Yes, it's me. I'm a little behind getting the news on here, but my radiation treatments were completed on January 8th! No more daily trips to see my radiation buddies. I sit here thinking of Jerry T who had his treatment just after mine each day, yet he was almost already in the waiting room when I would arrive. We live VERY close to the center, so I would often find myself rolling in the doors right on time or maybe just a minute or two late. Let's face it, mornings in a house with three 4 year-olds can be a little chaotic, so the fact that I made it there every day was sort of amazing.
After months of being almost home-bound, avoiding crowds, germs and people in general because my immune system was shot, I had trouble finding a new routine. Then I was forced to get dressed every single morning (I used to be a morning person until chemo...and maybe since triplets, who knows, but not anymore) and rush out for this quick little treatment that seemed to be a big interruption in my day. But I knew that it was important. The radiation oncologist said that this course of treatment has been known to reduce the chance of recurrence by 70%. THIS WAS A BIG DEAL. And the treatments were generally really fast. I was in and out in about 20 minutes.
I was so lucky that the team of radiation techs were just simply so sweet. Two of them behaved almost like a brother and sister and they were actually a joy to be around. I would always be a little disappointed when there were other techs instead of those two, but then I realized that they were all pretty darn nice. They have tough jobs. I'm sure they meet a number of patients who don't survive. Or they see many patients, like me, for about 7 weeks and then we are just gone. Yes. Gone. I would have trouble with that were I to be in their position. I would think that they get to know people during those 7 weeks and then they are done and, let's face it, most of them won't be back just to visit. We are all, I think though I guess I cannot say for sure, thrilled to have radiation treatments done. But you start to get attached to those wonderful radiation techs that offer up a friendly hello each morning.
All in all, it went rather smoothly. Things got a little rough during the last couple of weeks. I had to take some time off when the office was closed for the holidays and then again because I developed an infection where my skin was blistering. For the record, nope, that was definitely NOT fun at all. I had some swelling in my chest and my side (actually in the area where I had a drain after both surgeries last summer) so I also had just a little physical therapy to help with possible lymphedema. But really, it could have been much, much worse and I am so thankful that it wasn't and that it is behind me.
I will update with more VERY SOON as I have a trip coming up in a few weeks to the Seattle area for the C4YW conference. This is a conference for young women facing breast cancer and I'm excited to meet other women in a situation that is similar to mine and also to learn more about treatment options and ways of LIVING with cancer rather than just existing.
Peace and thank you for your continued prayers and support.
