Radiation Round 2. Rinse and repeat. This time I’m in Treatment Room 2 which looks exactly like Treatment Room 1. On the way in I notice a garment rack with about 10 people-shaped body casts, including mine, hanging vertically. It’s like a weird coat check in this surreal cancer universe. 

The Treatment follows the same pattern as yesterday. Afterwards I see one of the Radiologists for an Education session. I learn that a unit of radiation is called a gray (Gy) and that my total dose of radiation given over the three weeks will be just over 40 Gy. That’s a whole heap of nastiness if given in one dose but I’ll receive only 2.67Gy per day. The effects are cumulative meaning most people don’t feel the effects of the radiation until the second or even third week, and feel at their weakest 2-3 weeks following treatment. This is because the radiation kills healthy cells as well as cancer cells. The healthy cells can regenerate but it just takes time. Good to know what to expect.

Radiation Therapy is targeted, but because Betty was so big and because I had lymph node involvement, the area that is being treated is very broad, pretty much the entire upper left side of my torso from a couple of inches below where my left breast used to be, to just above my clavicle, and from the centre of my body across and around to the left side. The use of the Strata Gel is really important to help protect my skin as much as possible. Even so, the area treated will remain sun sensitive forever and I will need to be vigilant with Factor 30+ sunscreen. I may even get a head start on summer with a radiation tan.

On the way home I think about this information. It does seem, like chemo, that I’m basically being given poison to try to kill another poison. It’s ok though, as long as it works. 

Second smiley face stamp achieved. 13 more to go.