My Radiation will start on December 3rd

I had my mould, CT scan and my Tatto on Thursday. I am already to start my radiation treatments on December 3rd. I was upset about the whole process on Thursday but it all had to be done to get me ready for radiation. I didn't want to write on my blog right away because I was in a really foul mood for a few days. My radiation will be at 10:00 a.m. Monday thru Friday until mid-January.

Please pray that the cancer will be gone after all of this.

Radiation Treatments

I am feeling pretty good these days. I have a lot of joint aches in the evening. Advil relieves the pain enough that I can sleep.

I will be going in for my appointment with my Radiologist on November 20th at 8:30 a.m. I will have my body cast made at 9:00 a.m. I really wanted to wait until after the holiday's to start but they said that was to long to wait. I have been through a lot in the last seven months so I'd better finish this out. They did meet me half way; I get Thanksgiving week off. I will start Radiation treatments the first week in December. This will be a Monday through Friday event. I can do this!

This is a little information of what I will have to do before I can start my treatments.

Body mould

Because radiotherapy is designed very precisely to treat exactly the right area, it is important to keep that part of the body as still as possible during treatment. With this goal in mind, a see-through plastic device called a ‘mould’ or ‘shell’ can be made for certain parts of the body. Because I have Breast cancer, I have to have a full body mold.

In the mould room, a plaster cast is made of the body. This is designed to fit snugly and I will need to wear it only for the brief minutes of each treatment.

Simulation

Before my radiation treatments can start, I will have a ‘planning’ or ‘simulation’ appointment. This is an appointment where my treatment will be simulated, and x-rays or a CT-scan will be taken by radiation therapists. This takes between 15-45 minutes. The information from these scans helps the radiation oncologist plan the treatment.

During the simulation session, I will be lying on a fairly hard table. Every effort will be made to ensure that I am comfortable, with pillows and foam pads.

I must be able to lie very still for a few minutes for accurate measurements to be taken and my position to be recorded because it must be reproduced each day you have treatment.

Once my final position has been determined, permanent, pinpoint tattoo marks are made.These are also a good way of making sure I am set up in the right way each time. These tattoo marks are also useful once treatment has finished to show where the radiotherapy was delivered.

I'll write more about this after my appointment. I'll be pretty busy the next 2 months.