Radiation
12/03/02
I finished chemo around the end of October, and have since moved on to radiation treatments. No significant changes surrounding the conclusion of chemo, but my veins have been breathing a sigh of relief and I've slowly started to get my energy level back. I had to light some fires with my oncologist to get radiation set up, apparently they like to let you recover for 3-4 weeks from the last chemo before starting radiation.
Anyway, my first visit with Dr. Massey was very informative. She took much more time than my previous physicians had to explain to me the procedure, as well as the reasons for conducting it. She and her nurse Annie spent about an hour discussing the ins and outs and answering questions. The next step in the process is to have a planning CT, which allows them to tell exactly what areas they want to treat. The primary mass was in my chest, so that is the focus of the first round of radiation, and she said she would have to confer with Drs. Froehlich and Pendergrass to determine if the involvement in my spleen was significant enough to warrant radiating that area as well. I'll keep you posted, but so far no word on that one.
When I arrived for the planning CT, I stripped from the waist up, and laid on a table in a large industrial looking room, with the now-familiar CT machine in the middle. The first (and most disquieting) part of the procedure was the creation of the mask. It is designed to hold me in place while I'm getting zapped, and is created as follows. First a sheet of mesh plastic was heated up until pliable. Then it was stretched across my chin and face, then buckled to the table to hold it tight. The tech pressed on it to make sure it conformed to my face, and left it on until it had cooled and hardened. The result is a custom-made Halloween mask that is quite form fitting. This I wear during each daily treatment.
The scan itself was relatively short, and I just had to hold still until it was complete. Following the scan, the tech made four small tattoos - one near my throat, one near my sternum, and one on each shoulder. They are just dots, and they use them to line up the machine for each treatment.
The daily routine is pretty short and sweet, I go in the room, take off my shirt, and get strapped down to the table by my plastic mask. The techs then leave the room, and give me two short jolts, one from above, and one from below, with a short pause in between to change the blocking that allows the radiation to be targeted to a specific area of my chest. It feels just like getting an x-ray, there is no smell of burning flesh or anything like that.
So far, I have not had any negative side effects from the treatment, with the exception of a little more fatigue than normal (which may have been attributed to the large quantities eaten over Thanksgiving). The doctor said I would soon develop a sore esophagus, and a faux sunburn on my chest where I get the treatment.
More to come...
Update - 12/06/02
Quick update and a picture...This is me on the table getting ready to get a treatment, as you can see the mask is rather form fitting. Imagine having your head inside a whiffle ball, it is something like that. Following the first dose, the big arm on the machine swings around and they shoot me from underneath.
Still no serious side effects after eight treatments, almost halfway done. I've started to notice a little bit of a scratchy throat, not sure if that is due to a cold or the effects of the radiation. I'm getting a little red on my chest around where they zap me, but nothing painful or too apparent yet. I use something called 'radiagel,' which is essentially high-powered aloe vera gel to try to contain the redness.
Update - 01/19/03
Back again to provide a brief update. I just had a doctor visit with Dr. Pendergrass on Friday, and all seems to be going well. I'm off the hook for another three months, when I go in for another checkup and chest x-ray, then another PET scan in six months. Enough about the future, let's talk about what happened since the last update.
Toward the end of December, my esophogaus began to get quite sore, to the point where swallowing anything (including saliva) was a trying experience. I stopped eating much, as every meal was a very painful experience. Dr. Massey gave me lots of tools to try to fight the pain, including 'Magic Mouthwash' (equal parts of benadryl, maalox, and a numbing agent), liquid codene, and carafate syrup to coat my throat. Nothing from the pharmacy helped much, although a few glasses of red wine before a meal proved quite effective.
To add insult to injury, I developed a nasty case of reflux. Due to the irritation from the radiation, the contents of my stomach would creep into my esophogaus, especially when I was laying down at night to sleep. I would begin coughing, and eventually throwing up whatever food I had managed to choke down for dinner. I was able to control this for the most part by taking a pepcid-like product that reduced the amount of acid produced by my stomach. About two weeks after I finished the radiation, all of the side effects began to clear up, and I was finally able to enjoy a meal.
The radiation also had some odd side effects that seem to be lasting longer than the others. I have not been able to grow any hair on my neck or beneath my chin, which has made shaving quite easy. Also, the hairline on the back of my head was bumped up about 1.5 inches, and doesn't show any signs of returning. All in all, easy to live with compared to a month ago.
I'll provide updates from time to time, but until then you can enjoy some pictures (and eventually stories) of the trip that my girlfriend Jill and I took to celebrate the completion of the treatment. Best wishes to all of you in the new year, and my sincere thanks for all of your support and kind words along the way.
