All Done

Today was my last radiation treatment.  I was on such a high today.  My husband Don met me at the cancer clinic and joined me for my treatment.  You could just see the relief in his face.  I gave Rumel, Desmond and Jason (my radiation boyfriends) a huge hug thanking them for taking care of me.  They were so wonderful during this whole process.  I brought a different person with me every day and they gave my friends a full training session each time.  They were amazed at the support system I have.  I too am amazed and humbled at the help and support I received  from friends who brought me to radiation.  They were so intent on being a part of my experience and learning about radiation first hand.  I hope if anything they realized it is not such a scary experience to encounter.  Being reminded of cancer every day for the past month could have been very rough and a real drain on my attitude, but because of the radiation staff and my incredible friends it was a very positive experience for me.

I am also so grateful and thankful to my, family, friends and friends of friends who encouraged and supported me with food drop offs, flowers, magazines, jewellry, Scotch, books, candy, emails, texts, blog comments, phone calls, coffee, lunch, drinks, etc.  I am so lucky and grateful for all of you.

A Wonderful Surprise

Today my radiation was a little out of the ordinary.  One of the technicians was a friend of mine Kari Kinakin.  I haven't seen her in over a year and it was so great to see her.  She was actually working in another unit today and heard through our mutual friends' that I was a patient so she came by and ended up helping the other technician with my procedure.  It was a wonderful surprise to see her and even better getting zapped from a friend. How many people can say that about treatment!? My sister Dawn who brought me today took a few pictures of the procedure.  Here they are:

All ready for my Zap.

                               Here I am with Kari.  Thanks for the personal touch Kari!

2 Down,

18 more to go.  The first two radiaiton treatments have been pretty easy.  Basically you check in to the radiology department, change into a hospital gown, wait until they call you. Lay on the bed with your hands behind you grabbing 2 bars.  They move the bed to match you up precisely to two destinct points.  They leave the room and zap for 1 minute.  Then the set up is changed to the other side. Again, zap for 1 minute. Done.  it all takes about 20 - 30 minutes.  So far I don't feel a thing.....

Radiation starts.....

Happy New Year.  My radiation starts tomorrow Wed Jan 5th with the first of 20 treatments over the month.  Monday to Friday every day.  I am looking forward to getting it over with and moving on with a healthy and cancer free life.  Stay tuned for my progress.

Good News

I met with Dr. Weir my radiologist today for my consultation.  The results from my MRI were good and there is nothing suspiscious hanging around.  I will go in next week for a planning session where I will have a CT scan.  She will use the images from the CT scanner and a computer to map out the area that will be treated.  Because of the Christmas holidays, and that I'll be heading to the cottage for a few days, I'll be starting my radiation treatments the first week of January and I will have a total of 4 weeks (20 days) of radiation.  And then I'll be done.  Whoohoo.  Happy New Year!!

Radiologist Booked

I received a call from the Cancer Agency today.  I will meet with Dr. Weir on Monday December 13 at 12:45.  I'm assuming I won't start radation until after Christmas.  I guess this is a good thing but what a way to start the new year.

MRI booked

I am scheduled for my MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) on Friday Dec 3 at 2pm.  I am still waiting to hear from the radiologist to find out when my radiation treatments will start.  Stay tuned for that.