Here comes the "sun"...

     Well radiation therapy is underway.  I must say the people who work there have what they need to do down like a well oilled machine!  I was in and out in about 15 minutes.  Right now I have permenant marker on my upper chest area and part of my throat of where the field of radiation is.  Trust me it is not attractive!  I feel at time like a cross between an etch a sketch and Dr. Hannibal Lecter with the mask on in Silence of the Lambs :) 
     When I am laying on the machine getting prepped for the radiation they have to take a picture of me to show the "field" that they are radiating for their files.  There is a young guy (of course lol) that works there and was taking the picture of me while I am locked in my mask and I jokingly say to him "this isn't going to end on facebook is it?"  he anwered very quickly "oh no no" ....poor guy lol!   So as of now I have two treatments down and 16 more to go.  I am putting on sun block so I don't get red from the treatment.  It was sort of anticlimactic after I put it on because the lotion reminded me of the beach or sitting by a pool--yet I was going to sit and be cooked by a machine inside :(  
     I am so happy really to be at this point of the treatment.  I really can't beat being in and out in roughly 15 minutes.   So right now things are going well and I really can't complain because so many of my hopes and prayers have been answered.  I am soon going to me in the market  for a really strong loofah sponge because after all of this is finished I am scrubing my skin hard to get all the evidence of any pen marking on me.  :)   Soon enough!


**on another note--I want to give a special thanks to a friend of mine that passed away unexpectedly the other day.  I just hope she knows how much she will be missed and how much she helped me last year taking on my long term sub job when I was out on maternity leave.  So here's  a toast and quiet sarcastic jokes(but loving lol) we would do-- to you friend!  May you rest in peace~

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
- Winston Churchill

The Weight of the World...

     So I feel as if I have been in limbo for the past week.  We've been waiting on results on my scans to see what was going on around my glands in the face and around the front part of my jaw.  During the PET scan those areas were taking up dye and the doctors weren't sure as to why.  So finally got the results back from Vanderbilt today after going through my images not being able to load up correctly, not having some insurance info and then Vanderbilt just not reading them!  All this delayed me getting my answers that I so desperately needed. 
     Wouldn't you know the time I don't have that phone around me that is the time my doctor calls-thankfully he left a message! My radiologist has really taken his time going through all the scans and even took them to a conference they were having to have others view them and come up with a conclusion as to what was going on.    Results are that pockets in my glands in my face are not cancereous and I will not have to have radiation in my face that can result in having a dry mouth for the rest of my life which my dr decribed as something you just don't want.  So now I will only have to have it from the base of my skull to the mid part of my chest which is pretty standard.  Honestly it has felt as if the weight of the world has been lifted.  This was the last piece of information I needed in this battle with cancer.  Again he told me that the caner in my neck region is dead and is not in my upper glands!
    Right now I am waiting on them to double check the measurements on my scans at Vanderbilt and then send them back to my doctor and they will do a trial run on the measurements for my radiation on my body.  I am getting closer and hope to start radiation early next week.  I know I've become a strong believer in the power of prayer and expecially having a guardian angel.  Hearing the news perhaps my guardian angel eased up a bit on holding my shoulders up and now I can do it more on my own- little by little.  Either way I know I am doing well and will continue to get better and now hold the title that is very sacared---survivor!  :)

Body Art...

      Part two for me has started.  On Tuesday I was fitted for my mask when I get radiation.  It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't comfortable.  What they do is mold a mesh/plastic piece over your face that come around your head.  It starts off warm and soft and then it is pulled down so it can mold to the shape of you head. I felt a bit like I was in the movie the Matrix or Tron, so sci-fi! lol When I start radiation I will wear this each time where you are locked into place so you don't move and that you always receive radiation in the same place.  Fun times.
      The second part of this was that I was marked with marker on my torso to my neck lines I am thinking that will help line up the machine.  I feel a bit like an art project in the making.  As of now I am wearing my jacket zipped all the way up so you can't see the mark on my throat area--I soon may need to invest in many turtle necks.  I also bought sun tan lotion.  Throughout this process I will get or can get red from the radiation.  And well since I am already very pale like a ghost, I got the heaving duty block.  I am also wearing my hat pretty much all the time.  My hair has thinned out quite a bit.  It is one of those things that will turn itself around, but in the mean time it not look so purtty!  :)
     Right now they are determining where to do the radiation as far as starting at the base of my skull or going up higher on the face.  When you have a PET scan it shoots dye into your body and it is taken up by masses that are abnormal.  In my neck area the uptake was not there which is good meaning that those masses/tumors are dead.  What they are seeing right now and they saw back in September is uptake in the parotid gland.  So they sent out my results to be reviewed by radiaologist at Vanderbilt Hospital to see where they will pin point the radiation.  This isn't bad news just the further up will affect the salvatory glands making me have a very very dry throat.  But hey, I've been through chemo and I will get through this.  Just another step in getting better.
     So I will find out tomorrow what they story is on my parotid glands and get my schedule of the time I will go Monday-Friday. Until then I wait.