December 2017 Radiation Group

PauletteK, I know those tears. I've looked in the mirror and screamed. Ive woke up at night in tears. I've cried in my journal as I'm asking God for favor. I've cried on my way to work, appts and I fell to my knees at my biopsy session... when I was told, yes it's cancer. And even where I am now... I still shed tears, but now they fall for a different reason. At first I was scared, fear, the not knowing, the questions, the whys, am I going to live ... my tears now; of thanks, of joy and knowing that for all of my fears, God had an answer for them all. He knew my journey before I did. I'm not in denial of what this is, but I'm grateful and blessed that He allowed me the strength, health and sanity to be able to go through it. Im believing that I must have a purpose to be in this place.

Lifechoices - I admitted I’m weak during this journey, it knocked me down so many times. I cried and I was afraid that I have depression. I’m so glad to find this website and I got all of you listen to my worries and we can laugh together.

Gigibee- thank you so much, we will here for each other.

Rhyfelwer, Actually just Tuesday I did run into a lady as she was leaving her rads and she has shorter grey hair, we spoke in the hallway about our recent snow and we both wished one another well in our treatment. I hope to see her again so that I can compliment her beauty:)

And Warriors At Work; lol...not sure it's a real bboard, but I feel that's what we are.

Hi Sonia, welcome to the thread, I did four sessions only so we are about the same time. I pray that we have minimal SE and sail through this fast.

I need that Lifechoices, last night I dream about doctor announced I have cancer, then I started crying, and I woke up. So I need Win, Win Win!!

Will have my #5 radiation today 💪🙏🙏

PauletteK; you will win! There's a song out now called YOU WILL WIN ...

The Enemy came up aganist your home - The enemy came up against your children

The enemy came up against your Name - The enemy came up against your character

You will Win, Win - You will Win, Win

The enemy came up against your health - The enemy came up against your finance
The enemy came up against your vision - The enemy came up against your business

I know you're hurt - I know you're torn - I know you are broken

It's my winning season - Everything attached to me Wins

...AND YES...it is my WINNING SEASON and I truly believe that In the Name of Jesus; EVERYTHING ATTACHED TO ME WINS!

Thanks Lifechoices.... ❤️❤️❤️ So glad to have you here to pump us up!!!

Teese - how do you count the Zap? I should do that also.

I count the zaps as well. I also count how long each zap takes, but I had to hold my breath during each zap, so I was particularly interested in how long each would take! I named the linear accelerator machine "Bert", because it reminded me of the big slow troll in Tolkien. Bert would zap from four different positions, and each tech seemed to take them in a slightly different sequence. Now that they are doing boosts, Bert wears a special extension and one stays in one position. That zap is only 20 seconds long. I can free-breathe, so I am not as desperate as I count.

Today, I walked into the office, straight to the dressing room, back to the treatment room, positioned, had my 20-second zap, then back to the dressing room and out of the office all within about 10 minutes! It would have been quicker if I hadn't been wrangling on my lymphedma sleeve (punched myself in the eye the other day when I was trying to get it on and lost my grip of the edge as I pulled).

Hi ladies, I have my Rads simulation tomorrow and part of the visit will be to work out my 6 wk treatment schedule. A question I have for all of you is what if anything did you have to do to make up for holidays? Do they up your dose the other days that week or just give you more days on the back end? I am really hoping to start my radiation in December just to get it the heck started already but the christmas and new year holidays will definitely impact my schedule. I was hoping for some points of reference before I go into the conversation tomorrow. Thanks in advance for anything you can share!

I also did not want pity from others and have kept my story in limited release. I've been at my worst during this and wanted to surround myself with those who would accept seeing me like this and know that who they know is still underneath all this crap. I heard an analogy recently about those you surround yourself with are like a tree. So I only kept those who are my trunks/branches 'in the know'. Those who were leaves, I had to let go. This 'thing' takes so much energy, inner reflection, and also outer reflection it is overwhelming. We will all surface from this and somehow, somewhere relish in the strength and courage we exhibited.

Hi Scaligirl and welcome! Not to be a downer, but brace yourself for being told you don't start treatments until after the holidays. I was hoping to start in mid-November, but by the time they did the initial mapping, got the treatment planned out and did a dry run, they decided I had to wait until the Monday after Thanksgiving to start since they were closed the holiday week Thursday and Friday. I guess because the research findings were all based on a daily, five days a week schedule they try not to have days off it it's avoidable.

You should also think about what time you want to go since they like the appointments to be the same time every day. In my case, since I work I gave them the preference of end of day, and all my treatment have been between 3:30 and 5:15.

Good luck and feel free to keep asking questions!

Hi everyone, I was hoping to be joining you all in the December radiation group, but I still haven't had my first appointment. Today they called me and said they are waiting until they physically have my pathology slides, which have not arrived yet. They are coming from one major Boston hospital to another. I was at work when they called so I didn't ask why. Do any of you know why they cannot use the pathology report? Thanks for any help.

Georgia1 Thanks, I didn't get very many instructions other than using a mild soap...

I hadn't thought about not shaving, is anyone continuing to shave?

Lewhy , have you seen a medical oncologist yet? or are you just waiting to see a radiation oncologist?

Good evening everyone..and WELCOME to our new WARRIORS! OK, where to start:

1. #11 of 20 today, 5 more whole breast and 4 boost... still no SEs praise God!!! I meet with the RO tomorrow, thinking he'll once again say how fantastic my boob looks...hes right:)

2. The holidays halted my start date as well, I couldn't get Thanksgiving week because I'd have missed Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun..the following Mon/Tues was taken so I was able to start that Wed.. this is my last full week of whole breast; continuing next Mon/Tues/Wed. I will have boost next Thurs, Fri..nothng Sat, Sun, Christmas...last 2 boost 26th and 27th.

3. I still count zaps. I almost missed some today because I was singing along with the Christmas music.

4. I did not get to see my grey haired lady today to compliment her beauty; hopefully I'll see her before the week is out... but I asked the techs if next week can I bring in some giveaways... she said Yes! So over the weekend I plan to get some pink/white candy canes and put HOPE tags on them for all that will be radding over Christmas. I'll fix up a cute basket and leave in the waiting area.

5. I shared this with my fella and he said, maybe you can see if they have group sessions..he said I think you would be good at uplifting someone right now..that made me smile. So I'll look into that.

6...lastly, I just want to say thank you ladies for your support, your strength. Scripture says it takes a village... in our case; we ARE the village and together WE WIN!