It's actually a pretty easy process. I have to change into the eternally sexy hospital gown and covering robe from the waist up. I can keep on my normal clothes from the waist down. I journey down the hall and identify myself to the radiation technicians (name, birth date, you're treating my left breast, yes....that's the picture you took of me in a hospital gown and robe). And then we're off. I shed the sexy robe and remove my left arm from the gown. I lay down on a table, stretch my arms over my head, and play dead. Seriously...I have to be dead weight so the techs can move me into the correct position. It's an amazing science the way they shift me into the correct spot. They keep reciting numbers that I have no idea the meaning of. They move me around until they are happy with the numbers, then they tape some wires to my left breast, and they leave the room. Then the thing I think of as the giant Roomba takes over. It doesn't actually vacuum. I just think it looks like a Roomba (keeping in mind that I only ever look at it from the table point of view).
It circles around my head and torso, stopping above me to my right and below me to my left. Radiation warning lights come on and I hear a buzzing. I can see myself reflected in the ceiling...arms over my head, green laser lights forming an axis on my left breast, red laser lights moving over my body with the giant Roomba. And just like that, I'm done for the day.
Returning home after radiation is one of my favorite moments of the day. That's when I play with paper chains.
After my first radiation therapy session I made a paper chain with one link for each remaining treatment. Each time a treatment is completed, I remove a link from my chain. It's a nice visual reminder that I'm making progress. As my chain gets shorter, I know I'm closer to the end of this part of the adventure.
So far I'm feeling pretty good about everything. No physical side effects of the radiation other than a little redness on my skin. I know the skin is likely to get more tender and I'm probably going to lose some of my stamina as treatments continue. But for now, all is well. And my chain is shrinking.
