Today marked my last session of radiation. A friend of mine said wow that went fast. For them maybe. For me it was kind of slow. Constant. Not painful until the end.
It was strange finishing radiation - you just finish - and walk out. There's no fanfare. Different from chemo - we had blow up gloves and lots of laughing. I guess radiation is different in that it's just a few minutes - Chemo you spend so many many many hours.
The technicians were lovely - the told me they hoped to never see me again - that made me smile alot. I hope I never see them again too.
I met with my radiologist oncologist - who pretty much said the same thing and gave me a script to try to reduce the burn and blistering - she promised me it would get worse before it gets better ( awesome lol ) and told me to ring if I was worried.
Then she too wished me all the best.
I never really took pictures unlike chemo but I knew I had to snap one in the change room before I left and I snuck a couple just for the record. I never would park in the basement I found it far too hard to get in and out of so I parked upstairs and rode the lift down each day. The waiting room always had a TV going though I was so fortunate and only had to wait 40 minutes one day - the rest of the time I was in and out . The lovely blue bag - which used to hold my gown and cream and wipes no longer has a place in my car :)
Once I finished my appointments today I sat in my car for a few minutes by myself. It was surreal. Officially my active treatment is now over.
If you have been reading my story for some time you will however know that rarely do I follow the rules. On Tuesday I popped back into my surgeon and said have a look at this. My problem right side had doubled in size again and this time had added an angry red mark. I knew what he would say before I even showed him. Despite what seems like a pharmacy of antibiotics it just won't settle.
So I am booked for surgery on Wednesday next week. A couple of days of IV antibiotics and a few nights stay. The expander will be removed. I'll wait three months (I'm going to try to negotiate 10 weeks because it's the girls tenth birthday in 3 months and I'm not missing it again) and I'll go back and have it replaced.
Then infills more waiting and implant surgery should be done by June. To say I am not thrilled is an understatement but I can't say that we didn't try. I did everything he asked me to but it seems my immune system wasn't up to it.
Of course I have the inevitable bloods and scans coming soon and a check in with my oncologist. That will be after I recover from surgery. I am confident we have this whacked so despite this final hiccup, I can see my life as I knew it coming back to me in the very very near future.
Happy Days :)
