Simulation

Today I had my breast radiation simulation (planning session).  Basically, they made a mold of my upper body in the position that I will be in for treatment each day to create an immobilization device. Then they put me through the X-ray machine for pictures of the treatment area. Then I had my pin-mark tattoos done on the edges of the area that will be treated. I have one on each rib cage and two down the center of my chest. That is the short version -- the link above explains it better! It took about an hour.

It takes about a week for my radiation oncologist and dosimetrist to work up my treatment plan. I will be getting a phone call around this time next week with a start date for my 6 weeks of treatment. I am guessing this will kick off sometime during the week of July 20th...?

Finally, I had a left-sided breast cancer... which means that extra special consideration is taken being that my heart (kind of an important organ) is behind the treatment area. It's likely that I will have to hold my breath through each dose of radiation for protection (see link).

So, that's the latest there... but I also met with my sarcoma specialist today for my surgery follow-up. My leg is looking good... it's healing very slowly because it has now been operated on 3x and radiated. It hasn't stopped bleeding yet... but it will in time. The great thing is that it FEELS much better after being irrigated! Full range-of-motion is still nowhere in sight... but I can tell that once the wound heals up, PT is going to be much easier this time around!

I am already coming up on my 3 month sarcoma surveillance, too. On July 28th, I'll have a lung CT (to make sure nothing has spread -- lungs are typically the first place sarcoma would go) and meet with my sarcoma team. These visits will continue for many years...

Oh, and in case anyone forgot that I still have to worry about melanoma... I have a skin check coming up on July 20th. I supposed to be having these every 3 months, but I haven't had one since January! I guess I've been busy???????