Vacation and Radiation

I have been reminded that I have not updated my blog for ages... but I have been busy!

Photos - views from our room, sunsets, kids, beach volleyball and fun dinners! I cannot get the photos to line up the way I want but am tired of playing with it!

First we got to go on vacation. I am so happy that I was able to make the trip. I had been looking forward to it as my reward for finishing chemo... my break before starting radiation. The entire Andrews' clan, Calvin's girlfriend Molly, my sister-in-laws parents and sister and some of our longtime friends, the Hobbs, all gathered in Ixtapa for a week. We were hit with the tail of tropical storm Andre (I think it landed more in Cabo) which made things rather exciting for a day or two. Still hot and just some periods of hard rain. Mostly keep our group out of the surf and the waves washed away parts of our beach including the first row of pilapa umbrellas on the beach. Didn't keep us from enjoying it all. The view from our unit was incredible so coffee on the balcony was hard to leave. But margaritas and nachos on the beach lured us all away for a few hours. The travel wasn't as hard as I had anticipated. When my girlfriend hinted to Mark to take advantage of a special upgrade to first class for me (not him) he took care of it and thus I was a bit more comfortable. Read, relaxed, floated in the water and napped. Oh and a little eating and cocktails too. It was a wonderful change of scenery for me.

Started radiation right after we got back. I have 8 down with 25 to go. Think of me every week day at 10:40am. It's a fairly quick appointment. Because I am still having pain and mobility issues with my expanders and arms I have either friends or teenagers driving me. I already feel like the technicians are my new best friends as I see them every day. I did learn that the goal for someone who has had a mastectomy is to really radiate (sunburn) the skin as that is one of the most likely spots the cancer would return. With a lumpectomy the breast tissue needs to be radiated so the skin doesn't get as burnt. Hopefully mine will hold up well. So far, so good. Every other day is "party dress day" at radiation. Picture a piece of shimmery, metallic, heavy fabric... something like Hamlet would wear in a Shakespeare play. A piece of this is draped over my breast to intensify (I think) the radiation. The room is similar to an x-ray or MRI room with lots of high tech equipment. It takes a few minutes to get me into the the correct position with my arm in the mold (especially made for me) over my head and the table at the exact height, etc. The door to the room is almost 12 inches thick. The technicians leave the room and the door locks for the short period of time that the radiation is happening. This protects them from being exposed to the radiation. The whole process in the room, including getting me positioned, takes about 10 - 15 minutes. It takes a few minutes for me to change in and out of a gown for the process. Total time is about 25 minutes or so. Not too bad. Its a bit of a drive but if it keeps the cancer cells away then it's all worth it!