Split Opinions
My breast surgeon was on the fence about needing radiation therapy and for a while I thought we were leaning toward no. She mentioned new studies out, but the results weren’t in yet so she wanted me to make that decision with the specialist. I’m not going to get into the details on here because I don’t want to influence any decisions other people make, that’s not my place.
So off I went to meet my radiation oncologist.
“Frankly, You Scare Me!”
As I waited for my consultation in the exam room I see the door creek open just a tad and what appears to be a wet dog nose. It lingered for a minute and backed out and left. This was the first indication that my doc was a little more relaxed than most. But that’s fine. Anything to lighten the mood when cancer is involved. I waited a little longer and then I had a short greeting with a furry curious visitor.
Eventually my doctor came in and one of the first things he said was, “Frankly, you scare me.” He was referring to not having a family history, no risk factors, gene test came back clean, I’m active, healthy and not overweight and I’m 20 years younger than the average breast cancer patient. He REALLY didn’t want to take any chances. He told me he called a colleague to get another opinion, one who he referred to as “the breast king” as this is what he does, and he said, “I didn’t even get done explaining your situation and he told me if your case was presented to him 100 out of 100 times he would do it!”
So, we did it!
Radiation comes with side effects and risks, but he said most of the risks are 20 years down the road and they wouldn’t even matter if we couldn’t even get me to 20 years down the road in the first place. He said we need to worry about now, now and later, later.
So I was assigned my own cubby to keep a gown in during the week and was soon off to start treatments.
Items That Helped Me Through…
- Calendula cream, recommended by the radiation oncology nurse to keep my skin hydrated for minimal skin damage
- Electrolyte drink mix, they wanted me to stay hydrated and gave me some samples of Pedialyte but I HATE that stuff. So I used Rehydrate by Advocare instead