It's Cancer - Phase 3; Radiation treatment #1

Last night I was at a July 4th dinner party. One of the attendees was the OBGYN who diagnosed my breast cancer. It seemed appropriate to visit with him the night before I received my first radiation treatment. In anticipation of my treatment beginning today I ate a hearty meal and had a couple of cocktails because there will be no drinking during radiation.

My treatment this morning was uneventful, but a little stressful. Probably the majority of time was spent aligning me in the mold that was created for me last week with the machine. It's important that I'm in the exact same position for all the treatments. The most uncomfortable part was keeping my left arm to the side and slightly above my head so the radiation can be targeted to my breast. The machine that delivers the radiation is huge and moves around to different positions. Fortunately I'm not enclosed in the machine, such is the case when I've had an MRI. I take deep breaths and hold them for 15-20 seconds when receiving radiation so my breast is moved away from my heart. The surprising thing today was that I was very emotional. I should be happy that I've started the final phase of my treatment. Instead I wanted to cry and stop the entire process. I have no idea what brought on these feelings.

Today I'm celebrating independence from my chemo caps. I left the house wearing one, but had to remove it before my treatment and didn't put it back on. My body temperature must be 10 degrees cooler without the cap. This is a good thing.