I had my final radiation treatment on Monday. I was so glad to be done with it. The combo of that plus the new chemo pill that I started the previous Monday really caused a lot of fatigue. But, I was able to combat it by constantly moving. As soon as I sat, my body wanted to stop. So, the solution was to just keep moving. They told me that my symptoms from radiation would probably get worse after stopping treatment and then eventually get better over the next month. So I'm looking forward to that. I brought the kids with me on Friday to my radiation appointment so they could learn about the jobs of radiation technologists and see what was being done to me. I love finding every opportunity I can for the kids to learn about different jobs.
I have a huge praise though: thanks to prayer warriors the nausea, vomiting and diarrhea never happened last week, aside from a couple of days at the beginning of general queasiness. I was told by the pharmacist and oncologist that those side effects would most likely happen-- so that's a huge praise. Thank you to those who are praying. Now, let's pray that I continue to not have these drug side effects and that the cancer gets eliminated for good!! (I will say I had vomiting on Tuesday morning while brushing my teeth and also a lot of vomiting today during my high-dose Vitamin C infusion, but perhaps that had more to do with infusing it too quickly.)
I have no idea whether the radiation accomplished its goal. The radiation oncologist said they just go by how you feel and eventually a future pet scan (which I have approximately every 3-4 months). So how do I feel post-radiation? The pain in my hips is still there but I am hoping it's at least partially due to the inflammation caused by the radiation. Hopefully, it all gets better as time goes on. In addition, the radiation has caused new muscle pain in my hamstrings and quadriceps that will hopefully eventually subside--that is also likely due to the inflammation from radiation.
We are just pushing through, trying to add back in supplements as my stomach adjusts to the new drug, and praying and hoping for healing! My next appointment with my oncologist is on March 14. We will see what she says about future pet scans and her opinion of my tumor markers.
Thanks again for all your prayers.
