My six weeks are over! While I am SOOOOO grateful to finally be finished and to start recovering from the side effects of radiation therapy (hair loss, fatigue, memory loss, "sunburned" skin), I will miss my radiation therapists. They became my friends. I couldn't have asked for a better support team. Today I got lots of hugs and I got to take my mask home. Some people come home and smash their mask to bits - therapeutic and symbolic. I'm thinking I should paint it glow-in-the-dark and wear it next Halloween... What do you think? Please note that the following info is specific to my experience and largely gathered from my own observations - not technically sound nor representative of all radiation treatments. Six weeks ago I came to the hospital to be fitted for my mask. The plastic was molded specifically to my head and face, and I had a special head/neck rest as well. Every weekday after that I hitched a ride to the hospital. I checked in at the Huntsman Radiation front desk, they sent me back past the nurse's desk, through the dressing room (I didn't have to get changed due to the location of my tumor bed/ cancer) and to the waiting area. One of the radiation therapist would come get me in a matter of minutes and take me down the hall to "Vault 5". There they would ask me what I wanted listen to on Spotify, give me a warm blanket if I so desired, and help me lay down on the table, or "couch" of the LINAC machine. When I was proper situated on my back they would fit my mask over my face and clamp it down to the table, lining up the marking on the side with lasers from the machine (even a cm discrepancy was not acceptable.) The radiation therapists would adjust the couch at least four different times, leaving the room between each one to operate the machine from outside the vault. My radiation was delivered at various angles to specifically target the tumor bed and every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I received X-rays as well to make sure they were still targeting the correct areas. Why radiation therapy? How does that help eliminate tumors and cancer? How does that crazy big machine work?
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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. |