6.24.09 - radiation #27 - boost #1 of 7

quel surprise! today i had my first boost radiation out of 7. 14 grays per boost. a total of 65 grays for my entire treatment. the boost took 3.5 minutes - same tomotherapy machine, same everything. a boost means that the radiation is concentrated on specifically the tumor area rather than the entire right breast area. i'm still not feeling any fatigue that i had been warned about. i have lots of energy and feel terrific.

so. six more treatments. dr. rost asked me today how i feel about ending treatment. the only thing i'm going to miss about treatment is seeing the friendly staff and especially dr. rost, who always makes me smile. i'm so glad he's going to be my follow-up doctor from now on. i told him that it's unnerving to end treatment because i feel fatalistic about recurrence, without anything actively killing the cancer cells every day. i feel like once treatment stops, the cancer will start growing again, like it did with my mother and grandmother--cancer spread to the bone. he said "we'll be watching closely."

Tricia Luedtke at TomoTherapy wrote to me today and said, "Treat yourself to some daily indulgences, however big or small." that's a great philosophy to end treatment with.