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Monday, July 16, 2012

radiation station

on friday we met with the other radiation oncologist, the one that will be treating me.  I went to the Swedish Cancer Institute and got my Welcome to Swedish Cancer Institute Binder and listed as the radiation oncologist kept calling the tumor a cancer.  but its not. its benign.  but the deal is that it acts malignant.  they say its aggressive and it comes back and whatever else.  not cancer.
this radiation doctor said i won't lose my hair.  when pressed he said he can't promise that i won't lose any, but he doesn't think i am going to wind up needing to shave my head.  but if i do lose my head, it will come out as a big stripe right down the middle of my head, forehead to the back and then a ring from ear to ear.  that will look nice.  i'm still going to get my hair cut super short anyway.  why the hells not.  i've always wanted to try super short hair, if it does indeed fall out, the chunks might not be so dramatic, and doing it now with the idea that it will probably not fall out seems more like it is my choice than before when the other doctor said it was definitly going to fall out.  i'm still expecting that it will fall out.
on friday after that appointment, i had my first planning session.  since thank the lawd they won't be screwing that scary halo into my head, they needed to make a mask.  the mask will hold my head in place while they shoot the beams into my head all reverse mohawk style.   to make the mask, the nice lady had me lie on the CT scanner platform bed thing.  she aligned my head perfectly "neautral" then she took this weird flat plastic thing, soaked it in some warm water then smooshed it onto my face.  it was warm and weird.  she left it there for a bit, then put some cool towels on it and then peeled it off.  then i had a CT scan and then i went home.

omg, the paleo is hanging by a thread.  well, sorta i guess.  lots of cheating!  omg, the other day i was like, i need some real food.  i want to feel full, i want to eat a lot, I want to go out to dinner and you better take me out to dinner now!  so we went and thank goodness the place we went had breakfast all day.  i had a 4 egg omelet and it was fabulous.  but oh that is not all!!  i also had the pancakes that came with it.  all giant 3 of them with butter and syrup.  omg, it was so good.  80/20.  80/20.  80/20 is totally acceptable, right?  heck, i am going to go through radiation to improve my odds to 80%, so damn right, 80/20 better be acceptable!!!
pancakes taste gewd!!!
today i had an MRI.  the last one I had was on april 27, the one that resulted in the diagnosis.  i had this one at a different hospital, and it was a much more pleasant experience!  they gave me music to listen too and they set up a mirror so i could see them out there in the control booth.  that was awesome because last time i instantly had to close my eyes because it was so freaky tight in there, but with that mirror, it totally looked wide open.  nice job with those mirrors!  the MRI went by quickly, i fell asleep twice, once before the contrast was put in and once after.  yawn.  now we wait for the radiology guy to look at the CT scan and the MRI and do some math and stuff.  and then i will get started.  yikes!

1 comment:

LaVonne said...

I assume that is not you in the picture? Do you get to keep the mask when this thing is over?

It makes me nervous that it acts malignant.

80% is great! That is what I strive for in my diet. Don't beat yourself up over the other 20%. No one can be 100% perfect, and if they are they have some serious control issues and you would not want to be around them.

I am excited about short hair.