Meeting with Radiation Oncologist

Big day today - met with my radiation oncologist (RO) for an hour and a 1/2 this afternoon to discuss what the plan is.  Short story: 

Bad news - Because of the f***ing 2 micro mets found in my sentinel lymph node (the first lymph node that cancer would make a path through and was removed in surgery), I will get radiation to not only the breast area, but to the entire lymph node path, leading all the way to my neck.  

Good news - Only 20 radiations!  4 weeks.  Starting in late January. (Could have been 6 weeks.)

Bad news - I'm not going anywhere for those 4 weeks - it's every weekday.  And I had heard these sessions where short, but the RO told me to plan on an hour for each session.

Good news - My husband and I MIGHT be able to sneak away for a week+ vacation between the end of chemo and my first HP infusion and the start of radiation.  Please please please let this work out.

Other than all the "cosmetic" (sunburned skin, skin changes like "firmness") and "health" risks (higher risk of rib fracture and oh, they try to minimize the scatter of radiation rays around my heart) associated with radiation that the RO told me about over a 45 minute period (which, of course, freaked me out), seems pretty straight forward. Mapping of my chest to take place on January 6th.  Will receive my schedule at that time.  

There's a whole other cancer world out there in the basement of the hospital and I'm not loving it.  It's windowless, thick-walled, and sterile.  There's no joy in the basement.  I'll have to pull out my 'joy' crystal bracelet and see what it can do in late January.  xo J


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