My radiation therapy is going well so far. It is now Day 8 out of 20 or 21 treatments. The actual treatment time lasts between 3 to 8 minutes. The longer I get it, the easier it is, I think. The radiation technicians told me people receiving radiation tends to relax as the days go by.
On average I am in and out of the hospital 15 minutes tops. Once I arrive at the hospital I check in at the Radiation Clinic and the receptionist nurse already know who I am by now. This afternoon I didn't even say anything and the nurse said, "I've signed you in Stephanie".
A hospital volunteer will then verify my appointment time and a bit of pep talk, give me two hospital gowns and takes me to the radiation treatment (RT) waiting area. I am usually assigned to RT Unit Number 3 (RT3) where all the "Star Trek-y" machines are. Every Wednesday the volunteer provides my schedule for the following week.
Two Radiation Technicians assists and welcomes me in the unit everyday. They're all nice but I do not recall most of their names since they do rotations. Once in RT3, I lie down, they mark my tattoos, position me until they're satisfied and then treatment starts. Like I said before during each treatment I pray and before I know it, it is all over.
Every Tuesday after the radiation, I get to see Dr. W (or whoever is on call) to check on the progess of my treatment. This week Dr. W said everything's A-OK and my skin looks really good.
Yesterday, they did something new. The technicians wanted to take measurements and use a new equipment that will help them in the latter part of my treatment. The treatment currently covers the whole right breast. For the last four treatments, radiation will focus only where the tumor was located using the incision from the surgery as their guide. This is where the cone-shaped equipment comes in. It is supposed to be placed less than an inch from my breast, almost touching it. They've been trying to do it since yesterday and they can't quite get it yet. We are doing it again tomorrow. One of the technicians said precision is key and they wanted to be a 100% precise. Fine by me.
Driving to and from the hospital takes longer than my treatments but that was expected. A couple of times all the radiation machines were down and that meant longer waiting times. They told us this happens once in a blue moon. It has happened twice in two weeks since I started. Oh well. At least my treatments are on schedule.
So that's how it is for me everyday for the whole month of June. Boring isn't it?
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