Radiation

My 6-week radiation adventure began mid-march of 2017 in Northfield, Minnesota. Five days per week we drove south to Northfield from the cities for my daily treatment. Getting to each session was an adventure. This kind of radiation must be done when the bladder is full. So each day I would try and drink just enough water, at the right time, to make sure my bladder was full for the session.  This could be challenging if there were any delays with the machine. Several days there were mechanical problems with the machine...you can imagine the dancing that occurred.

 

The radiation treatments were very easy. Lie down, get positioned (the technicians create a couple of small tattoos that are used to repeat positioning each day), and wait for the bazillon dollar machine to do it's thing. From walking into the radiation room to exit was about 15 minutes but almost all of that time was positioning. The actual radiation time was probably less than 30 seconds each day.

My wonderful wife drove me down each day (Northfield is about 45 minutes from the cities) so I would not lose any work time. I created a custom desk for my car so I could code while we drove.

It is common for radiation patients to have some side-effects from the radiation. For the most part I was quite lucky. I was even able to ride my bike back from Northfield to Saint Paul in the 4th week. I did have some butt pain (made bathroom visits difficult) for about 2 weeks near the end.

As in most of my cancer journey I was thoroughly impressed with the medical team. The oncologist, nurses, and technicians were all wonderful.  We had, amazingly, a lot of laughs.

Of course I also met some great guys and their wives. So much kindness.  :-)

After 36 sessions I hugged the machine, rang the bell, said goodbye and left, looking forward to a long vacation from cancer.