Baaaaaahhhhh!!!

Last Thursday I started radiation.  On Wednesday and then Thursday before radiation, I spent a good hour on the table in the radiation room. The technicians moved me into different positions, sometimes making miniscule adjustments, so that I was in precisely the right spot.

Radiation is directed at the areas where cancer has been found—so, the tumor site, the nodes under my arms, and the nodes in my internal mammary chain. It is those internal nodes that are the most difficult to reach, as they are under my sternum, and above my lungs. They are also the most important to hit with radiation, as we did not remove them during surgery. So while we assume they are cancer free, we could not confirm that as we did with the nodes that we took out during surgery.

Dr. Halberg (and her fantastic team) spent a lot of time calculating the exact position for me to be in so that the internal nodes would be hit with radiation, while also minimizing the radiation that would touch my lungs. The calculations are so complex that they have a physicist on staff to help them figure this out. Amazing.

On Thursday, the calculations worked, and I got my first treatment. This entailed a few minutes more on the table while a large machine whirred and buzzed a bit next to me. Then it was over. I just need to do that every weekday until April 30 and I’m done.

One of the side effects of radiation is that my skin may get burned. To help protect my skin, the nurse at Dr. Halberg’s office, Jana, gave me a large tub of lanolin to put on my skin twice a day. For those of you that don’t know what lanolin is-it is a wax or fat (depending who you talk to) that is extracted from sheep’s wool. It is extremely thick, sticky and yes—I now smell just like a sheep.

Anyone watch Frozen Planet last night? Josie did! She was especially enamored with the wolf pups.

My First Tattoo(s), with Frankie Baby

Last week I met with the radiation oncology team to create a radiation treatment plan. Much of this appointment was spent flat on my back in the radiation room while the very lovely technician Alice (!) gently pushed and prodded me into position. A mold of sorts was created of this position so that I am in the exact place every time during radiation. Along with the exact positioning of my body, Alice marked me up all over the place with markers, tested out the beams (without the radiation) on the target spots, and then—gave me four very tiny tattoos, which will be used as guides for the beams. Although they are very tiny, those little suckers still hurt like h***. Fortunately, Alice had cued up Frank Sinatra on her iPhone for me and he helped me through it.

Radiation starts on Thursday, March 15, and will be every weekday at 3:10pm until Monday, April 30. Many thanks to the people who are doing pick-up at Wade Thomas during these weeks. I could not do this without you!

Here is Josie by the fireplace this weekend. She loves the fire so much—I can’t tell if it’s comical or scary. We often have to pull her back from the hearth because we are worried she is going to crawl into the coals!!

No More Than 33

Next week I meet with the team at Dr. Halberg’s office to do my radiation treatment planning. The week of March 12 I’ll start radiation. Dr. Halberg has promised that I will have no more than 33 radiation days, which works out to a maximum of 6 ½ weeks.  I can do anything 33 times.

If you are looking for a book full of compelling research and great stories illustrating the power of a community….look no further than here. My friend Allison Belger has written an amazing book showing how much our physical and mental well-being benefits from connection to a community. I can vouch for this first-hand as I have had unbelievable support from my community throughout my treatment for breast cancer. (Full disclosure here—I'm honored that Allison considered my story worthy of inclusion in her book. When you buy it, its at about the 60 page mark).

F all!!