Today was a busy day. I had multiple doctor appointments and two scans. It started with a nurse telling Billy and me about what to expect as far as side effects from the radiation. It was not a very nice picture, she went into more details than the literature I had been given. One of the things I had not been aware of was that the doctor wants me to eat 2500 to 3000 calories every day. Well, that ain’t going to happen. I have worked too hard to loose 40 pounds to put it back on in 3 or 4 weeks. She gave me information on several high calorie drinks to drink when my mouth is too sore to eat or swallow. I just sat there and prayed for God’ strength in advance to get me through what I was facing. It actually won’t be over when the radiation stops because the first 2 weeks after radiation I will still be in the aftermath of weeks 5 & 6 of the treatment. Then for 4-6 months after that my body will still be processing the radiation out of my body. It will take longer than I was expecting it to.
To move on , , , after that I had to go to the Dental Oncologist and try on the stint for my mouth. It holds my mouth open and presses my tongue down. It fit so I went back to the radiology department. The two departments are in buildings side by side so it was a short walk to each office. Back at the radiology department I was on a very hard table and the back of my head was put in a warm soft pillow like thing that would form to the back of my head as it hardened. They marked a long black line down my chest which will not come off for a while. It is used as a marker for where the radiation is to shoot. I was also given a very tiny dot tattoo as a marker. (I told my granddaughter, Alyssa, who had tattoos that now her Mimi has a tattoo too or also, which ever works for you.) They then put a warm mesh over my face while I had the stent in my mouth and stretched it across my face. It took 10 minutes for it to harden then I went through a machine for an x-ray. After that we walked down the hall to another machine for a CT scan. They had to put an IV in my arm and with my history of bad veins it wasn’t easy, it never is. Once again I put the stent in my mouth and they put the mask on and I went into the machine for 10 minutes. Finally, I was through for the day! The nurse took the needle out of my forearm and put a bandage on it. I walked out of the unit and looked down at my arm and it was swelling and turning black under the bandage so I turned around and went back to the nurse. They put cold compresses on it and some of the swelling went down, so I left again. We had a nice lunch and came home and by the time we got home the blackness had spread to almost the size of my hand.
So much for my exciting day. I am looking at all of this as an adventure that the Lord and I are going to share. I am depending on Him and the prayers of my family and friends because I will need them both, very much. I’m counting on your prayers too.
Love to all,
Mary Margaret
The big "C" in me is Christ enabling me to deal with the little "c" which is the cancer!
Don’t forget to E-mail me . . .
Don’t forget to E-mail me . . .
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