31. Radiation Therapy Begins

August 30, 2022

Update. First radiation therapy session is finished. Nineteen more to go.

Radiation can be harsh on your skin and cause a sunburn-like condition called radiation dermatitis. Here is Doreen showing off a tube of lotion especially made for people undergoing radiation therapy (it’s called Miaderm) and some green tea solution. The green tea is steeped overnight and sprayed over the body parts receiving radiation. Both the lotion and the tea are applied hours before, then after radiation; during radiation therapy itself the skin has to be clean and dry. I wore my tea socks today to match(a) the solution

Here’s Doreen keeping me company in the waiting area prior to radiation. One of the rooms in the background (labeled “Linac 1” for linear accelerator; there are 2 of them) is where the radiation magic happens. I am assigned to Linac 2.

After I changed into the lovely patient gown (staff allowed me to keep my pants on, hooray), I was led into the Linac 2 room and instructed to lay on the “bench” for the radiation machine with my left arm over my head (I’ve mentioned this before – like the Statue of Liberty but with the left arm raised instead of right). Then the radiation machine whirred and made robotic noises while it positioned itself in order to deliver external beam radiation to the breast and armpit areas (external beam, coming from outside of me, as opposed to radiation implanted internally). I was there for about 25 minutes, closed my eyes and finished one rosary. It’s good for keeping calm and encouraging deep breaths. The room also has a ceiling decorated with palm trees , so you could relax and pretend to be at the beach, laying on the sand.

After the session, I received a blue index card – like a “frequent coffee buyer” card that gives you your 11th coffee free after you’ve bought 10. But in this case, I don’t get one radiation therapy session free after completing 20 It’s just how they keep track of how many sessions you have completed.