Radiation Treatment Day 1

Today I had my first radiation treatment, at 11:00. The night before, I had a little difficulty going to sleep, but not too much. I wasn't too worried about the procedure itself. I woke up with my stomach in knots and I guess my subconscious was nervous.

We made it to the radiology area at the base hospital and they took me back pretty quickly. I changed into a gown, kept my fuzzy warm socks on, and hopped up on the hard, cold table. I remember one of the first questions the nurse asked me was what type of music I liked to listen to. I'm allowed to bring my own music in, so I'll have to make a radiation CD or something. I was surprised by the music request, but later found that I couldn't hear it over the machine.

I didn't know how loud the machine would be. I have been trying to work on my sound and light sensitivity by not wearing them as often, so I left both at home today. Bad idea. Tomorrow, I'll be taking my ear plugs in with me. Maybe I'll be able to take a quick nap. I just prayed through it all today.

The masks were pretty tight. They were soft and warm when we made them, but today they were hard like a plastic hockey mask from Walmart, at Halloween. Big difference. Remember, there was a hole at the eyes and by the nose so I can breathe. I asked for prayer for my nose not to be stuffed up because it makes it hard to breathe like that. Anyway, the masks were much tighter than I anticipated. The nurses had a hard time clamping the pelvis one to the table, so I feel like tight isn't an accurate description. Let's just say my tailbone was very sore from being pinned to the table for so long. There's nothing I can do about that. Just pray through it. I didn't sneeze through any of the treatment, which was good. That would have been gross being that I couldn't move. The treatment today was 45 minutes long since they had to make sure I was lined up correctly and all. The future treatments should be about 20 minutes. The actual radiation is only 9 minutes.

After the treatment, a friend of ours, Matt Martin, took us to McDonalds. I ordered a cheeseburger kids meal and it felt like a large value meal. I didn't think I'd be able to eat it all. But with the Lord's help, I was able to eat it all. I was pretty tired too.

After lunch,j I took a nap. Jonathan had just gone down for his nap so I figured I'd give Mom and break and go down too. I was beginning to feel nauseous from the smell of radiation. I learned to hold my breath when the radiation came to my front/face and then breathe when it was on my back. I don't even know how to explain it, but I can still smell that odor that came just from the radiation treatment. Ugh ... not talking about it anymore. Sorry :(

The nap helped, but then I woke up with a headache. I figured that was from not enough water. I'm supposed to be drinking lots of water during treatment and I know I haven't had enough today. I took tylenol to help anyway.

I played on the floor with Jonathan for a while, then realized I should probably try to eat something for dinner. Mom made me Ramen noodle soup. We grew up calling it baby doll hair soup. :) But I had almost a full pack. I got full pretty quick and couldn't eat it all.

So all in all, the Lord brought me through another day. Today I felt nauseous and not really wanting to eat, but I think the tough stuff is ahead. I still prayed for no/minimal side effects and I'm trusting the promise that God will not give me more than I can handle with all this. I think my level has gone up because I certainly didn't think I could handle this much! Lord have mercy!

1 down, 29 to go. Earlier today, I put on facebook status that it was a "Just Do It" day. Well, I just did it. Tomorrow, we'll do it again. I think I'm going to be thankful for weekends, for a break from appointments. Don't mean to complain, but it will be nice to not have those for a couple of days. God has convicted me to be thankful for this not being more challenging. I think of Randy Youngblood and how he is going through chemo and radiation therapy at the same time! If you think of it, lift him up! Actually ... do it right now.

Update on Andrew: he's made it to AZ safely (thank you for praying!) and the movers came today. They'll finish up tomorrow. We should have our household goods no later than March 8.

God has continued to provide in many ways and we're continuing to thank Him for mountain He has set before us. I hope you all were able to see my wall of love. Mom put up all of my cards that I've received from you all. It's encouraging to look at that once in a while and just know that I have lots of fellow believers lifting me up before the Lord.

Thank you all for your encouragement, love, and support through this trial. We're gonna make it through!!