was to be radiated. Basically, trying to avoid my heart and lung. Once that was determined, they marked me with little tattoo dots so that I would be lined up the same way each time I was under the machine. I was nervous about the tattoos thinking it was going to be painful, but it wasn't at all. It was just a little prick and their so small, that they blend in with my other freckles.
I had my first radiation treatment on February 4, 2013. There are a total of 28 treatments with one a day Monday through Friday. The first week was very uneventful. I didn't notice anything different. The second week went well, except when Friday rolled around, I couldn't stop yawning and I had to take a nap. The third week was the first big snow storm that we had. So I didn't have a treatment on Thursday or Friday, so one got tacked on to the end and the other I had to do on that Saturday. There were a few of us that they wanted to continue treatment and not have a delay. Again that Friday and actually the weekend, I was tired and slept as much as I could.
There was another snow storm in my fourth week and had to postpone one of my treatments to that Saturday as well. The kids had a snow day from school, and had to come with me to my appointment. To not bum then out, I told them we would go across the street to Stephens Lake Park so that they could go sledding afterward. Most of my appointments took from 20 minutes to 30 minutes. However, this day took an hour and the boys were so anxious to get out of there. I felt bad for them, but they toughed it out and got to sled for about an hour. I went down the hill once and that was enough for me. Too bumpy! Like clockwork, that Friday I was fatigued again. The kids didn't have school, so my awesome sister took them to the library so that I could take a nap.
I didn't have a lot of pain or discomfort with the burn until the fifth week. In my armpit, there is a painful and swollen burn. It turned black and the skin was peeling exposing pink, raw skin. My skin is itchy where I have been radiated. The total burn area is the shape of a square over the left side of my chest. I wanted to take a picture to show you what it looks like, but I couldn't get a G-rated version and the picture just doesn't show how bad it is. Fatigue was still a factor, but napping always helped.
I'm in my sixth week now. Actually, I have just one more treatment left, tomorrow, March 14, 2013. I am so ready for it to be over! The burn is so bad that it is hard for me to sleep. Just to change positions takes a lot of effort so that I don't stretch and tear the skin, which is quite painful. The burn in my armpit is peeling more and hurts the most. It's in a spot where there is skin to skin contact and friction, so peeling my skin and clothes off the burn is not helping the healing process. I try not to move my arm too much so that I don't exasperate the wound.
People have asked if radiation is worse than chemo. That is a hard question to give a straight and simple answer. Each treatment has their goods and bads about them. Which would I prefer...neither...but I would say chemo was probably the hardest because of the longer stent of side effects. With radiation, I started feeling pain in the fifth week and I was told that it will probably take about two weeks for the pain and soreness to go away after the last treatment. So that is four weeks of dealing with pain unlike chemo's ups and downs for 16 weeks.
Ultimately, I would take and have taken all the goods and bads; ups and downs to kick cancers ass!
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