Posted: 5/25/2016
I'm now on day 20 of 33 total doses of radiation. I go in to the office five days a week, Monday through Friday, to get nuked. I also pay $50 a day in co-pays for the privilege. Woo!
Fortunately, they have the whole radiation process pretty dialed in, so it's pretty efficient. Before we began the process they had me come in for a CT-scan to get a 3-D image of my body in the areas to be irradiated. They then put me in the exact same position every day so they can use a whole range of angles to irradiate my right breast, over to my right armpit (because of the lymph node that had a bit of metastasis), and then all the way up the right side of my neck to get the lymph nodes there, too, just to be sure. They do all that while avoiding my heart, most of my lungs, and as much else as possible that I don't need to go nuclear. Hopefully the areas they are targeting will wipe out any stray cancer cells that may be trying to set up shop.
So every day I go in, get topless, and lay on a table surrounded by a giant machine for 10 or 15 minutes (demonstrated in the photo with my top on, to protect the innocent). The main sound is the buzzing of the red light on the wall that lights up each time they do an exposure. Like getting an x-ray, it doesn't hurt, I don't need eye protection, and I can't see or feel anything. The major side effects are fatigue and a radiation burn on my skin over the whole irradiated area, front and back. But, meh, as a pasty-skinned chick, this burn ain't any worse than many I earned in my childhood summers.
Meanwhile, my radiation techs - Heather and Sara - sit on the far side of a big, honkin', foot-thick door, controlling the machine remotely with a computer. Every time that giant sucker slides shut I feel like I maaaaaay be on the wrong side of it. I did tell them it was a real missed opportunity that they don't have it decked out like the sliding doors on the USS Enterprise. I'm hoping they rectify that before I finish my doses.
Then, may I live long and prosper.
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