I did it...

Aug 8, 20213 min read

Yessssss... I did!

I finished radiation treatments… all 30 of them, and I did them in 28 sessions!

Remember… the machine was down one night, and I skipped a treatment last Friday. So awesome, and so thankful they can adjust treatments to accommodate the original timeline.

Regarding skipping last Friday… my skin was at the point that it needed a break, so it got one.

Originally, I was to finish my regular ‘photon’ treatments on Monday, then get the boost for the final 3. However, my Radiologist swapped the treatments so that I started my ‘boost’ on Monday, then my last treatment on Thursday was back to my photon treatment.

Along with skipping last Friday’s treatment, this was done to give my skin a little break… my skin and me are very grateful for this.

So a little about this ‘boost’…

Each of these boosts were about 40 seconds long, and the electrons were directed specifically at the original tumor bed, so once I was all lined up… exactly 100 cm away from the source, the machine didn’t move, nor did I. The jazz music played in the background and I did what I always do… try to breath normally, and count the seconds… knowing that every second it’s destroying any bad cells that might have been left behind after chemo and surgery.

I got to say good bye and give hugs to the ‘late’ crew at my appointment on Wednesday night… most of my appointments throughout were with the amazing late crew, between 5pm and 6pm… after I put in a full day of work. And I got to say good bye to the ‘early’ crew at my last appointment Thursday morning. I also got to ring the bell 3 times… loud enough for everyone to hear. And I did just that… with the wonderful radiation office staff witnessing this awesome celebration! Amazing how ringing the bell can feel so good!

I will truly miss seeing my radiation team… both the early and late crews. I will be forever thankful to them all… they are amazingly kind and caring, knowledgeable and professional… and such a hard-working team, taking appointments every 15 minutes 12 hours a day. I never once felt they didn’t put me on a pedestal. Thank you all!

Thank you SB & MB… the flowers are beautiful, and you are both so very thoughtful.

You know...

...and your insight throughout my journey has been so welcoming and helpful.

Thursday, after my last appointment, it was time for a little break… who knew last October when I was just learning about what was coming, that I’d be finishing up with radiation the same weekend as our annual trip to the Central Coast! (I thought I'd be done in the Spring... I was obviously way off!)

Anyway, this trip couldn’t have come at a better time ~ my fatigued, burned-skin body seriously needed a break from work. As busy as it was being the first week of school, and as hard as it was to leave, it was absolutely necessary.

So off we went... spending time with our good friends of 40-some years… including the Farmers Market in SLO, breathing the fresh, ocean air at Pismo Beach which was just steps from our ‘home away from home’, wine tasting x 5, olive oil tasting, eating some amazing food, and laughing... especially about our ‘Progressive-commercial’ selves!!

An amazing weekend with amazing friends… priceless… thank you E&J, D&M!