I haven’t written anything for a long time. I think it’s just that words flow out very easily when your mind, body and soul are semi-screaming out for pain killers. The final leg of my cancer treatment was pretty much smooth-sailing for me. Radiation is really easy compared to chemotherapy. It’s just like going to the tanning salon everyday for a 30-minute treatment.
I started my radiation treatment within a month after my last chemotherapy. On my first visit to my radiation oncologist, the doctor simply gave me an orientation about the procedure.
Radiation treatment is a means of killing cancer cells that may have been left out after surgery and chemotherapy by exposing the affected area to radiation. The technology for radiation treatment nowadays is truly amazing. What they do now is they create a computer simulation of your body and program the radiation equipment to beam rays to your body at high-precision. They do this to make sure that nearby organs are not unnecessarily exposed to radiation.
The doctor said that the only side effect is a sunburn on the areas that are exposed to radiation. He instructed me to apply lotion to my chest 3 times a day and to avoid exposing the area to sunlight. Also, he told me to not take anti-oxidants because it will simply negate what radiation treatment is trying to do, which is kill those cancer cells.
The next day, I came back to the hospital for my simulation. What they do on simulation day was to setup everything that is needed for all 33 of my radiation sessions.
First, they created a “block” for me. The “block” was actually like a cast of my back as I lie on the radiation table. Every radiation session, I lie on this “block” that is placed on top of the radiation table. The block keeps my body from moving and ensures that I lie in exactly the same position every treatment.
Next, they get a CT scan of my torso. They create a computer model of my torso from the CT scan and also identify the tissues that will have to be targetted by the treatment.
CT Scan Machine
Finally, before they let me go, they put tattoos on my chest. No, these are not tattoos of eagles or roses, just little spots to guide them to where the target areas are. Yes, these tattoos are permanent not like those henna tattoos that eventually fade. And no, I’m not going to let you draw pentel pen marks just to see if you can draw a Big Dipper if you connect all the dots on my chest.
Fascinating. And laugh trip yung connect the dots. Palagyan mo na rin kaya ng totoong tattoo para astig?
So glad you’re doing better!
Hi ‘29andfighting’- I’m 57 and fighting. Have you actually started your treatments yet? I had my simulation last Tuesday (7/14/09) and am going for my ‘Dry Run’ today (Monday – 7/20/09) at 1pm. I am a triathlete and am concerned about the things I’m being told/reading about not wearing a bra, no excessive sweating…etc. Have you heard anything about this? How active are you? Sorry I don’t know much about you…I just found this site in my search for some answers. My husband is a Harley D. motorbiker & my friends are joking with me that I finally have tattoos like a real Harley chick!
Hi sister (I consider fellow survivors sisters
). Yeah, I’ve read a lot of materials out there about our condition to try to find out what I did wrong that got me sick. I’ve read about wearing bras and using antiperspirant deodorants as causes for breast cancer. I’ve also read about various promises of alternative cures without the side effects brought about by chemo and radiation. The problem with these is it’s very difficult to tell which ones are real and which ones are not. What I do is verify the sources of the materials I read. Were these based on scientific or clinical studies? How many test subjects were these studies based on? Those kinds of stuff.
I’m already finished with my chemo and radiation, so I guess that makes me your big sister
. Right now, I’m only taking tamoxifen everyday until year 2013.
I used to play collegiate basketball. After I graduated, I still try to be fairly active. I workout at least 1.5hrs a day, 5 days a week.
Wow, you’re a triathlete! I wanna go into that too. Maybe when the numbness in my feet goes away (chemo side effects), I’ll start.
Goodluck with your treatments. Make sure you apply lotion to your radiation area frequently.
Thanks for the info ‘29′ – definitely go for the ‘Tri’ – no better way to stay in shape – all the cross-training and it’s a documented fact that Triathletes have fewer injuries because of the cross-training.
Yes, I guess the fact that you’re done with your treatments does make you my big sister!!
.
When did you complete your radiation therapy? How did your skin react? Were you able to continue exercising?
My last radiation session was just last July 3. At day 17 of my radiation, my radiation areas were already significantly darker than my normal skin. My skin also felt itchy. My doctor suggested that I use aloe vera gel because it feels cool to the skin, and it helps soothe the itchiness. Unfortunately I couldn’t find one anywhere, so I was stuck with the usual Nivea lotion.
I was able to continue exercising, but not as much as I did before. My muscles ached easily and my feet felt numb — these are the side effects to the chemo drugs. My onco says that these will go away after around 6 months.
When you exercise, make sure you stay away from the sun. Just hit the gym for the meantime. The sunlight will burn your radiated areas even more.