I'm Radioactive

The good news is I am coming to the end of this breast cancer journey.  Starting Tuesday June 2^nd I will begin my Radiation therapy. When I went to my appointment a few weeks ago they made a custom form for me to lie in and marked my body in strategic places to make sure I was lying in the right position when my radiation began. I also have to hold my breath for 20 seconds at a time to help keep my heart and lungs as far from my breast as possible. The problem with treating breast and lymph node cancer is the radiation may damage the heart and lungs and there is a 5% chance I can end up with lung cancer sometime in the future. The Radiation Dr. went over all of the possible things that can happen and told me my neck down to my shoulder blade area may be red or even develop blisters like severe sunburn. I’m thinking why are you doing this again? The surgeons could not find the cancer and my pap smear and biopsy of my cervix was negative. 

The problem with cancer is you can get a negative test yet there can be a minute cell or two lurking in the background somewhere.  Recently in the news they were discussing the process that is used to remove fibroids in women. When they broke up the fibroids minute cancer cells were being released into the cervix and women were being diagnosed with cervical cancer. Those little boogers are tricky.

The doctor also explained how hard radiation is on the heart and the fact a few years down the line I may end up with heart problems. With all of this said Social Security has determined that I am not considered disabled even though I have not been able to work and will probably not have the strength or desire to do so during radiation. I guess not being able to work and being disabled is two different things.

Having cancer is a very expensive and draining process. John and I barely make it from month to month on his retirement. The cost of gas traveling to the many doctor visits, treatments, lab visits and test eats up a big portion. Not to mention the toll on both of us as we travel to and from, wait patiently then learn that I need this test or blood work done. Then the three surgeries just to get my breast reconstruction to close was a real nightmare. I felt so sorry for the surgeon. My paper thin skin thanks to chemo just didn’t want to stay closed. We worried about the risk of infection as well as the fact that no matter how he repaired the openings they would slowly open back up.

I was told that during the daily radiation treatments I will probably not feel like doing anything. The treatment zaps you of energy and your skin becomes painful. That means that I have 30 treatments, one a day Monday through Friday for 6 weeks. I will be red, cranky and tired. Sounds like a party to me!