Wednesday, January 21, 2009
CANCER JOURNAL - Radiation for Pain Control
Spent the entire day in and out of the radiologist's office starting at 8:15 and not getting home until nearly dinner time. Bottom line, they are going to try to reduce the pain by radiation.
One 25% occurring side effect is a potential blood clot in my leg. Hope I can skip that one. The rest don't sound significant provided the choice is to target a specific area. Going for a wide area is another matter. The specific area may result in no pain control because it may be the wrong area. The wide area will cause nausea, diarrhea, and other nasty stuff. I opted for the specific area.
So, I now have three tatoos, none of which will show in a bathing suit. These will mark the target areas for a series of 10 radiation treatments scheduled. And I can say without a doubt that if these three tiny dots are any indication, no one would convince me that a tatoo was worth it. A little dot is not all that bad, but a whole picture? Not on your life!
The radiation will be on consecutive days, Monday through Friday, and if today is any indication, it's going to make me tired. It will NOT cure the cancer. It is strictly an effort to manage it.
My radiologist has my husband so impressed that he is saying this is the best doctor he has ever known. The man is thorough, does not sing a song of optimism but rather one of realism, and has enough time to answer whatever questions I might want to ask. Ironically, he happens to be a black man. I say "ironically" because we have just sworn in a black president, and neither one fit any sort of stereotype.
I've been praying to St. Peregrine for some control of pain. Perhaps he is interceding.
