treatment:
radiation
1/26/2017-- Radiation Begins. After a few days of being marked up and set up in the radiation machine, I was ready for treatment. The oncologists were on the fence about recommending radiation for me, but we all agreed that the potential benefits outweighed the potential risks, so here we were. Treatment everyday, Monday through Friday, for 4 weeks. They will be treating only my chest wall, in hopes that any tumor cells that may have had a chance to break into the skin will be killed. The machine uses high energy photons to destroy the cells. They can really focus in on specific areas and so my treatment consisted of a quick 30 second "beam" on the left side and then they move the machine to the other side and shoot another 30 second beam. The machine is not directed straight at my chest, but rather, angled to get more targeted treatment up against the chest wall. I found this process very interesting. Every other treatment day, they use a bolus over my treatment area. A bolus is like a pad filled with jelly. Since my treatment area on my chest wall is very superficial and near the skin, the radiation gets "stuck" in the bolus and then stays closer to the chest wall. They can't use the bolus everyday, because it would be too harmful for the skin in the area. Lauren, Patrick and Jackie made radiation so fun! I enjoyed their company every morning, chatting and listening to Justin Timberlake. Those 3 explained everything to me and were so sweet and helpful. They were very professional and always made me feel like they were taking every precaution to be exact in their measurements. Shout out to those 3, miss you guys! :) I also really enjoyed Chip from valet and all the valet people who were always so nice. Duke offered free valet for patients receiving radiation, so that you could just run in, have your quick treatment and be on your way. It was awesome! Also, Chris at the front desk, he was so awesome! I loved talking to him every morning. Radiation oncology at Duke is a great team of people!
Pre-radiation mark-up
Pre-radiation mark-up
After 5 treatments
After 10 treatments
After 15 treatments
After 20 treatments (treatment 16-20 was considered a "boost"). It was a smaller,
more specific area where the original tumor was pushed up against the skin.
Post-radiation