Radiation Treatment

Simultaneously with chemo, I am getting radiation treatment. In the adjacent picture, you can see the effect!

Apparently, radiation in combination with chemo is more effective in killing cancer cells than either alone. I have been going for radiation every morning for the last two weeks and I will be going for another five weeks. Each day I show up for treatment at 8:50 AM. My chest area has been marked with some small tattoos so that they can line me up in the machine with some precision. Then the machine starts humming and the staff who positioned me leave the room and close the vault door behind. The machine moves around me...each time positioning for the next blast of rays. The rays are being aimed at the cancerous tumor from six positions. It takes the machine a minute to assume each position and shoot the rays (30 - 50 second blasts); the whole treatment process takes no more than 10 minutes. I asked this morning and was told I am getting 30 grays...but then she said 2 grays per treatment. If that is true, then I am getting 70 grays because I am scheduled for 35 treatments. I will have to check to find out what what my actual dosage is.

The treatment has been totally painless and I am not suffering any ill effects.. Radiation is going to lead to scaring of these organ tissues and I am told I may find it somewhat harder to breathe or swallow for a while. To date I have had no discomfort, but the effect of the treatment is cumulative. I am starting to feel some stiffness in my chest when I swallow, but at this point it is hardly worth mentioning. The key, in any event, is to eat and maintain your weight.

I generally get to 21st Century Oncology (where radiation takes place) at 8:48AM and am back in the car by 9:15 ...getting me into the office before the market opens at 9:30. Last night, however, a tractor-trailer on I-75 hit the Rampart Blvd Overpass (where I live). Usually I can get to the place in about 15 minutes, but because the Rampart Blvd Overpass was damaged, they closed the bridge. It took me nearly 40 minutes in traffic to get to radiation this morning. Apparently, the bridge damage was so bad that the Rampart Blvd Overpass may be closed for months... just in time to inconvenience me during treatment!

Rampart Blvd is the road we live on and about 1.5 miles down the road is San Antonio Catholic Church, just on the other side of I-75. Now I can't get there easily. Hmmm...is this an omen? Is God trying to tell me something?

I spent a full day in the new office. I had not learned to use the phone system before my 10:00 AM appointment appeared. That interview went on for nearly two hours; then a series of short meetings and follow-up phone calls. I had a quick lunch (now that we have a sandwich shop next door) and the next thing you know it was 7:00 PM. I got home at 7:30. Yoko had dinner ready -- fried chicken, corn, spinach, bread and watermelon for desert. I also had some home made apple pie and tea later. I am still hungry as I write this, but Yoko wants to make sure I keep what I have eaten. Today I am having no problem with acid...so the aciflex medication is working.

I worked a full day today and feel fine. No cough, no rash, no itching, no swollen ankles, no acid indigestion, no bowel trouble, no (additional) loss of hair yet ...in short I feel fit as a fiddle and more optimistic that I can beat the odds.

We have a full week coming up: tomorrow I have two meetings with potential clients . On Wednesday The Cappiello Group at Morgan Stanley is having a event at the Visual Arts Center and I am hosting 100 people for a private art show. Thursday evening I have a seminar with about 30 people coming. Friday is chemo day and the beginning of our hosting a weekend Rotary guest... Hopefully during the week the treadmill is going to show up so I can REALLY start running.