Loraine is now close to wrapping up her third week of radiation treatments for her breast cancer, and there are three more weeks to go. Sometimes it feels as if we will never get out of the hurry up and wait mode of thinking.
Getting her into her treatment protocol seemed to take forever because of her struggle in healing after the staph infection had set in. She is almost halfway through the treatments, and now we find ourselves somewhere between hurry up and wait. We would like for the treatments to be done and over with, but the waiting mode of finding out how successful radiation will be is akin to watching a slow moving hand on the clock.
It feels as if we have been through hell over the last year. Last March, we took in and cared for Loraine’s brother Howard who was morbidly obese, had Hepatitis C, cirrhosis of the liver and advanced liver cancer. We were thankful to be able to care for him despite the complexities that came with caring for a terminally ill loved one who was also slipping into different stages of dementia depending on if he was taking his medications as prescribed. Then, Loraine was diagnosed with her breast cancer last fall which significantly increased our level of stress. January 6th, Loraine had her double mastectomy, February 23rd, we lost Howard to his illness; Also in February, Loraine’s staph infection where her left breast had been reared its ugly head. But through it all, even with the great stress we have been under, we still feel blessed with our lives. Through our battles so far, we have been shown great love and compassion from family, friends, co-workers, and even complete strangers who have come into our lives. Loraine’s care team have been beyond phenomenal in their compassionate care and treatments. And, despite the Corona Virus shutting down our economy, we have both been able to keep working full time and have not become too overwhelmed with our medical bills we have received. If anyone has a right to lay down and lick their wounds, it might be us, but we refuse to do so. We are fighters, and we will conquer all that life has to throw our way. We may feel stressed, but thankfully, our sense of being blessed far outweighs that emotion.
Almost halfway through!
Treatment 14 of 30 today.
Before Loraine ever began her radiation treatments we were told the side effects would be pretty mild, and possibly there would be none at all. Well, the side effects are certainly nothing compared to that which can come from chemotherapy to say the least. But, the the side effects are certainly there for her. And with each treatment she undergoes being more intense than the last, we can anticipate them getting worse over the next three weeks of treatments. Thankfully, chemotherapy is not being planned for now.
Loraine has been working full time through her treatments, but now has reduced her workload to part time as of this week because of the fatigue that is associated with her radiation treatments. Fatigue can make it hard for one to keep a normal routine. However, it is best for her to still get in some type of activity each and every day. Activity keeps the body more fit and the mind less stressed than what would come from laying around and licking wounds. My sweet wife is a true fighter, you will never find her feeling sorry for herself.
Loraine has always been fair skinned and sunburns easily. With her radiation treatments, he skin is now becoming pink, like it has sunburn. Because of this, they place a special blanket over her during the treatment to act as a second layer of skin to mitigate the burning of her skin. To help with this at home, she has to apply aloe vera cream multiple times per day to ease the irritation she is now experiencing. I wish for her sake the irritation would end with her treatments, but, the skin reaction from radiation therapy is usually the worst 1 or 2 weeks after radiation therapy ends, and begins to heal after that point. The healing often takes 3 to 4 weeks. I wish she could have been through with all of this before summer time arrives here in a few weeks.
Besides fatigue and burning of the skin, Loraine is developing fibrosis where her left breast had been. This also comes with the territory of radiation treatments. In addition to treating cancer, radiation therapy alters tissue composition, making tissues thinner, harder and more brittle. Radiation following surgery creates changes to the surgical scar to make it harder and denser, as well as creating fibrotic tissue around the scar. In radiation-induced fibrosis, a key issue is prevention, with the primary approach being use of proper doses of radiation therapy and techniques that minimize the radiation exposure for normal tissue. We feel truly comfortable that Loraine’s care team are doing all they can to minimize any and all side effects which come from her treatments. Everyone on her team are more than compassionate and caring. We feel blessed that she is in the best of hands and will get through this with minimal issues compared to what can be experienced by some.
With cancer of any type, every day is a learning day. I sometimes wish I did not have to know all that I have had to learn, but feel blessed to be able to share our experience with others in order to help them. It helps us to focus on our blessings rather than on our stress. We feel fortunate to be in the position we are in and fully realize how bad life can be for others in the same boat. Therefore, we know to never take life for granted as it can be radically changed for the worst in the blink of an eye.
Live life to the fullest and work towards being the best and healthiest you that you can be.
God bless and thank you for the prayers, and for following along with Loraine’s journey.
