Despite having ANOTHER snow day, I was able to go and meet with Dr. Mudge at the Cancer Center this morning. I originally had an appointment on Friday the 8th but there was no school & our road was pretty thick with snow. They were fine with me rescheduling and had an appointment for 9:30 this morning. My Mom, the kids and I went to Battle Creek for my appointment. We were able to also do some quick Valentine's Day shopping and have lunch at Cracker Barrel.
So back to the visit with the Radiologist! Just as I had heard from others, I will have 33 sessions of radiation. This will take me 6 1/2 weeks if I don't miss any sessions. It will only take 1/2 hour, most of which will be spent changing & getting into position for the radiation. The actual time that it takes the machine to work is closer to 5-7 minutes. On Thursdays I will be there longer as I will see either Dr. Mudge or his Nurse for an examination. They will be checking the skin around the radiation site to make sure that it stays healthy. There is a chance of dryness, itching, peeling or blistering in this area. However there are lotions and creams that can be used to help combat this. The doctor said that these types of symptoms don't usually happen until towards the end if they even happen at all. The other main symptom of radiation is fatigue. He said that someone who has just had chemo may not even notice the fatigue because they are used to it.
Tomorrow I go again for my radiation planning appointment. The main components of this 1 1/2-2 hour appointment are getting a body mold, CT scans (to know placement) and tattooing. The body mold is like a plastic form that will keep me from moving during treatment & to assure that I am in the exact same position each day for treatment. The scans will help to define the treatment area and then the tattoos (no I can't get any fancy artwork-bummer!) or tiny dots of colored ink will mark the treatment area. These marks are helpful to make sure that I am in the correct position for treatment. The doctor said that they used to use permanent markers but those would fade or disappear and that some women would try to take a marker and replace the dots but would not do it correctly-whoops!
Then at 2pm I had an appointment with my regular doctor for my yearly check up and "girl tests". I see Dr. Ebaugh at Thornapple Valley Family Health and have been with her for about 15 years or so. She delivered both of the kids and her nurses have been there as long as I have. This was the first I had been there since my diagnosis and they were so sweet & caring to me. Lots of hugs and asking me all about how I was doing. I was able to talk with Dr. about my menopause symptoms. She agreed with what I had read and said that it will be a while before we know if it is true menopause or whether my overview will bounce back from the chemo. She gave me a prescription for something to help with the hot flash & sleeping issues. I am going to wait for a while to fill it and see if I can get by without it.
After that appointment we went to visit my Grandma Latta in the nursing home. She was in a very good mood (which is pretty normal) and very talkative (even though she doesn't make sense) and she was quite comical and made us laugh very hard. Even though I was getting tired, it felt good to see her and spend some time with her.
I have a very busy week ahead of me. I hope that I am ready to go full steam ahead and that I won't burn myself out! Got to visit with a nice lady who is a stage 4 lung cancer patient (Lois) and her daughter at the cancer center today. The daughter said that she believes that if you have faith and a positive attitude you will get through the cancer trials so much easier. I hope to keep that thought close in mind this week...and I'll be just fine.
