Here We Go

Wow! I actually slept through the night last night. That was good.

Today I have to start my radiation routine at the cancer center to treat the growth in my right hip. The radiation is a quick and simple procedure. The burden of it is having to do it every day for a period of weeks.

I have a general fear of the radiation, solely because of what I went through when I had to endure a month of whole brain radiation. I know the radiation to the hip is going to be much simpler, and will be done in half the time, but I will always be a bit hesitant. The whole brain radiation was the worst thing I've ever gone through in my life. Just walking into that department brings back some tough memories.

Basically, today, they'll call me back to a waiting area where I change into a robe. Then they call me back to the radiation area where I jump up on a table and lay on my back. My feet are strapped in and they line up my exact position on the table. When everything is in place they turn on the radiation for a minute or two and I'm done. That's it.

Today is what they call "picture day," which is basically a dry run. Then the actual radiation treatments will start tomorrow.

Overall I've been feeling a little better. I still need to get through the Gamma Knife next week to treat the one small spot in the brain. I have had to start taking a strong steroid known as Decadron to control swelliing in my brain. I've had experiences with all of this before.

The chemo Sutent, though, gives me reason to be positive. I can tell that it is working. An enlarged lymph node on my neck has been breaking down, and the tumors that appeared on my scalp have really diminished in size.

I've got some weeks of treatments and recoveries ahead of me. But I am feeling confident that I can get this cancer back under control after it ran wild for a couple of weeks.