Radiation is a Wrap, Surgery Next

Today I finished radiation treatments -- 25 out of 25. It feels great to have that behind me (excuse the pun). But it will also be a little weird not to rush off to OHSU every morning to get zapped. So far, the side effects have been minimal. Those I have had may persist for another week or so and then should get better. 

Next up is surgery. It's been scheduled for Tuesday, July 5. It takes 3-4 weeks for the healthy tissue around the tumor to heal from the radiation, which reduces the chance of infection after surgery. The week before surgery, I'll meet with the oncologist and surgeon, have another MRI as well as a CT scan. The surgery hopefully will be the last major cancer treatment procedure I have to do. After surgery, I move into the monitoring phase with scans every few months to make sure the cancer hasn't recurred anywhere.

Today I went to have the port-a-catheter in my chest flushed. It hasn't been accessed since the end of March with the last round of chemo. So today I had to go in and they stuck the needles in, flushed it with saline and put in the heparin that keeps it from clotting/clogging. I'm not sure how long I'll have to keep it in, but eventually it'll come out and I won't have this device protruding from just under my skin with a tube going into my neck. It doesn't bother me and I don't notice it much, but I'd rather not have it.

I don't have any medical appointments for the next three weeks. I'm grateful for the respite from it all. I'm back to running. I'm now able to run 4 miles without stopping, and my pace is picking up, too. It feels so very good to get back into a running routine that has been so important to me.

My eyebrows are BACK, baby! And hair is growing back just about everywhere I lost it. I still have a few lingering effects from all the various treatments, but lately I've been feeling the best I have since I started down this cancer treatment road last December.

Thanks to everyone who has been so kind and supportive and encouraging through all of this!