Radiotherapy appointment 3

I was expecting and had prepared myself mentally to start the radiotherapy treatment on Thursday.  I saw the psychologist then a taxi picked me up to take me to the hospital.  I was called pretty quickly and had the disappointing news that the doctor wasn't happy with the preparation done on Tuesday and she wanted to increase the zone to be treated by a few millimetres.

So back in the same room with the same machine doing the same process as before.  Once again, the scary machine whirring and buzzing around my head and body.  I looked at the peaceful mountain scene on the ceiling and waited for the manipulators to do their bit.

My appointment on Friday was also cancelled and I'll start the radiotherapy treatment proper on Monday.

After I saw the doctor, as I would every Thursday afternoon, to see how things are going.  I was glad to get a better explanation of how the treatment works.  Basically, the whole 'breast' area (I don't really consider that I have a breast any longer, just a lump of fat on my chest) is treated for 25 sessions then the last 8 sessions will involve a more intense treatment (using photons and electrons) on the area where the tumour was taken out.  I didn't ask but I think the area where the tumor was doesn't exist any longer because it's been chopped off, I'll have to get my brain together to ask more questions next week.

I'm a bit puzzled about after treatment to avoid burns right now too as I heard a nurse speaking loudly to an old lady telling her not to put cream on the burnt area as it makes it even worse.  Confused.

My little book from Etincelle tells me that the radiation basically acts on the cells' DNA  (healthy and unhealthy cells, all of them) in the treated area and eventually destroys the cells because after a while, they try to repair themselves (because they notice that the radiation has damaged them) by multiplying and then die because they cannot multiply because they've been radiated.  So new ones grow to replace them and the new ones are healthy ones.  Radiotherapy is measured in units of Gray -Gy after the English physician.

The delay in beginning the treatment means that I'll be in the most intensive phase at Christmas, over the holiday period and school holidays which is really really crap timing.  The end of the treatment should be in early January but, according to how the treatment is going, the number of sessions per week can be reduced to four or three if the secondary effects are too intense, so that too will elongate the treatment time.

I have a whole different depressing post about the research I've done on side effects of this treament.  At the moment, though it's affecting me very deeply and I feel like I'm cracking up in my head.