2 week update

I now have two weeks of radiation behind me. I am feeling tired more frequently now. So far my skin isn't too irritated, knock on wood, but I did notice today that I have a light tan. I came down with a sinus infection last week but luckily it was the morning of my check up with my oncologist. He gave me some antibiotics which helped a lot. I still have stuff at the back of my throat that is making me cough but so far it isn't going down into my chest.

Yesterday was my check up with my surgeon, Dr. Rosenthal. I went to my 10th radiation treatment right after I dropped the kids off at school. My regular appointment time changed to 9:15 last week. The person who was coming at that time finished their treatment so the time slot opened up. I like this time a lot better because I can go early and then get whatever else I need done before I run out of energy. After I finished radiation I made a few stops then headed to Salt Lake. Why does it seem that it is always bad weather when I have to drive to Salt Lake. It was pouring rain all day. I arrived at Dr. Rosenthal's office by LDS hospital right on time for my appointment. The only problem was that I never received the letter telling me that they had moved their office to Murray by the new hospital. Luckily the letter was posted on the door with the address and phone number. It took me about 30 minutes to get to the new office. My appointment time was at 11:15 but I didn't end up getting home until 3:00. I am sure glad that I don't have to drive to Salt Lake for all my treatments, especially radiation since that is every day, because that makes for a long day and I am worn out by the time I am done. Dr. Rosenthal said everything looks great. She does want me to schedule my 6 month mammogram check on the right side. I am a little late on that but I have been a little busy with other things. This is just a precaution. She doesn't think that they will find anything but I still need the regular screenings just to be safe.

Today I went to radiation again then at 10:15 I had an appointment with Dr. Jordan, the surgeon who put in my port, to decide when to take it out. He said I could keep it in if I want to but I WANT IT OUT ASAP. I am tired of it being sore whenever it gets bumped or something rubs it wrong. I will be so glad when it is gone. I did mention that I wanted to see what it looks like so he said he would save it for me to take home after he takes it out. I did find out some good news. I thought that they would just use a local anesthesia and that I would be awake when they take it out. The good news is that they are going to put me out so that I don't know what is going on. The surgery doesn't scare me it is the idea of being conscious of what they are doing that freaks me out. That surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday, November 19th. It should only take 15 - 20 minutes. I will find out the time when they call me on Tuesday. After I wake up, if I am feeling up to it, I will go do my radiation treatment before I go home. What a day that will be.

Shawn still has a headache. We see the neurologist on Thursday. I hope they can give him something to stop the pain so that he can go back to being a teenager. He has a lot of homework to catch up on. The school has been great to work with. We did get him signed up for the electronic high school for a few classes but he hasn't started working on anything yet. It is all he can do to go to the 4 classes he has left and try to catch up on what he missed in the 1st quarter. I hope Thursday's appointment gives us some hope. My friend Beth has been an angel. She gives him a massage to help ease the pain. I'll let you know how Thursday goes.