At the door to the infusion room there is a bell. I didn’t really notice it at first. Then, while I was sitting there with drugs dripping into my veins, someone rang the bell and the nurses threw confetti signifying they had finished their treatment.
I got to ring the bell. Eight total treatments from November to April. It was a small celebration, with confetti and a certificate indicating my treatment was complete. OK. But what’s next?
After a few weeks I had my follow-up appointment with the doctor. For me, treatment was really complete yet. I still had a cycle of radiation to go. I met with the radiation oncologist, who just happened to be downstairs, and got my orders.
Before beginning radiation, I had to have my “pillow” made. So many new and unique experiences that unless you have had cancer you do not understand. The pillow has some sort of beads in it and you lie on it in just the right position. Somehow the pillow becomes a mold that allows you to stay in the same position for all of your treatments. Every day, they pull out your pillow and away you go watching the machine rotate around you and zapping radiation into targeted areas to kill any more cancer cells that might be left.
Radiation is a long process, but it does not take very long. That must sound strange. The actual radiation treatment only took about 10 minutes once I was on the table. But, it was 10 minutes every day for 20 days (no weekends).
I would schedule the radiation treatment either first thing in the morning or later in the afternoon depending on my schedule. Since the office was about half way between work and home it was very convenient (convenient – not really a word I thought I would ever use when talking about cancer).
The radiation does not have many immediate side effects. While I was getting my radiation treatment it was just another appointment on the calendar. However, as the radiation began to accumulate, I became more tired and it was harder to have energy for much more than getting up, going to work and driving home.
The most memorable experience of the radiation treatment was AFTER it was completed. A few days after I received my last treatment I woke up and realized I felt like I had the worst sunburn I have ever had in my life (if you recall, my cancer is breast cancer, so putting on a bra was impossible, sorry guys if that is too much information).
Once again, God showed how he is in the small stuff. My radiation treatment ended just before out offices closed for a week for the July 4th holiday. I had a full week to sleep, recover and heal my burn before I had to return to work.
Another bell, another confetti celebration and another certificate of completion….But What Is Next?
