Radiation: Daunting but doable

When I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer 2.0, I knew radiation would be one of the treatments before me.

My grandfather was a radiologist. I remember him walking around with a monitor on his belt to ensure he remained safe while treating patients.

And, sadly, that’s about all I knew about radiation. Much like breast cancer, I had very little knowledge of the treatment and what it did to help patients like me.

So, as my radiation schedule neared, I got nervous. Meeting the care team helped put my mind at ease. Hearing about advancements in treatments helped. Still, I really didn’t know what to expect.

During a preliminary visit to the clinic, a technician snapped my photo — I looked like a low-level gangster in my skull cap and all black attire. The technician laughed at the photo as much as I did and then explained I would see it on the computer screen every day for the next six weeks to ensure I was receiving the correct treatment, a sort of quality control measure.

After taking my mug shot, the same technician tattooed four little dots around my chest. She explained the tattoos would help people operating the large machine to properly align its radiation beams.

Then, I went into the room where the machine, a linear accelerator, stood.

The room was cold and dark but I immediately made out its hulking presence. It had arms that rotated around a central table. The table tilted up and down. It looked like something out of a Ridley Scott movie.

The machine now scared me more than any radiation treatments I would receive.

In my case, the radiation oncologist used Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy. This approach changes the strength of some beams, allowing for stronger doses in some areas while delivering lesser doses to other areas.

Because the medical team was focusing treatment on my right axilla and along my right collarbone, the radiation oncologist ran a series of dummy tests to ‘dial in’ intensity of the beams and duration of treatments before I showed up. This took longer than I expected and delayed my treatment about a week. Still, I was happy to know the doctor was being so thorough.

Stories in medical publications this week have highlighted a study showing breast cancer patients’ experiences with radiation were better than most expected.

The survey that addressed fears and misconceptions about radiation for breast cancer patients found that more than three-fourths of the patients surveyed said their experiences were less ‘scary’ than anticipated.

The study was presented this week at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.

‘Radiation oncologists know firsthand that our patients come in with fears and sometimes misconceptions,’ said Narek Shaverdian, MD, lead author of the study and a radiation oncology resident at the David Geffen School of Medicine. ‘Unlike many other treatments and fields of medicine, it is very hard to imagine what radiation therapy is like. Still, it is surprising to find that upwards of 90 percent of women surveyed agree that if future patients knew the reality of the radiation therapy experience, they would be less afraid of treatment.’

You can read more about the survey here: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-09-breast-cancer-patients-largely-therapy.html

For me, I was most freaked out by the machine.

After my treatments started, I had dreams about one of the large arms breaking off and crushing me on the table below. Whenever the arms rotated, they creaked a bit, and I closed my eyes and recited my mantra: ‘Strength. Courage. Grace.’ It helped.

One day, as the arms moved around me, a liquid dripped on my face and shoulder. I immediately called for the technicians in the other room and asked if the machine was working properly.

As it turned out, the patient before me was nearing the end of her treatments and having terrible skin burns. The medical team had draped her chest with wet towels. Water from the towels likely remained on the machine when I entered for my treatment.

So, my visions of ‘icky medical machine fluid’ dripping on me were put to rest.

Another thing that concerned me about radiation treatment was the notion that my skin would burn badly. Being fairly light skinned, I expected the burns.

Fortunately, over use of calendula cream kept my skin intact. I know other patients who didn’t fare so well. I felt very lucky to have only little spots of irritated skin along my back and collarbone.

I guess I am a bit like some of those women mentioned in the radiation expectations survey.

Once I learned more about the treatments, met the medical team and came to terms with having my wrists and ankles hobbled together with large rubber bands every day, radiation treatment wasn’t such a big deal. Certainly, the every-day-for-six-weeks-straight treatment schedule was daunting. But it was doable.

Like so much with cancer treatment, it’s daunting but doable.