Triumph

This morning when I went to radiation I anticipated getting told my schedule was going to be changed a little bit. I know my radiation oncologist is going to be out of town the later half of this week so I am not going to have internal radiation on Friday as previously planned. I'll still have it tomorrow and next Tuesday and instead I'll have it the following Friday too.

When I originally found this out I was excited because this means I can have external radiation this Friday. Not that I am excited for any type of radiation, but the important part is that is my last external radiation treatment. The previous plan meant I had to have one more treatment next Monday, but now I get to have my last treatment on a Friday and then celebrate over the weekend.

Of course I also like the way everything lines up better this way too. Last week I was done with chemo. This week I will be done with external radiation, and next week I will be done with internal radiation.

So I was told about schedule changes this morning, but I was also told a that although I am still getting external radiation it is no longer focused on my cervix and surrounding areas. The last week or so I have had to have more frequent xrays and adjustments to my radiation fields. I knew I was no longer getting radiation from the sides, just top and bottom. What I didn't know is the reason the radiation fields are so much smaller and specific, is that they are now only focusing on my troublesome lymph node.

This was exciting to me and for some reason seems like a great triumph. It might seem silly to any of you, but it feels good to know that I only have 3 days of external radiation left and that all of it is focused on the one lymph node. I guess when the treatment plan was discussed, I knew they were going to radiate said lymph node, but it was never discussed at what point or how. I'll be honest, the radiation oncology department is not very big on discussing the specifics of these things and I can only bug them with so many questions.

The other exciting part of all of this is that because the field/focus has changed for my radiation, some of my skin irritation (like really bad sun burn) and other side effects should start to diminish. I had already noticed this to some degree, but had thought it was related to having 4 days off from external radiation due to having internal radiation last Friday. I am also pretty excited to remove my radiation stickers this Friday. I have lived with 5 stickers (sometimes one less because occasionally they fall off) on my hips and derriere since all this started. I despise said stickers and I wish I could remove the tatoos too, but I'll be happy to just remove the stickers.

There are so many little lifestyle changes that being done with radiation will mean for me. I'm looking forward to not having to get up early every morning and drive to UW for a 5 minute appointment. I'm thrilled to not have to think about who is going to be seeing my underwear and derriere each morning. Geoff will be able to resume going to work on time and we will no longer have to juggle the kids each morning around my radiation times. I will be able to go to the bathroom when I want (for pelvic radiation I'm supposed to have a full bladder so I'm not supposed to go in the morning before treatments...I do go when I first get up, but then I push fluids to make sure that by the time I get there I have a full bladder). I won't have to worry about which valet I'm going to get and what adjustments they are going to make to my seat/mirrors each morning (although I have really really grown fond of some of the valet staff and I will miss seeing my favorite each day). There are many more implications that this triumph will mean for me and my family, and it seems surreal to me that as of the end of this week, I will really be done with external radiation. Hopefully forever!