I was granted a tender mercy as I began radiation treatment.
It was disconcerting to have my head in a stiff mask snapped securely to a table with a large machine whirring about me for several minutes. The radiation technicians were really amazing, always very friendly and making sure I was as comfortable as possible. They always offered me a warm blanket and allowed me to listen to my choice of music via Pandora. Jacob suggested that I request Louis Armstrong, which I did.
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I felt ridiculous. I was lying down in the teachers' lounge next to the table with my feet sticking straight up in the air. Thank goodness I had worn slacks that day! My family doctor was just as confused as I was and supposed my "episodes" to be vasovagal responses. This made no sense to me because Google told me this was a fancy term for "fainting spells" and I had never yet fainted or felt as if I would. But to humor him, and to rule out the vasovagal theory for good, I lay down with feet up as per his suggestion to get increased blood flow to my brain. If anything, it made me feel worse, my head throbbing just above my right ear near my temple. I pulled out my cell phone and called Jacob. This would be the fifth call from me about these "episodes" that he'd received in the last week. He told me to let the front office know that I'd be leaving for the day. He was rushing from work to pick me up and take me to the ER. For the curious, you can read more of what happened that day right here. And today it has been one year since that eventful Friday afternoon. Wow. |
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December 2020
About MeMy name is Andrea. I'm a Mormon mom in my 40's and I am fighting a rare type of brain cancer: Anaplastic Astrocytoma. |