On Friday I had a day off from radiation therapy because my skin needed an extra day to recover before the four last treatments. Thursday was the first of the five "boosts," in which the tumor location is targeted instead of the whole upper right quadrant of my body. The initial set-up took maybe twenty minutes, the therapy itself a mere four minutes.
How do I delicately explain Thursday's experience? I'm already used to technicians peering at my tattoos to position my body and then covering me back up with my hospital gown. For the boost therapy set-up, no one seemed real interested in my tattoos anymore, and just my right breast was uncovered. After the technicians drew a marker line on my scar and lined up me and the machine, we waited for Dr. Nguyen to come check their work.
She took a look and said I would have to take Friday off because of how red and irritated my skin was. I was immediately disappointed, having set my heart on being done on the eighth. She checked everything out, spoke with the technicians, and I was good to go. The four minutes went very quickly, but I was not done yet.
The technicians had a few more things to do while I stayed still on the table. First, they drew a circle around my scar, and then they put clear round stickers on the marker lines. Just in case the marker lines wash off or I lose any stickers before Monday, they took a picture of their artwork.
When I got home, I took a look in the mirror. Let's just say that "preschool artwork" is a more accurate description of the shaky circle drawn with a Sharpie.
By Friday morning, I had reconciled myself to the fact that I won't be done with treatments until March 9—unless my red, sore skin demands further days off. As the day wore on, the skin irritation worsened. Today (Saturday) I hurt more and am just plain wiped out.
It turns out that Dr. Nguyen was absolutely right to make me take a three-day weekend. Hopefully it will give me the boost I need to survive the boost.
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