December 14, 2017 Thursday
It’s been a very long time since I updated the blog but there has been little to report. I am now 5/6 of the way through radiation and it’s gone pretty nicely so far. I am getting some radiation burn and sometimes it’s quite painful. Most of the time, it’s just an itch type of feeling. I do have little energy and they say that’s a side effect – an afternoon nap has become more common than uncommon. I do have a cough, a fairly dry cough, that is also a side effect, supposedly. I do hope these things go away after radiation is finished.
This is a photo of one of the most colorful parts of my breast. The color you see is not shadow – that’s the color of that section. The curved line is the incision. There are purples, pinks and some black. Supposedly this is going to continue to worsen for the next week of treatments and probably the week after treatments are finished. The doctor says that after that week, it will slowly begin to heal. I wonder how slowly that will be?? Only time will tell.
Tomorrow, I begin the “boost” treatments. They said that studies show that if the cancer returns, it will probably return in the incision so they will do 5 treatments on just that section. I will let them do whatever treatments they want to do as long as they can stop the cancer from returning.
This photo is of my fingernails but you can’t see the lines very well. I have four definite white lines and then a large clear space near the cuticle where no new lines have appeared. So I suppose I was correct in assuming that each of those lines was caused by a specific chemo treatment. Now to get those nails grown out and the lines gone away.
This last photo is of my purple toe nail. It is still the only purple nail I have though there is a little purple spot on one other nail. There is a nice white area near the cuticle and I suppose this is where healthy nail is growing out. I expect that I will loose this purple toe nail probably during next summer and then a healthy new nail will be growing out.
It sure is strange what chemo and radiation can do to your body but I certainly am glad that the researchers have figured out how to treat cancer as well as they have. I’m sure that treatments and constantly are being refined and improved and I’m all for that.
Overall, I am very healthy and doing fine. The adventure is not quite over but it is certainly winding down. Thank you for going on this journey with me.
Melanie's Journey Through Cancer 