Radiation Update: 7 left to go!

My 3 beautiful kids

I don't know what I was thinking. Radiation is a piece of cake? I think I'll spend the rest of my life comparing all physical ails to chemo, which is a shame. Radiation is a complete different beast, and yes in most ways it is a piece of cake compared to chemo, but radiation is. so. exhausting.

30 treatments. Stand up and then lay down 30 times. Up and down! That's how many radiations I'll be getting by the time I'm done. That many days I have to go in there. 30 treatments is a lot. Matt started going back work everyday and so it was the perfect time to jump into a better routine.  I am so lucky to have my mother- and father-in-law at my house everyday. Matt made a google calendar of all my appointments at the cancer center so my in-laws know when to coordinate and be at our house.  I tried my best to schedule radiation for the mornings or late mornings so we all could have some consistency. It's a 40 minute drive to my cancer hospital so it's almost an hour and a half of driving everyday. My father-in-law has been more than happy to drive me there after dropping off grandma to tend to the kids. It has become such a lovely little routine, we feel so lucky to have the help. When I think about what we would do without them here, I am stumped and become emotional. I really have no idea. Radiation has been very "doable" thanks to them. The kids look forward to seeing them everyday, it is so much fun.

I love returning home to big hugs and happy faces. It pains me to leave them everyday, but I think they know I don't want to go and I promise lots of one on one time when I get back. My oldest started kindergarten this week which is super fun and exciting, so we have added that to our morning routine as well as radiation. I think it's working out ok and now that I only have 7 left, I am very very excited to be done and move on with my life.

What are the side effects of radiation? Fatigue. I feel it so much more now, really everyday is worse. And if I do more physical activity (like exercise or even run errands) I literally can't move or keep my eyes open afterwards. Yikes. I thought 3rd trimester pregnancy fatigue was bad! I've been lucky enough to get a nap in mostly everyday. I'm working on going to bed earlier at night so at least I wake up feeling energized. But besides the fatigue, I don't feel sick at all. My appetite has really come back, I am so grateful for that. I think the chemo really has worn itself off. Yay!

My hair growth in one month

The only other side effect I am experiencing is the nice sunburn on my skin. I was and still am a little scared and nervous how much damage this will do to my skin. It looks and feels like a sunburn from my chest down to my ribs and all under my armpit and side. I also have a burn on my neck where the radiation is targeting the lymph nodes. I am very diligent using heavy moisturizer and aloe vera. Sometimes it feels dry, sometimes it feels more burned, so I switch off. Unfortunately I ended up with a small blister on my side. I can't feel it, but I have an antibiotic cream and special bandage to keep it covered so it doesn't rub on my clothes or get infected. It's not too bad. Just add it to my many other daily routines to manage the cancer treatment side effects. It truly never ends.

I really can't complain. Despite all these radiation treatments, I am feeling more of myself again and I see the light at the end of the tunnel. From here on out I'll live in fear of recurrence, but I'm learning that even that isn't the worse thing in the world. I feel so blessed and lucky. Isn't that strange? But I do. Everyday I am with my family means I am blessed. And I am not just here, I am getting well again and look forward to getting my strength and health back and hopefully run my household and take care of my kids full-time again :)

My cancer hospital has a wellness center that I have been taking advantage of since beginning radiation. I did a session of acupuncture to help regulate sleep (thanks chemo) and to hopefully improve the neuropathy in my fingers and feet. The chemo I get every three weeks makes my neuropathy worse so that didn't do much, but the acupuncture has helped me fall asleep and stay asleep every night. I used to have to take medicine to help me fall asleep, it was causing me anxiety and obviously affecting my life so I am so happy with the results of doing one acupuncture session. I recommend for stress and sleep issues, for sure. I have been getting lymphatic massages every week and learn so much each time. I do have some inflammation and swelling in my right arm due to having 24 lymph nodes removed and then doing all this radiation on top of that so I'm grateful I have a wonderful specialist who is treating me so the swelling won't get worse. I don't have lymphedema, I don't want lymphedema and I'm doing all I can to prevent it from happening to my arm! The third thing I'm doing at the wellness center is their POWER recovery program. I had a consultation with one of their doctors and exercise specialists to go over my treatment history and what I wanted out of this program. I wanted to have energy through radiation (and beyond!) and to get back some upper body strength since having lost so much from surgery. I did an assessment and they created an "exercise prescription" for me full of resistance training, cardio, and stretching. I have the next 3 months, everyday, all planned out for me and I'm so happy to start exercising again! There is a gym at my hospital with these exercise specialists so I've been going in twice a week and have been training with them and learning so much. Eventually I will get a gym pass and continue it on my own. It just feels so good to feel good and be able to physically exercise again. Yay!

Me and my cotton men's white T. Radiation has me so stylish :)

Matt and I took the kids up the mountains to a beautiful lake this last weekend. We enjoyed an afternoon full of playing in the sand and splashing in the water, all with the beautiful mountain backdrop. I stayed out of the sun and did very little, but the fatigue hit me hard by the time we got home. It's a shame I can't keep up, but I am working on getting healthy again so I can be there for my cute husband and kids.

I hope everyone had a wonderful end to their summers and are having good "back to school" experiences. I love you all and thank you for your continual prayers :)