The day to begin my treatment finally came, yesterday. The visits aren't very long, but I found the first one to be nerve racking. I checked in and got changed into hospital attire and was asked to wait for the technician to call me back. I waited a bit longer than I expected, something to do with the software update on the machine. I was finally called back and was positioned on the table. They use the tattoos that I was given previously to ensure I am in exactly the right spot. Once everything is set correctly we begin. The first day (and once a week I am told) they do films, which takes an extra couple of minutes. The machine makes a lot of noise and even though I'm facing down and can't see all that much I can tell that there is a lot of movement. It reminds me of scenes from a sci-fi movie were the machines are working on patients, like when Luke gets his new hand in Star Wars. Probably didn't help that Dennis was watching the Trilogy (sorry I don't believe the prequels exist so it will always be a trilogy to me) this past weekend. Probably the worst thing that happened during my first visit, I was told to drink water so that I could have a full bladder. I couldn't move but I had to go so bad. Last thing I need to be doing is the pee pee dance while I'm getting radiated. I was seriously on the verge of peeing my pants...well if I was wearing pants. Thankfully today's treatment was quite a bit shorter and went a lot smoother.
I've gone thru only two treatments and the side effects have started to kick in. Nothing major, but I am beat. It feels like I have the flu, achey, tired and kind of spaced out. I get to about 3 PM and I hit the wall. At about 4 today, I checked out and took a 2-3 hr nap. I haven't done that in quite some time. When I was a kid, my best friend's mom was going thru chemo and I remember her always being tired. I have a new appreciation for what she was going thru. They tell me the side effects will get worse as I continue treatment, but I'm still have hope that this is a fluke and I will be unaffected as time goes on.
No comments:
Post a Comment