done done done

Today was my last day of radiation.  Can you believe it?  6 weeks are done.  I am done with radiation!

When I first began radiation it was pretty difficult because I wasn't too friendly.  I would go, lay there for the radiation, and leave.  I wouldn't really talk to my techs.  A couple weeks in I changed my attitude and got friendlier and then actually started enjoying my radiation.  Really, those radiation therapists deserve an award because of how they positively changed my life.  I saw them everyday and we would banter and tease one another and what not.  Is it weird that I'm going to miss going to radiation?  Although I'm sure I will be fine soon enough because of the 2 hours I have back everyday.

This morning I woke up to go running and decided to make cookies for my radiation therapists instead. Ian Cookies.  You know the ones I'm talking about?  Oatmeal chocolate chip.  Really yummy.  Well, it took longer than expected so mom and I took the last batch out of the oven, threw them on a plate and rushed to Ann Arbor.

Got changed, went to the waiting room with my cookies, and heard my name called one last time.  My cute therapist stopped by to say goodbye before a meeting and we all got a picture.

It's too bad he had his hair in a ponytail...

Had my session and would you know it, the last song that came on was 'Casimir Pulaski Day'.  Hopefully the story in that song remains the opposite of my story.

When I was fitted for my mask the radiation therapists told me a few things to reassure me... some of those were not true.  Like as they strapped my mask to the table they told me to not worry, if I really wanted I could pull up on my mask and it would detach from the table.  Lie.  I tried this today.  My therapists knew it was coming so they first lowered the table and then let me try.  All I did was increase the noticeability of the waffle marks on my face from pushing on the TARDIS so hard.  I gave up pretty quickly.  Oh well.  They gave me my TARDIS mask to take home.  I don't know what to do with it.  Run over it with a car?  Hang it up on my wall as a piece of art?  I am open to suggestions.

I said goodbye to my therapists and told them that I hope I never see them again.  Had an appointment with Dr. Eisbruch.  Told him how much I enjoyed my radiation experience and he offered me more radiation... I politely declined.  Left University of Michigan Hospital for a long time...

Driving away from the hospital.

Well.. only until Monday when I have an appointment with Dr. Ward.  You can't win everything, right?

a genuine redneck

Today I had my first 3 month follow up appointment with Dr. Chugh, my medical oncologist.  I got an x-ray of my chest and my lungs are still clear!  So relieving.  She's going to set me up with an oncologist in Salt Lake for when I am back at school because I will have to be checked every 3 months for quite a while.  Dr. Chugh is pretty amazing and is going beyond what is expected to make sure the care I get is the best.

After my appointment with Dr. Chugh I had radiation.  This is my sixth week of radiation.  I can't believe it has gone by so quickly.  I mostly see the same radiation therapists everyday and have become friends of sorts with them.  Today we bantered back and forth, talked about the music I have on, my new shoes... They made fun of me for said new shoes.  They asked me to explain hashtags.  Let's be honest, they aren't that much older than me, just a couple of years.  They should know what hashtags are.  One of my therapists is only 29 and he has long, flowing dark hair and rides a motorcycle.  Basically he's a total babe.  Today I was going to ask him if he could take me on a ride on this motorcycle... and I noticed the ring on his left hand just in time.  That could have been embarrassing.  I thought it was only at BYU that I had to be so conscious of married men.

I met with Dr. Eisbruch, my radiation oncologist, and he asked me about my symptoms and neck and what not.  I told him my neck was getting super red.  He looked at it and responded, 'oh, yeah, that's a bit red.'  Not as dramatic as I thought.  But really, I am a genuine redneck.  I may be lacking a car parked in my front yard and a first cousin as a boyfriend, but my neck is very red.  Apparently it will get worse until a couple days after my radiation therapy ends, and then it will decrease in redness.  It doesn't bother me too much because my hair mostly hides it and I'm numb there anyways so I can't feel the burn.

Such a distinctive red line

Dr. Eisbruch's resident, Dr. Shumway, is a BYU grad.  Dr. Eisbruch mentioned today that I am studying microbiology at BYU, and of course Dr. Shumway has taken many of the same classes as I have.  He mentioned in particular Dr. Bridgewater and Dr. Evans having a great impact on him.  So cool that he remembers them and their teaching so long after the fact.

a bit over... half way there

I'm not the biggest Bon Jovi fan, so I couldn't post this when I was exactly half way there.

Radiation is going well!  4 weeks down, 3 to go.  Every Monday I meet with Dr. Eisbruch and this past Monday he asked me if I was losing any hair yet.  I responded 'no' as I reached up to touch the buzzed part of my hair from my surgery and brought my hand back with a clump of hair in it.  I change my answer to yes.  Yes, I am definitely losing hair.  I recalled seeing little hairs on my jacket and thinking it was dog hair.  I don't have a dog.  It was my hair.  Whoops.  I haven't lost much yet, and hopefully I won't lose much more.  Any hair loss will be localized to where they are doing the radiation, so just the hair that is struggling to grow after being shaved twice.
I expected to have more side effects at this point but I hardly have any.  I have the slight hair loss and then a sunburn/tan in the area where the radiation hits my skin.  So I have a circular tan that covers a bit of my cheek and then most of my neck.  It's so obvious to me, but I don't think anyone else will notice it.
This past week I was babysitting and one of the little girls asked me what happened to my neck.  I told her I had surgery and she asked why and if I was okay and whatnot.  It was so innocent and really quite cute.  Kids are so curious and so accepting of the things they find out.  She just wanted to make sure that I was okay.  It was starkly different from the day I was on BYU campus after my surgery to withdraw from all my classes and take care of other business.  The day a random girl stood behind me and asked "What is wrong with your neck?"  Not so innocent and non-judgmental and cute.  If only we could have the innocence of little children for longer.

a glimpse into my future?

Ever since I declared myself as a microbiology major my sophomore year of college I have been unsure as to what I would do with my degree.  Should I be a dentist?  Should I pursue research?  While I'm still unsure as to exactly what I want to do, I have more ideas.  As of late I have been interested in genetic counseling.  I first learned about it last semester in a careers class and it sounded interesting.

I met with a genetic counselor today.  Victoria.  Because of my age and my type of cancer my oncologist thought it was prudent to check for any genetic conditions that would have caused my cancer.  Victoria was pretty wonderful.  She first explained that only about 10% of cancers are caused by genetic mutations... but they are checking me just in case.  Victoria asked about my family history and constructed my family tree as my mom and I tried to recall all the health issues the dear old Harris family has experienced.  She said if I have a genetic condition it is most likely something called Li-Fraumeni syndrome, which is a mutation in gene p53, a tumor suppressor gene.  It is a dominant gene so if I have it my siblings and other family members will have to be checked as well.  Li-Fraumeni syndrome puts one at a much higher risk to develop cancer.  If this is something I have then I will have to be checked for other types of cancer earlier than most people.  I most likely don't have this mutation, like I'm nearly 100% sure that I do not, but it is better to be safe and sure.  My blood sample is being shipped to California to be tested and hopefully I'll have results in the next month or so. :)

Meeting with Victoria has helped me realize how cool genetic counseling is.  You help people and still have to be smart and scientific in your thinking.  So... who knows?  Perhaps that is where my future lies...