I had an awesome phone call this afternoon!!!
Dr. Terstriep, my oncologist, called with some good news about my follow-up breast MRI that was done on Tuesday. There is NO more cancer in my breast...no residual cancer and no recurring cancer!!!!!!!!!!!! The chemo has done it's job!!! I was delighted to hear that my breast is cancer free!!
Now, as Paul Harvey used to say, for the rest of the story...
Although the MRI detected no cancer in my breast, that doesn't mean that my lymph nodes are clear. Since I had one out of the five lymph nodes that they removed during surgery come back as positive for cancer, I need to have radiation to kill any cancer in the lymph nodes surrounding my breast.
Radiation therapy is a targeted, effective way to destroy cancer cells that may still be around after surgery. Radiation can reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence by about 70%.
Radiation therapy uses a special kind of high-energy beam to damage cancer cells. These high-energy beams, which are invisible to the human eye, damage a cell’s DNA which is the material that cells use to divide. Over time, the radiation damages cells that are in the path of its beam — normal cells as well as cancer cells. But radiation affects cancer cells more than normal cells. Cancer cells are very busy growing and multiplying. These two activities can be slowed or stopped by radiation damage. Because cancer cells are less organized than healthy cells, it's harder for them to repair the damage done by radiation. So cancer cells are more easily destroyed by radiation, while healthy, normal cells are better able to repair themselves and survive the treatment.
Today I met with the Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Foster, and we got the radiation process started. He explained the radiation treatments and side effects. Two nurses also covered the process, side effects, and how to manage some of the side effects. After visiting with them, we began the Radiation Simulation.
The Radiation Simulation started in the radiation room. I was directed to lie on a bed...no, let me rephrase that, lie on a hard table (no padding, just hard metal. Padding doesn't allow the machine to be as precise as it needs to be).
My right hand was placed over my head and I was instructed to hold on to a bar. My left hand was by my side, trying not to fall off of the narrow table I was on! I had to turn my head to the left and was told to try to remember how I was positioned because I needed to be in this exact position for every radiation, every time. I will have to be in this position for 20 minutes to 30 minutes every time I have radiation. It's not very comfortable but it's doable.
The nurses took pictures so that the techs who do the radiation have a reference for the real radiation days. Other pictures were sent to a radiation planning computer, which helps set up the treatment areas. Dr. Foster placed "stick-on wires" on the areas that needed radiation. Then they took measurements, lined up the linear accelerator (that's the machine that delivers the radiation), and did some other things. I had to lay VERY still during the measuring process because these marks need to be precisely in the right spot.
The table/bed I was lying on moves and so I was slid into the machine part way so the Dr. and the nurses could see if all the measurements lined up with where I needed radiation. After that, they slid me out of the machine and marked three spots with a felt tipped marker. Those three marks need to be permanent because the marks tell the techs where to aim the radiation.
Sooooo, at the age of 62, I got my first, and let me add...my LAST, tattoos!!!!!! The reason I say my last tattoos is because it HURT!!! I must be a real wuss!
The tattoo on my side didn't hurt much at all but the one on my stomach really hurt! The one on my chest hurt a bit but not as much as the one on my stomach. They use a needle to inject ink under the skin. The reading that I had done said the needle would be very small. I would beg to differ!!! The tattoos are quite ugly...three little black dots!
Dr. Foster and another doctor who is called a dosimetrist establish the size, shape, and number of the treatment fields. They design the treatment fields to maximize the dose of radiation to the area that needs to be treated and to avoid or minimize the dose to the normal surrounding tissues. Part of my lung, esophagus, and a couple other areas that do not have cancer will be getting radiation just because there is no way to avoid them being hit.
I will have 33 radiation sessions. They will begin next week and will end mid-November. The radiation is every day, Monday through Friday.
There is a sense of relief, of finally moving on after chemo, that makes me feel good about getting radiation started. I know the side effects will hit hard down the road but for now I'm focusing on moving past chemo.
Usually, my Golden Thread is something I am sure of. Tonight, it will be something I believe will happen but can't be sure of yet. My Golden Thread is that I believe (and hope) that radiation won't be as challenging as chemo!!!
My last thought for tonight is about beginning radiation treatments. It is:
That's how I'm viewing the 33 radiation treatments...fighting the battle again!
