And then there were 8!

Today marked day 22 of radiation.  Mom drove herself to her appointment, which she has been doing since the beginning of this round of treatment.  Mom’s treatment on the radiation machine is a quick one: in and out in 20 minutes.  But today was a little different.  On her way out, Mom found out she'd won the lottery.  Well, her version of the lottery.  She found out that there had been a slight miscommunication in the beginning and instead of having 33 radiation treatments, she was only having 30.  3 less! According to her, it is like winning a million bucks.  She has 3 more rounds of radiation to the whole area.  The area is made up of her chest and underarm on the right side, the cancer side.  Then, they will do 5 rounds of radiation just to the incision scar on the right side.  Barring any equipment malfunction, she will be done with treatment by June 29.  That means not going into July.  It may seem like a small thing, but it is a HUGE thing psychologically.  Cue the happy dance.

So far, Mom's skin has been holding up pretty well to radiation.  We are hoping that continues for the next 10 days!  She hasn't had to upgrade to the heavy duty "magic" cream and continues to use over the counter aquaphor.  She is pretty sensitive to heat and humidity, so the next few days of 97+ degree weather will be challenging.  She may have to do some mall walking instead of her normal outside loop.  Fortunately, the mall she plans to walk in has a bakery that makes really delicious cake pops...(By the way, her sweet tooth is back.)

I find the countdown to the end of treatment to be a bit strange.  It definitely means the end of an intense series of interventions.  There is definitely cause for celebration.  But, it is not the end of the road.  Mom will still go every 4 weeks for her Zometa infusion and continue hormone therapy.  We'll wait, sometimes patiently, sometimes impatiently, until her next scan at some point in the fall.  And, we'll try to figure out whatever the new sense of normal is.  As we start to see that there could be an end to intense treatment, we know that there are others that we love who are just getting started and/or are deep in treatment.  We hope for continued improved health for those with cancer and an ability to remember self-care for the caregivers.  Our thoughts are with all of them.