Things I Needed to Know that No One Told Me

Things no one told me about radiation, but that I needed to know anyway:

1. Radiation affects your skin (I was informed of that). The health care professionals' solution is to keep the skin "hydrated and moisturized" by applying things like aquaphor and lubriderm early in treatment to prevent painful dryness, sores, cracks, and bleeding. No one mentioned that the best way to hydrate your skin is to hydrate your body. Drinking lots of water, especially with lemon or coconut water, hydrate the entire body. Including the skin. This has worked well for me thus far, and medical professionals were impressed with how well my skin looks.

2. Radiation destroys cells (this I also knew). I have felt very tired, and was especially short tempered the first week or so of radiation. I tended to notice it in my interactions with my children. Realizing this was not okay, I had an insight the other day. I was hungry. Very hungry. I was eating what I usually ate, but was still wanting another meal. Then it hit me: as the radiation destroyed cells, my body was working overtime to rebuild them. This takes energy and fuel, and I needed more fuel. So, after drinking my regular smoothie I ate a huge salad made of spinach, sauerkraut, tomatoes, cucumbers, hummus, and grilled chicken. After inhaling that I felt much better. I was also more patient with my children. As long as I eat twice as much as I normally would, I feel great and have the energy I was lacking earlier in the treatment process. 

3. Judgement has no place in cancer treatment. People come from all backgrounds and areas of life. The man who smells strongly of cigarette smoke who brings in his wife for radiation cares about her just as much as I care about my family members. Judging his visible behaviors that are directly linked to cancer is not my place. We are all on different journeys and are exactly where we need to be. 

4. Health care professionals have off days too. Overhearing patients swearing and complaining about what a nurse or other employee did or did not do hurts my heart. They are people too with feelings and are not perfect. I was told by a doctor the other day, "your day will be better than mine." I responded by saying, "you can still have a great day, it's all in what you choose." His response was, "at least you get to enjoy the sun." Cancer can be a bummer, but at times those who care for those with cancer get the but end of things. It doesn't cost anything to be kind, and at times come up with a creative origin story for a doctor's last name (yes I did this, I was waiting for a while and had to do something).

The Big To-Do about Radiation

Getting set up for radiation therapy consists of four main points:

1. Imaging

2. Positioning

3. Marking

4. Attending

First, imaging is done in the form of a CT scan. These images are used to set up the border and area to get radiated. The scanner bed has NERO padding on it- on a scale of 1-10 for comfort I give it a 2. Regular CT scanner beds have padding and are at a comfort level of 6. When asked why no padding I was informed that padding or cushions lead to shifting of the body, and for positioning purposes they need the patient's body as still as possible.

Which leads us to the second point, positioning. It's best when applying radiation to one's body that the person be in the same position, the EXACT same position every time. In order to accomplish this, a mold is made if the area that needs to be in the same position. I got to lay with my arms above my head, head tilted to the right, for 10 minutes while a blue bag with chemicals in it that were hardening cooled around me. I now have a form that will follow me wherever I go for radiation. I get to lay I it every time. I feel I have a new friend.

Marking goes along with positioning. Stickers were put on and lines were drawn on me prior to positioning, and after the positioning was finished photos were taken, more lines were drawn, and I received four dot tattoos. I was just sad that they were not cool colors like pink, green or yellow. The dark blue tattoos are small and may even fade out during the course of treatment. If that happens I get more tattoos! These tattoos are used to align my body with the numbers they punched into a cool machine. 

Which brings me to attending. Now, I get to attend the rest of the radiation therapy appointments. I guess this whole set up thing isn't much good if I don't show up for them. As a bonus they are short, with only a few minutes of radiation a day. 

Happy Saturday!