Breast profile: Cross-sectional view of a woman receiving radiation to the breast area.A middle radiation beam
B side radiation beam
C bright yellow area indicates place where radiation is given to the breast
D rib cage/chest wall
E heart
F lungs
G backbone
H sternum/breast bone
in cancer circles, radiation treatments are called "rads". i'm getting hip to the nomenclature because like it or not, i'm in the cancer club. it's a lifetime membership. even when i'm cancer-free for a year and technically a survivor. even after 5 years with no reocurance, when i'm in the "cured" category.
happy monday, my friends. i promised a report on how many weeks of chinese herbs were covered by donations. for those of you just tuning in, saturday evening i posted my need "would you sponsor a week of chinese herbs"?
since then, 4 1/2 weeks have been covered. behold, the power of positive intention. behold, the innate goodness of others. 3 1/2 weeks of herbs are still needed.
i am awed, humbled and so thankful.
my first day was ok. walking through the long halls of the hospital, i was listening to my amelie soundtrack and picturing myself walking in paris, the star of my own movie. when i got to the radiation department, i talked ramone, my radiation tech, into letting me have my ipod during the treatment. it was longer today than it will be in the future, as they had all sorts of positioning x-rays to do. my wrists and shoulders are sore and tweaked from gripping the bar above my head for 45 minutes. but i am ok.
i am ok. i am ok. i am swallowing my herbs, drinking my veggie juice and green tea and i am going to be ok.
positive intentions. i lay there on the table and imagined the northern lights beaming down on me.
there will be 33 treatments in total. everyday at 9 am. rad.
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4 comments:
Thank you for posting! Goodness, I thought you would be too tired. It's good to have an idea of what you're going through. Keep up with those herbs :) And relax and have a good evening...don't suppose you can drink wine, huh?
Ah, not really doing any drinking at all these days. Although in general, red wine is good anti-oxidents! I'll get back on the red wine as medicine thing after rads are done. Maybe I should have a party?
The herbs are wickedly bitter, like burnt coffee mixed with tree bark. But manageable, really.
I'm going to be featured on design*sponge blog by her guest blogger this week, so I am trying to get lots of work done...! But I will rest this evening, while I sew ribbons onto clasps for lockets!
Thanks for checking in, Catherine, I really appreciate your kindness.
glad you made it through your first rad day. keep up the positive intention and visualizations. maybe as you lie there during the treatment you can imagine the DNA in the cancer cells disintegrating, and your immune system cells carrying the dead cancer cells (if there are any around) off. i know that the radiation is really just a very thorough cleaning, scouring the breast to sweep out any last remaining cancer cells that might be clinging in the corners.
keep us updated on your herb sponsorship- if you get through the donations and are desperate for support, i will try to come through for you.
great images, Lisa! thank-you! that is a wonderful donation in itself. You've done so much for me already, take care of yourself and your dreams for the new studio. I think my brother and his wife are going to cover some herbs...so I expect it will all work out.
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