Radiation Day 1

I tried to talk the husband into letting me make this appointment alone. I assured the daughter that she didn't need to take time off from her job to accompany me. Neither one listened so as I exited the treatment room, I found both of them sitting in the waiting room.

Yesterday was my first day of radiation. I had all sorts of misgivings on this. It wasn't  anticipation of a painful procedure that had me anxious. Reading online the experiences of others and noting their complaints about being undressed and cold and also being uncovered during this procedure was my concern.
The two techs that introduced themselves to me were courteous and kind. They assisted me to the table and positioned me with my arms above my head, hands clamped on a metal bar, my head turned to the left and instructions to lay very still. They were very proficient in explanations on what would be happening. The positioning would take much of the twenty minutes that I would be in this room.

I watched as the huge circular thing hovered over my chest. It begin to rotate to the right and then back to the left as it captured pictures and relayed information back to the techs. Sometime during these revolutions a small hum could be heard. The two times I heard this hum, the radiation was being zapped into my right chest wall and it was over. I was warm and covered and once again released and assisted to a sitting position. Into the dressing room to don my large oversized gray sweatshirt and I was off to the waiting room to greet the husband and daughter.

The concerned look on their faces eventually relieved. They questioned me on how I felt. Was I sick? Tired?

We stopped at the market on the way home and did a little shopping. I'm sure the husband was watching me for adverse signs from this treatment.

"I'm fine!" I assured him. I really didn't expect any side effects this early on. Later in this treatment, I expect to have some reddened skin and some tenderness.  I'll deal with that when it happens.

My plan is to take Carrie to school each morning and then make my way directly to treatment.
This morning I will time the drive from the school to the Cyber Knife Center. I want to change my appointment time to follow directly from Carrie's delivery to her school. I will then have both chores out of the way and the remainder of the day to do as I choose.