Radiotherapy Begins

I had my appointment at the hospital on Monday to discuss with the doctor medication called Tamoxifen which I shall be taking for the next five years and to have yet more blood taken. This was for a full blood count to see how I am after all my chemo. Well I'm guessing it will be good as I am feeling much better than I have done in the last few months.

Tuesday was the first day of radiotherapy and it was all explained about how it would all happen, I was given all my appointments for the full 20 sessions along with some cream to apply twice a day to help keep the skin moisturised. I think the first time for anything like this can always be a little bit daunting, I suppose it's a case of the unknown and also the thought of what it may be doing to your body, that's the worry! So here I am pictured above on machine number 5 which will be the machine for all my radiotherapy sessions.

Anyway after they'd positioned and shuffled me a fraction here and a fraction there, measured and called out numbers, I was asked to keep very still and they then went out of the room leaving me to wait for the machine to start and do it's thing. After a minute or two it then started up and then proceeded to move around me, pausing and then moving again. The whole time the radiographers are in a room where they can monitor you on cctv. It doesn't take very long and then they are back out and the session is finished and you can then leave.

The second session was Wednesday where I had also been booked in to see the doctor and wasn't sure about why I had been asked to see him. I thought perhaps there had been a mix up and that another doctor had already seen me on the Monday. He asked how I'd been and then I got a bit of a scare when he said " Do you remember you had a CT scan a couple of weeks ago? ........... Well that showed up something on your liver." Well you can imagine how I might be feeling at that point! He then went on to say that his thoughts are that it is a cyst, quite large but, that one in five people have them and they don't even know it. He said it's just that you've had this scan and it's picked it up and with the breast cancer they need to look into it, he said about him not being a radiographer but that he has seen this many times and feels sure that it's nothing to worry about that it will probably be a cyst. Still it doesn't stop you feeling somewhat concerned about things.

An appointment has been made for me to go back and see him on Wednesday 3rd June, so fingers crossed he will have good news. but for now I am trying to put any worries out of my mind, because I can't change anything.

I just want to get this all over with so I can try to put it all behind me, get back to normal and look forward to good times ahead. :) Which is what I feel pretty sure is the way it will happen. :)

So the countdown is on 3 lots of rads done, 17 to go! 

Radiotherapy Planning

I had my radiotherapy planning today. I didn't sleep so well last night as I was a little apprehensive about it all, again it's all about the unknown really. Anyway as it turned out it all went well and there was really no need to worry. So I am all measured and marked up complete with 3 tiny tattoo's ready to start treatment on the 19th May. 

Here is a picture of the kind of machine which was used today, it is called a simulator. Simulators are machines which look very much like the radiotherapy treatment machines but which actually take x-ray pictures or scans. The specialist can use the simulator to work out exactly where the treatment needs to be given. The measurements and pictures taken during the simulator sessions will then be worked on and processed by computers to calculate all the technical details to make sure the radiotherapy is given accurately to precisely the right place.