Halfway...

I'm officially over halfway done with my radiation treatments.  It's actually gone faster than I thought.  Today was my 18th treatment... only 15 more to go!  My skin is still looking really good, a little darker/pinker especially on my chest but it just looks like I've been in the sun.  When I saw Dr. Kuhn on Monday she said it looks great... keep doing whatever I'm doing.

The other day as I was getting ready, Claire was asking me various questions about what it felt like and looked like.  I was already planning to come back home and drive her to school that day so that her insect report poster wouldn't get damaged on the bus, so I said, "Hey, do you want to come with me today?"  She said yes so we hopped in the car, dropped Bryce off at his preschool/daycare (he started last week and is liking it a lot), and then Claire and I went to MSTI.  I checked in and we headed back to the dressing room/waiting area.

I pointed out the infusion center and told her that was where I had done my chemo.  She immediately noticed one of the large jars of Jolly Rancher's they have on all the counters of course.  I told her if she was good maybe she could have one when we finished.  We had talked in the car about how she would have to sit with the technicians while I had my actual treatment and that she must sit still, not touch anything, be quiet, etc... I said if she had a question about what they were doing it would be ok to ask.  We actually had to wait longer than normal because they had a problem with the computer or something.  Claire liked the teal color of my gown.  Finally they called me back and Claire got to watch them set me up and then they gave her a special chair in the "Command Center" to sit in while they administered the treatment.  Of course she was very well behaved (they said she was shy) so I let her pick a Jolly Rancher on our way out.

I think it was a good experience for her.  She has told me a few different times that she shared at school about my radiation (which I'm sure none of her classmates understand at all) and she's asked me a few questions about it, so probably she was a little worried about it.  This was a great opportunity for her to see that it's not scary.  I truly believe that knowing more about things makes them less scary.  Claire was impressed with the little starry lights that are above the treatment table.  Also she said that the machine looked like a big "C" which is exactly what I thought on my first treatment.

One of the things that I've thought about as I've gone through all these different stages of my diagnosis and treatment is how many different jobs there are in the healthcare field besides doctors and nurses that I never thought about before.  Who knows what fields my kids might want to study when it comes time to think about a career, but this seemed like another chance to show her someone else's job.  (She wants to be some kind of scientist right now... like a marine biologist so she can study ocean animals.)  Claire also got to meet another patient whose appointment is right after mine.  She is further along than me (today was actually her last TX so I will miss chatting with her), and she has real hair... proof that eventually I will too!