Yesterday was the first day of the last phase of "active treatment" for me. That sounds a whole lot better than it really is. Ha! Even though radiation is my last big step, it's a 6 1/2 week "step", and even after I'm through with that, I won't really be done. I'm still facing multiple surgeries and will be on hormonal therapy for five to ten years. But I digress....
Going back to yesterday's appointment - it was the radiation planning/simulation that didn't happen last week. Last week I waited an hour to see the doctor and got nothing accomplished. Yesterday I was in and out of there in an hour and they did everything they had to do. Maybe Hubby is my good luck charm! They did a "mold" for me to lay on that conformed to my body to insure I will always be in the exact same position for every radiation treatment. They did a CT scan of my torso and marked me where they will do the radiation. Now the radiation oncologist and physicist will work their magic to come up with my computerized plan - where to direct the beams and how much of a dose. This all takes a week or so, and then we'll be ready to start my 33 treatments. Sounds fun, huh?
One bonus - normally when someone has radiation, they will mark you with pen-point sized tattoos so when you go in they know exactly where to line things up. Instead of tattoos, I was offered to keep the sharpie markings covered up with little clear band-aid things, as long as I promise to keep them on the full six weeks. Since the radiation techs will see me every weekday, they will change them out if they start coming off so we don't lose my marks. So the good news is I won't have permanent black dots on me reminding me of radiation. The bad news is I look like my daughter colored on my chest with a green sharpie and most of those marks will stay for the next two months.
Another day of kicking cancer's ass...
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