Radiation Cycle Complete

In fact, this past Wednesday (February 11) was my last day. It all went without a hitch with virtually no pain, swelling, redness, or other complications. Even the fatigue factor seemed to lessen as the weeks wore on. I’m so happy now that I don’t have to make the long drive to Crawford Long every morning. This saves me over 50 miles each day.

I found it rather humorous that on my last day the radiation techs gave me a “graduation day” certificate, signed by all the good folks that work there (they were awesome). It was actually a very kind and sincere gesture that they do for all of their patients. I found “humor” in it, however, because my 25 rounds of radiation was nothing when compared to even 1 round of the “intensive chemotherapy” (out of 6) that I went though previously. And I got nothing to commemorate that graduation . . . not even an “I survived chemotherapy” certificate. So, the next time I see Dr. D’Amato, I’ll have to show her my fancy radiation certificate and then demand some sort of gold plated commemorative plaque for all of the chemotherapy she put me through! I see her again in about two weeks and will be sure to bring it up.

One thing that I think helped make my radiation treatment go faster and seemingly trouble-free was my job. I’m thankful that work kept me quite busy during this time so I had little opportunity to dwell on any possible side effects. Actually, working fulltime again has been extremely therapeutic. It’s fun and fulfilling and keeps my mind from wondering towards negative thoughts. I actually will be flying out to Costa Rica on a business trip here in another week. I’m really looking forward to seeing my colleagues down there.

In the meantime, I have a “reality check” coming up this week. On Tuesday (February 17) I go in for a Chest, Abdomen, and Pelvis (CAP) CT Scan and an MRI of my left thigh. The CAP CT Scan is my quarterly scan to check for any spread of the cancer. (Yes, this is the one where I have to drink the disgusting barium “Berry Smoothie” the night before and the morning of.) The MRI (at this point) is for pre-surgical analysis of my leg. I also will be seeing Dr. Monson (my orthopedic surgeon) who should give me a firm date for my operation and provide me with details as to my expected recovery. I’ll let you know how that goes either later Tuesday or Wednesday.