I was scheduled to start radiation Friday afternoon. At 0830 I got a call saying radiation had to be delayed until Tuesday because there was a problem with my plan so my radiation oncologist did not sign it off and changes were required.
Friday afternoon while sitting out in the sun after my Herceptin treatment I received another call from the radiation department. Would it be possible for me to come in Monday morning for a clearance check? They didn't want to cut my arm off.
Hmmmm, I didn't think I had signed up for losing my arm during treatment so Monday morning I trundled off to the radiation department for my clearance check.
Everyone was ecstatic............5 mm of clearance.
As long as I don't gain any weight I get to keep my arm.
And I gained some interesting body art on the radiation area to help with future setting up of the machine.
To interrupt all of this radiation fun. My darling dog was sick, again. It has been off and on for the last 2 - 3 weeks. We finally decided it was time to take him to the vet and find out what was going on. I went out for a walk while Ian took Jasper to the vet. this is what I found when I got home:
Ah, yes. The Cone of Shame. Gotta love it.
Turns out my darling dog managed to pick up Giardia. Probably from eating one of his favourite seawall snacks, goose poo or mussel shells. Yippee.
The cone is required so that he does reinfect himself by licking his butt before his treatment is done. Truly, a Cone of Shame.
So, once that excitement was done it was over it was back to dealing with radiation.
Tuesday afternoon I met the same radiation techs I had the day before so we all sort of knew what was going on. I got some more body art in green this time instead of black. The whole process took about half an hour.
And for part of the treatment I have this jelly like sheet stuck to me. The jelly is supposed to replicate skin so that the radiation is brought closer to the actual surface of my skin.
The radiation machine itself kind of reminds me of the bone scan machine. There is a machine with a bed sticking out from it. And there are these plate like things that also stick out and can rotate around the bed.
When the radiation happens I can hear a buzzing sound but I don't feel anything.
Afterwards the area felt a little warm, and by the end of the day I felt like I had spent the day in the sun. I did go out for a walk, visit Costco, and do some grocery shopping so I did spend part of the day in the sun but I felt a little more tired than that.
To protect my skin I am supposed to put on a water based lotion twice a day. I picked up one of the recommended brands on my way home and slathered it on. When I went to bed most of my body art had disappeared. Oops. I don't think my techs are going to be very happy with me today.
Actually, I'm not really happy with me either. During radiation I have to lie without moving with my hands holding a couple of handles behind my head. By the end of the day yesterday my left arm was totally numb. With no body art, today will take at least as long as yesterday if not longer.
Oh well, I'm a radiation newbie. Now I know to be more careful. And maybe I should have read the information sheet more closely that said to be careful of the art work. But I did test the lotion on the ink and it seemed to be okay. But, I guess not.
Maybe that means I shouldn't follow the directions. It is so confusing.
At least radiation has begun. My completion day is April 18th and I can't wait.
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