Freddy may wear a mask...

but I bet he doesn't get strapped to a table and shot with x-rays. :)

Had two appointments today. The first was a follow-up with Dr. Lehr and the second was my dry run with the mask in preparation for my radiation.

Dr. Lehr is very happy with the way things are healing. He asked again about the radiation and we told him we were leaving after we saw him to head to my final before-radiation appointment with Dr. Mundy. He wants to see me again in a month for a follow-up, which is pretty much what was expected. I mentioned that I have a seriously nasty taste in my mouth that gets worse as the day goes on, and he really didn't have much to say there, so we stopped by Drug Emporium on the way home and picked up some Altoids and a mouthwash. I suspect my mouth is just reacting to all the trauma over the last couple of months. Since Dr. Lehr wasn't concerned, I"m not either. :) And his nurse said my attitude was absolutely incredible. I figure that's going to make it easier for all of us, so why mope?

After we left there, we went down and I got to do the dry run for the radiation. Basically that's where the mask that was made on Monday is put on and they take some x-rays and get the table and machine calibrated for the individual treatment. Pretty boring stuff, actually. The only thing I can say is that I'm really annoyed that as soon as the mask is on and my arms are immobilized my nose itches. I'm sure there's some reason for that, but I just seriously don't appreciate the timing.

Saw Dr. Mundy after the dry run. This cancer is Stage 3 because its in the lymph nodes. I guess I knew that (and it is standard for cancer staging), but it still shook me a bit. Also, he wants me to talk to the chemo doctor, which is pretty much what we all expected. Now that Dr. Mundy is involved, I think we'll get some where on that. No word on when that will happen, but I suspect fairly soon. Anyway, those two things gave me another "Oh shit." moment. Fortunately I don't have many of those, and when I do they generally only last 5-10 minutes.

There is actually some really good news out of all of this. Dr. Mundy put the chance of this cancer returning after radiation at about 25-30%. That is actually much better than what Dr. Lehr gave us (50/50) a month ago. Also, if it does reoccur, it is almost always local. And that's a HUGE relief. Like I told him, I didn't want to wake up one morning and find out it had come back in my big toe. That apparently isn't something that happens with this.

Also, he said that when you hear people say that if you're cancer free after 5 years, you're generally free from that type for good? Well, with this, it's one of the rare cancers where it's almost always true. So that is excellent news. I told him that, after all, I planned to live forever and would be really hacked off if something interfered with that. LOL

So that's where we are. Beginning Monday at 1:45, I start my daily roasting routine. I've no idea what all will happen because each person reacts to radiation differently. I have however, put the spare sheets on the guest bed and we've got a new chair in there for me if I need some place to sit up at night (or if I'm just really worn out but don't want to lay down). I'm going to run around the house with a feather duster this weekend and get a few other things done in preparation.

And, of course, I'll blog as I can to keep folks updated. As much as possible, I'm going to try to keep to a normal routine. I'll have to make adjustments I know, but I'd like to keep life as normal as I can for as long as I can.