A Rite of Passage

I MADE IT.  

I haven't been "on the blog" in a while, and there's good reason...this radiation is pretty nasty stuff!  Combined with chemotherapy, it's a pretty brutal regimen.  However, after 42 consecutive days of simultaneous chemotherapy and radiation, I'm DONE!  Today was my last treatment.  Praise God!  

In retrospect, it really wasn't too bad...though the "radiation sickness" -- basically nausea and fatigue -- was pretty serious.  You literally feel like you could sleep all the time, and you probably could.  I ended up taking a few days off work in the past week or two, and spent most of the time comatose on the couch or in bed.  The level of fatigue is unlike anything I've experienced before -- you all know what it feels like, waking up the morning after a marathon, where everything in your body hurts and you just want to stay in bed all day...this is similar, without the body ache.  It takes every bit of will power you have to get out of bed, even to use the restroom -- let alone go to work, or go for a run.  I also lost a bit of hair...mostly on the right side of my head, where the main beams exited:

Yeah, I know it looks like I just got a bad (or unfinished) haircut, but it's the radiation.  I joke with my radiology tech, Anita, that she should be a hairstylist -- 'Hair by Radiation' or something like that.  Actually, now that I look at it, this style is "in" right now...hmmm...anyway:

But I made it.  

I'll spare you the cheesy parallels -- though the similarities between finishing a marathon and the 42-day treatment cycle are obvious.  It's a marathon of a different sort, and in many ways was more difficult than the toughest of my marathons (Marine Corps 2006, if you're curious).  I couldn't help but celebrate a bit -- and even talked the radiation team into a group photo after my last treatment.  This is me, the radiation mask I wear (see my previous post), and the radiologist/techs who I met with every morning to work their magic.  Anita dahling is on the far left, along with Tammy, me, Theresa, and Jim.  Thanks team!

 

You may also notice that I shaved my head...not only because the beautiful "Haircut by Radiation" photo above isn't in compliance with military regulations, but because there's somewhat of a "rite of passage" there for cancer patients.  If you could see all the children and elderly who go into the treatment rooms before me, or who are waiting when I come out...nearly all of them have lost all of their hair, or have shaved their heads.  Cancer survivors form a very tight-knit family, and this is a rite of passage of sorts...and I was happy to join the club.  

From here, it's back to the waiting game.  The first time, in 2001, we tried surgery alone -- and the cancer returned.  The second time, in 2005, we tried surgery plus 22 round of chemotherapy -- and the cancer returned again.  This time, the third time, we're doing surgery plus chemotherapy plus radiation -- let's hope the tri-fecta will kill this bug!  I'll now return to the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute, where I'll again start the 90-day brain scan routine.  If my scans are clear for a year, I go to scans every six months...and if those are clear after a year, I go to annual scans.  I've never made it that far -- the cancer has always returned first -- but it won't this time!

From a training perspective, I've somehow been able to keep up with the plan.  I started my Rock-and-Roll Seattle training plan on the same day I started radiation, and I'm up to about 10 miles on a long run -- yesterday's run was 9 miles, and I did pretty well, right on 8-minute miles.  I'm on track to do the George Washington 10-Miler next month and the Marine Corps Historic Half in May as training races, followed by Seattle in June.  Right now it also looks like I'll have some company at Seattle -- at least JD and a few others, including some from the Bloggers Against Cancer community.  I'll be setting up a fundraiser, probably through the American Cancer Society or the National Brain Tumor Society...more on that later.

For those looking for an update on the Monkey, she turned one year old yesterday -- and had her first birthday party!  Also her first taste of cake...she LOVED it, of course:

She even got some of the cake in her mouth!

Finally, I'll close with one brief tickler...I got a call from Runner's World last week.  Nothing is finalized yet, but you may see something in the July issue.  Stay tuned!