Now it's Time for the "Easy Stuff"

Modeling a handy dandy 3-holed smock.

Radiation and physical therapy.

Physical therapy began several weeks ago. I'll save details for a future post on that. Today, the focus is on radiation.

My treatments began TODAY! I will have 25 daily appointments for radiation (except for weekends and 2 holidays). The appointments are short (~20 minutes), with most of the time spent getting undressed/dressed. I am receiving radiation to my chest wall, skin, and lymph nodes to minimize the chances of cancer creeping up in those areas. The radiation is focused on a "quadrant" of my body - that is: sternum to my side by my armpit, and mid-neck to just under my breast skin where the lower part of the expander lies underneath.

I do have some special guidelines to follow during radiation and for several weeks afterwards:

• wear nothing but cotton around the quadrant being radiated; no synthetic blends allowed
• use cornstarch on the area throughout the day - especially where my skin may rub/touch together (armpit, expanded boob and arm, etc.)
• use only approved moisturizer to keep skin moisturized during radiation
• no necklaces; they may irritate the skin  :(

Although some people experience fatigue during radiation, I may not experience (or notice) much. This is because of already having gone through chemo. Since I'm still rebounding from that (and surgery), the hope is that I'll still be feeling better each day and not really notice the fatigue that radiation can cause. I will probably notice the skin issues, though (redness, itchiness, soreness, etc.). Those are expected to happen in the last 2 weeks of treatment.

I've set an appointment for next week with one of the radiation oncologists to go over my treatment plan in person to discuss the technical information in more detail. I hope to learn more about my specific planes of radiation so I can share that information with you all. Also, I've been given the green light to take picture of the machinery and have asked one of the radiation oncologists to take some pictures of me up on the table during a treatment session. So stay tuned for more radiation information.

Ooh, la-la! Going into the radiation area for the first time.
Take note of the hair growth, please. Yay!!