The big day!

To succeed in life, you need three things:  a wishbone, a backbone, and a funnybone.  ~Reba McEntire

Yes, today was the big day – my first radiation session and the start of “phase 3” of the treatment regimen.  It went fine.  The biggest hassle is going to be the travel time/time away from my work, but I’ll just have to deal with it.  I already notified the office I transcribe for and let them know I would be doing radiation every day (M-F) for 30 sessions.  They’re so kind to me and so understanding, and it’s no problem at all.  They just basically said, “If there’s anything we can do for you, Suzy, we’re here for you.  Don’t worry about the transcription; we know you’ll get it back to us as soon as you can.”  I’m so lucky to have this account – they’re just all so nice to me.  I’ve been with them for 6 years now, and I just hope the doctor doesn’t plan on retiring anytime soon (he’s exactly 3 weeks older than I am, so I think he’ll be working for awhile longer…..as will I; I WISH I could retire, but it’ll be awhile).

Last Thursday’s appointment was for some x-rays, final measurements, and the tattoos……and we got to meet “Hal” – the big machine that will be blasting me every day.  (Kenny nicknamed him Hal, which I didn’t get, but everyone who has seen 2001 Space Odyssey understood what he was talking about!).  The machine (which cost $4.5 million) and the vault (which cost another $1.5 million and is the lead-lined room – about a foot and a half thick – where Hal resides) were quite intimidating/impressive – it truly looks like something out of a SciFi movie.  It’s really high tech, state of the art, and supposed to be the absolute latest and greatest radiation equipment available.  I’m hoping they let me take a picture one of these days so you all can see this piece of equipment, although I doubt a photograph will do it justice.  The tattoos are simply little dots on my body that will help them line things up each time.    

Last Friday’s appointment was with Dr. “Always Late” Sprawls.  Once again, silly me thought that if I had the first appointment of the day, 9:00 a.m., he would be on time or maybe 5-10 minutes late.  Wrong.  He was 50 minutes late!!  How can that be?!  And then he spent at least half an hour with us, so imagine how far behind he was by the end of the day!  Anyway, he was his usual funny and calming self, and we had a great visit and didn’t mind the delay.  The appointment was mainly about the DVT/blood clot in my leg, but I also had some cancer-related questions.  The best news of the day was that he said I no longer had to wear the awful compression stockings!  I wanted to jump up and hug him!  I was SOOO happy to hear that.  He said to stay on the same warfarin (Coumadin) dose for now and have my INR checked again on Monday.  On Friday it was 2.1, which is fine (today, Monday, it was 2.5, which is perfect); I’ll have it checked again next Monday.  He said walking is the best thing for me right now, so I’ve been trying to do that every day, along with some bike riding.  The only problem with the walking is that my leg feels like it’s filled with cement!  It just feels like a big huge heavy load that I’m hauling around.  I suppose that will get better with time.  Both Dr. Sprawls and Dr. Siragusa (the vascular guy from Tennessee) said to do as much walking as possible, so I’m going to trust their opinions and go for it.    

As for the cancer-related questions I had, once again I asked him about having a PET scan to see if all this treatment is working.  And once again, he explained that there are too many false negatives or false positives, and it wouldn’t add anything to my treatment plan/survival rate, etc.  He explained to us about the studies done in Italy proving that it wouldn’t add anything to my survival rate.  He also said that he owns a PET scanner (I think he means the cancer center owns it, and consequently the doctors own it?) and that he would make money by having me get one, but he doesn’t believe it would be beneficial.  He said to go ahead and get my port removed (he set up an appointment with the surgeon for me), and that he’s SURE I’m cured of cancer.  He also said to me, “You are a winner, a survivor, a warrior.  The cancer doesn’t have a chance.”  He said the most important things for me right now are exercise, walking, bike riding, healthy eating, a positive attitude, and “relentless hope and optimism!”  He said the “test of time” is way better than any PET scans or all the other myriad of tests.  He also said that he can tell the difference between cancer and a cold; if I get feeling bad or feel like something isn’t right, see him, and we’ll figure it out.  He really makes a lot of sense to me (and Kenny, too) when he explains things.  If we don’t understand it, he’s always willing to answer more questions and offer more explanations.  

I’ve been feeling really good for the last several weeks, and I just can’t tell you how good it feels to feel good!  It’s really wonderful after so many months of feeling crappy.  I feel “normal” again – except for the “heavy leg,” the lack of hair/eyebrows/eyelashes, the black fingernails, the watery eyes, the runny nose, and the flat chest and fat stomach…..but those are all just minor little details that I can handle!  And they all should improve with time......except for the flat chest.  I’m just so happy to be feeling good.  Sure makes life a lot more enjoyable.  I’m sure I’ll have some SEs (side effects) from the radiation – fatigue and sunburn-like skin problems – but it won’t be anything like the chemo SEs.  It’s also wonderful to have my taste buds back again!  For the longest time, water tasted absolutely terrible (and so did everything else, but I was most upset about water), and now water tastes great again, and so does everything else!  It’s no longer just margaritas and ice cream that taste good!  Yahoo! 

Well, I guess it’s time for me to quit procrastinating and get some transcription done.  Hope all is well in your various corners of the world.  And I’m SO HAPPY that my family members in western CT finally got their power back after the freak Halloween weekend storm left them in the dark for a week! 

You know you’re a cancer patient when……you are checking in the mirror about how long your hair is at least once a day!  (Mine is getting there but still has a long ways to go – not ready to go without a bandana yet!)