Well, a long overdue update. I did end up deciding to complete radiation therapy. I met with my radiation oncologist doctors, Dr. Michael Hall and Dr. David Parda, and after reviewing my final PET CT scan, we decided that to radiate a small area of the mediastinum (between your sternum and heart) and a small area in the left lung, where the largest spot of disease was. In my final scan, there was no visible uptake, except for perhaps in the mediastinum, but it’s hard to tell because it’s so close to the heart, which will naturally take up the dye and look ‘active’. There is no 100% assurance that my cancer is completely gone, but with completing the radiation therapy, my docs are pretty confident we have it at 99.99% chance it’s gone. So yah, I’ll take that. Radiation therapy for Hodgkin’s is given at about half the radiation dose used for other cancers, like breast and lung, so the side effects now and long term are less severe. Short term side effects for my treatment are a reddening of the skin at the radiation site, and a dry cough and sore throat. I did experience these symptoms, but not until I was actually done with therapy-finished on a Friday, and my body was just worn down from having to drive into town every day and was very fatigued-and I ended up getting a virus that knocked me on my butt for a few days, and with my weakened immune system, the red skin and sore throat and cough appeared briefly, but are all gone now.
I went in for 17 treatments. Before I started through, I went in for a simulation session. This is where they fit my body into a sand like cast that molded me to stay in a certain position, so I would be in the same position for each treatment. They completed another CT scan during this and then spent a couple weeks designing where they would target the radiation. Once the doctors were pleased with their treatment plan, I started going every day Monday through Friday. Here are some images of how the radiation would be targeted and then disapate as it moved through my body.
I worked the whole time during this as well, just taking off in the afternoons to go downtown for treatment. They finally had a morning spot open up for my last 7 or so treatments. They see a ton of patients everyday-I think maybe like 50 or so? My treatments lasted about 15 minutes. I would lay on my back with my arms above my head. They put a small mark on my left chest each time and lined me up with the laser grid and then the machine went to work, spinning and humming in different positions around me. The table I was on is made of carbon fiber, so the radiation would pass through the table and not pick up any elements in the table and pass them on to my body. Pretty cool stuff.
The radiation technicians were all really nice, most around my age. They made the experience as enjoyable as possible. Definitely the easiest part of this whole process.
So, I’m all done now! No more cancer treatments! I will go in for PET scans every few months for the next couple of years, and the scans will continue to get further and further apart. At 5 years of clean scans I can officially OFFICIALLY call myself cured from cancer. Awesome =) I’m just working on building back up some vacation time at work, starting Couch to 5k (as Theresa put it-the Cancer to 5k program!) and Brandon and I are looking to buy a house! We can put the last 10 months of crap behind us and get on with this life. I am REALLY looking forward to enjoying this summer!
Thanks for following along, friends. If you don’t hear from me for a while…no news is good news.
Love,
Emily
