Surgery is two weeks from today. I\u2019m still waiting to find out when my seed insertion will be. I also need an ultrasound of my lymph nodes because the tech at the last ultrasound skipped that (probably assuming wrongly that I would be getting an MRI). Of course the only opening is at a UPMC hospital I haven’t visited yet because there’s no room at my normal hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this morning I had my pre-op testing. I went to UPMC Montefiore, yet another hospital in the system, where it was a one-stop shop. It felt like I was in the Twilight Zone because the TV had on Fox “News” and all the clocks hadn\u2019t been changed after Daylight Savings!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First my vitals were taken, and then I had an EKG. It literally took only two seconds! Then while I waited in the room for the doctor to come in, someone else entered. I explained I was deaf and needed to read her lips, so she pulled down her mask and said she was there to do a hearing screening. If I failed, they\u2019d give me an amplifier. Obviously I didn\u2019t need that! Why don\u2019t they look at my chart, or is it even mentioned in there!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the resident came in, he had a clear mask \u2013 so at least they learned. He asked me screening questions and went over my medical history. He came back a little later with the doctor on duty, who told me that I\u2019m a bit anemic. Could that possibly be contributing to my fatigue? COULD IT POSSIBLY???? I\u2019m annoyed that when I brought up my fatigue last week, no one mentioned checking my iron levels or giving me some iron!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I got some iron tablets at the store after, and if my levels aren\u2019t where they want them to be after checking my bloodwork, I might have to get iron via IV, which would get it in me faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last stop was bloodwork. I then went home with a bag that has special body and face wash that I\u2019m supposed to start using four days prior to surgery. I asked if it smelled, and the resident said he\u2019s never used it. Well, I really hope it doesn\u2019t smell!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This afternoon we met with the radiation oncologist, Dr. Torok. Before we actually met him, one of the nurses got my vitals (again) and took some history (again). I got a folder with key information and a bottle of aloe vera gel. She explained some of the radiation process and answered my questions and then had us watch several short, captioned videos about how it all goes down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the time the doctor came in, I only had a couple questions left. I like him and can tell I\u2019ll be in good hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Assuming no evidence of cancer in the lymph nodes, the expected number of daily radiation sessions is about 20; this will be adapted based on the surgery. Radiation likely won\u2019t start until 4-6 weeks after my surgery, unless my healing is going well and I\u2019m ready earlier. Unfortunately, this means I\u2019ll still be undergoing treatment on my 50th birthday! Wah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When it gets closer to the start of this third phase, I\u2019ll have a treatment planning CT where they\u2019ll mark me up and create a plan based on this imaging. It\u2019ll impact how I lay (lie?) on the table. It takes a week to get this plan ready. Then there\u2019s a simulation or dry run visit, where I\u2019ll be marked with a temporary tattoo and have x-rays done. They do everything but give me the radiation. If it goes well, then the next visit would be the start of treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During treatment, each session will take roughly 10-15 minutes, not including the time to get ready and positioned, etc. I think the total visit length is 30-45 minutes. Every Thursday I\u2019ll see the doctor for a skin check; the topical treatment will adjust accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are side effects, of course, like fatigue. But the doctor confirmed that radiation fatigue isn\u2019t as bad as chemo fatigue. The skin might become irritated and\/or burned. Everyone is different, but given my proclivity to weird\/all side effects, I\u2019m expecting \u2018em all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I won\u2019t be able to read my Kindle during sessions, but I\u2019ll be in the same boat as everyone else \u2013 no music is played like they do for MRIs. So it\u2019ll just be 10-15 minutes alone with my thoughts every day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll try to schedule me for the same time every day. Parking is so easy and is super close to the building, so at least something will go smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I was writing this up, my bloodwork from this morning came in. I do have anemia, but don\u2019t know what threshold is used for the iron infusion. My liver numbers are still high, but have come down a lot since they were last checked, so the downward trend is good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In general, my fatigue miiiight be getting a bit better, though it\u2019s hard to tell because of Daylight Savings, and now this anemia! No change in taste buds; it can take up to two months! I\u2019ve also been nauseous almost every day. Someone posted in one of my online breast cancer groups that they\u2019re experiencing these same symptoms and their last chemo was four days before me. So I\u2019m not an outlier\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After six+ months of inactivity, I did finally take a slow walk on the treadmill this past Saturday. And Sunday. And Monday. I\u2019m going to try to do it every day or as often as I can so I can start building up my strength and energy. In just a few days I\u2019ll be in warmer weather and will want to take advantage; here\u2019s hoping I\u2019ll be up for it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Surgery is two weeks from today. I\u2019m still waiting to find out when my seed insertion will be. I also need an ultrasound of my lymph nodes because the tech at the last ultrasound skipped that (probably assuming wrongly that I would be getting an MRI). Of course the only opening is at a UPMC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322\/revisions\/323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}