One down, 19 to go

This is from one of my dearest
lifelong friends. I took her
with me today.

Since today was the first radiation treatment, it was also the longest. The tech spent some time getting me acquainted with the order of operations so to speak. Going forward, most appointments will take far less time, although I will always see the radiology oncologist on Mondays.

But for today, I got the drill on what to do and what to expect. I got changed into a hospital gown; while I had to take off everything from the waist up, I kept my lower half clothed and my shoes on. I did take off my Garmin watch. I’m pretty sure radiation wouldn’t be beneficial to my watch.

I had three techs in the radiation room with me getting me and the machine ready.

First, we practiced that deep inspiration breathing, then they dragged the sheet I was lying on a tiny bit each way to get me just so on the table, then marked me up a bit more with markers and left the room. I think they do the extra marking because the tattoos are so very tiny—the marks they made are very easy to see. Then they did the radiation treatment. I think there were a total of six zaps. I had to hold my breath, and on a couple of them they told me to let out just a bit of air. Oh and at the end (yes, after that first radiation treatment), I got a fourth tattoo on my breast. The tech who gave it to me said it’s a centering measurement which cracked me up because it’s definitely not centered on anything.

After that, I had my blood pressure and pulse checked—I suspect those get checked after the treatment so if you were nervous about the radiation, you’d be over that part and wouldn't have artificially high blood pressure. That's also when I met with Dr. H, my radiology oncologist, and she had some interesting information for me.

Remember that pleural effusion I mentioned in my last blog post? Well she tracked down every film, CT and MRI of me, including one I’d forgotten about from 2005 and it turns out that I had two pleural effusions then! She suspects this is just what my body does. I wondered if that’s what’s behind the symptoms of reactive airway disorder I’ve had for years.

I’m curious to see what if any side effects I experience. I’m really hoping my skin does well, and that I don’t end up with the soul sucking fatigue so many experience.