Friday, November 19, 2010

Radiation - 1/3 Finished

Today I finished my 10th radiation treatment out of 30. That means that I'm 1/3 of the way done with the treatments! This week was quite uneventful, which I think is a good thing. I mostly just have the same side effects that I was feeling last week. The most obvious side effect is that I'm pretty tired by the end of the day.

Also, I'm on one medication that is a steroid to keep the swelling in my brain down. This medication is causing me to gain massive amounts of weight, which is showing up a lot in my face. I just feel so fat, but I know that I'll be able to lose the weight later on. It just makes that mask that they use to bolt me to the table during my treatments super tight and even more uncomfortable. That same medication also makes me really hot, so I'm always sweating and it is sometimes difficult to sleep because I'm so hot. This is a huge difference for me because I'm usually a cold person. I don't even wear a jacket when I go outside, even when temperatures are in the low 40s in the morning. It feels so good outside in the cool temperatures!

The last side effect is that my hair is definitely falling out more. There are bald-ish patches all over my head, mostly near the tumor site where they are shooting the radiation. It's going to get worse before it gets better and until it starts to grow back I'll just keep rocking my bandanna! I'm trying not to get too down about losing my hair, but it is depressing. Oh well, it's just hair and it will be back!

The radiation office is closed on Thanksgiving and the day after, so I'm going in for an extra session on Sunday to make up for one of those days. That means I only get tomorrow off, but at least next week I get a 4 day weekend from treatments! I'm just hoping to still be feeling well so that Thanksgiving will be "normal" for all of us.

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