CURABLE

It’s official. All specialists are now convinced my liver is not involved in any cancer and therefore I am CURABLE. If the liver was involved I would be ‘treatable’ but not curable. It is my favorite word and I cannot tell you the difference it makes to my mental health.

(Exhale)

My oncologist started me on hormone therapy. I have one ‘pellet’ injected under my skin just below my belly button every month (yes, ouch!). I call it my slow release fertilizer. The other is a tablet that I have to take each day. These drugs will keep progesterone and estrogen from being produced as this is what fed my cancer.  

So now I have to prepare for stage three; radiotherapy.

Last week I saw the radiation oncologist for the first time. He will see me once a week when I get started. He went through the procedure with me and explained everything. I was worried about my skin burning after seeing a friend suffer. He explained there is a film called ‘Mepitel’ they will put on me each day to prevent the burning. I will also have to lather on sobeline cream three times a day. The main issue with radiotherapy is fatigue from the daily procedure. Five weeks, every week day will take its toll.

To further prepare, I was booked for a CT scan. As my cancer was in my left breast, I have to practice “Deep Inspiration Breath Hold” (DIBH) technique. Basically, I have to take a deep breath and hold it while I have the radiotherapy dose. This technique helps to ensure my heart isn’t affected by the radiation. The CT folk (a practitioner and an assistant), put me in the right position, lying on my back with my arms supported over my head. I was glad I’d been doing my exercises since surgery and had good movement. It was also a good thing I was feeling happy and relaxed because it’s a daunting and confronting thing to be laying in that position topless, with strangers, albeit strangers who were extremely professional and friendly. Once I had been carefully positioned and they had drawn some markers on me, I had to practice taking a deep breath and holding it for 20 seconds. Easy. Apparently I was consistent so they tattooed three dots so the position will be the same for each dose. I have a dot under each arm and one on my breastbone. They look like blackheads really, nothing exciting at all.

I have some weeks to rest and recover from chemo and surgery before radiotherapy starts. This time is so valuable to me. I’m well enough to start going for walks again and aim for 5 days a week. My main side effects at the moment are aching joints. This is not unusual after chemo and is made worse by my instant drug-induced menopause. Panadol Osteo is my friend.

I struggle emotionally when I look back over this time of cancer so am still staying in the present as much as possible.

At last I can smile when I dabble with my thoughts into the future. 

Curable! Wow! J