ZEROING IN ON THE TUMOR BED
Yesterday was my last all-over radiation treatment and today they started to zoom in on just the tumor bed. Rather than covering my whole breast, underarm, and part of my chest, it just covers a baseball size circle around the area where the cancer was removed.
Before the machine fired from above me on the right, down across my breast and out my underarm, and then moved to below me on the left, up through my underarm and breast. I found a graphic that shows exactly what the all over treatment looked like. This picture is even for the left breast, just like me.
Today it was aimed just inches away from my breast and fired straight down on it. This made me nervous because I remember the doctor saying that they try to aim away from the lungs. I guess that is what they did the first 26 times, but there is no way they are missing it now!
The buzz from the machine lasted about 45 seconds (it seemed) and again I imagined the radiation penetrating my body. I tried to empty my lungs so that they would not inflate into the path but was so nervous I was breathing hard and fast. Not that it would have helped anyway. Even when they are deflated they still lay beneath my breast. I don't think I have the ability to make them move over to the right and scrunch up against my right lung, but I sure tried!
After the last all-over treatment yesterday, I received four tee-tiny tattoo dots to mark the corners of the treatment area. I knew about the tattoo dots from my sister-in-law Lisa and I thought they were used to line up the radiation machine. I couldn't understand why they didn't give them to me and instead kept marking up my chest with a blue sharpie-like paint pen. Now I know that the dots are used to permanently mark the area so that forever and always they can tell where I was treated. The sharpie marks have been pretty funny. My chest looks like a locker room white board at half time. There is a big "L" separating my boobs, lines below and on my side, dots along my scar from the lumpectomy, a larger oval around the tumor bed and a big X...well, you can guess where that is!
Yesterday was my last all-over radiation treatment and today they started to zoom in on just the tumor bed. Rather than covering my whole breast, underarm, and part of my chest, it just covers a baseball size circle around the area where the cancer was removed.
Before the machine fired from above me on the right, down across my breast and out my underarm, and then moved to below me on the left, up through my underarm and breast. I found a graphic that shows exactly what the all over treatment looked like. This picture is even for the left breast, just like me.
Today it was aimed just inches away from my breast and fired straight down on it. This made me nervous because I remember the doctor saying that they try to aim away from the lungs. I guess that is what they did the first 26 times, but there is no way they are missing it now!
The buzz from the machine lasted about 45 seconds (it seemed) and again I imagined the radiation penetrating my body. I tried to empty my lungs so that they would not inflate into the path but was so nervous I was breathing hard and fast. Not that it would have helped anyway. Even when they are deflated they still lay beneath my breast. I don't think I have the ability to make them move over to the right and scrunch up against my right lung, but I sure tried!
After the last all-over treatment yesterday, I received four tee-tiny tattoo dots to mark the corners of the treatment area. I knew about the tattoo dots from my sister-in-law Lisa and I thought they were used to line up the radiation machine. I couldn't understand why they didn't give them to me and instead kept marking up my chest with a blue sharpie-like paint pen. Now I know that the dots are used to permanently mark the area so that forever and always they can tell where I was treated. The sharpie marks have been pretty funny. My chest looks like a locker room white board at half time. There is a big "L" separating my boobs, lines below and on my side, dots along my scar from the lumpectomy, a larger oval around the tumor bed and a big X...well, you can guess where that is!
Almost done!!!! Hang in there! We definitely need to meet once you are done healing from the radiation! I had to take another leave from work. It just got so painful and I could not take care of it correctly. The area really does need a lot if air. I started pealing quickly in the armpit area. Be prepared to have raw, oozing skin. I soaked my area with domeboro solution, it really soothed the area. It does get better, but is gets really bad. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to meeting you too Michele. You were right! It's still getting more painful in areas that haven't been treated in a few days. But the end is within sight. I can't believe it.
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