When the contrast is injected, you get an overwhelming feeling of flushed heat. He warned me that it will feel like I peed my pants but he assured me I did not (I knew that too). I'm not a rookie at this but it has been awhile. This time they asked lots of questions and wanted to really research my medical history. I know there is a small chance to have a reaction to the contrast. I think they want to be sure they can try to forecast that. I've never had a problem so there is no reason to think I would this time...and I didn't.
After it is all done, I have to drink lots and lots of water to flush out the contrast through the day and make sure it doesn't "rest" in my kidneys. I always feel a little funny when it is done but after a few hours it is so much better. The biggest issue is my bum stayed "hot" for a good hunk of the day. Weird.
Today I saw the radiation oncologist, Dr. C. Well I actually saw several "nurses" and 2 doctors but Dr. C is the coordinator. Dr. L talked to him again today before my appointment. It is nice to know that a doctor that is so incredibly busy is thinking of me and making sure my care is coordinated. Going in, they were pretty sure they would do the "standard" treatment which was 5 days a week for 3-4 weeks. But after meeting and talking...and looking at Larry the Lump, he suggested we try an alternative. I was all ears.
So he recommended to try a short blast which is 2 blasts a day apart. He says my type of Lymphoma seems to respond well to that and it takes care of it in 80% of the time. If it doesn't work, we will do more. The good news with this route is that I would avoid some of the side effects we discussed with the standard treatment. The biggest side effect with the standard treatments were dry eye because they would damage a tear duct and they said most people get cataracts within 5 years of radiation. He also said I would lose my eyebrow and my skin would become sensitive. With the short blast, those side effects are almost non existent. The other thing I didn't know is they can only radiate the same spot once or twice but with this short blast, they could do more if necessary. There is no negative considerations to this decision. The biggest issue is if I am the 20% that doesn't work and then we will just do what we planned in the first place. He said he usually only offers this choice to people that are comfortable (ie - not freaking out) with recurrent cancer....like me.
I liked the idea of the 2 treatments and let's see. So I signed up. Quickly I was taken away to get measured for a "mask". This is one of the more unusual things I have gone through. They have this piece of perforated plastic that they heat up with warm water and then come put it over my carefully placed face and head and bolt it on the table. I have to sit there for about 10 minutes while it cools and hardens into hard plastic. They also had about 5 doctors and nurses going over my eyebrow and marking my skin with marker to figure out the positioning and marking it for the radiation. They said they would skip the tattoo on me which was nice. Because it is so close to my eye, they have to be super exact. It was a fascinating process.
The big concern was my vision. They said with what they have planned, there is less than 1% chance I would damage my vision. He said it just never happens but he couldn't guarantee it. But just to be safe, they are going to put a lead cover over my eye for the zapping. He drew me a picture and it looks like it might be similar to a Sorry game piece. They will put it right on my eye and close my eyelids over it (although they won't close all the way over it because of the "stem"). They said they will numb my eye (thank god) and they said it was a little awkward but fairly easy. I feel pretty good about it all....except the eye cover but I will be a big girl about it.
I signed up to do my two treatments next week on Thursday and Friday. I will follow up with Dr. C a month later to see how it is going. He said it could take 3 or so months for the lump to go away. This all means I don't need to take leave from work but am going to take Thursday and Friday off.
I liked the Radiology team. They are very friendly and personable. I think Dr. L did a great job hooking me up with Dr. C. He was a nice guy. He was fascinated I worked with UC in Utah. He asked why I am not living on the beach in Southern California. I wonder that myself.
I knew you would be curious as well. Here is a picture I took of the radiation machine.
Tomorrow, Philip leaves for NC State for his summer program. I guess it is a Mom thing but I always get nervous with him flying across the country alone. He is comfortable with Atlanta though so it should go okay. Nola is at the ready on the other side ready to pick him up and spend some time with him and get him set up on Sunday at the University. He will stay in the dorms all week ending on Friday with his final project. He is going to the Electrical Engineering/Robotics session so they will build an RC Car that runs without human intervention. I think Philip is going to like it.
That is it for this week. I'll give an update next week after my treatments.
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