Retreat For Peace

Radiation Therapy

I am spending Monday through Friday in Sierra Vista and receiving daily mega doses of radiation in order to kill any cancer cells that may have been left behind after the lumpectomy. I love staying in the hospitality house provided free of charge by my doctor. Very luxurious compared to my one-room cabin. I have moved into the roomy master suite, which is almost as large as my own home. Check out the Sierra Vista sunset taken from the back door.

So, what is radiation like? It is painless, invisible and does major damage. The skin gets burned and cells die. Last week, the doctor offered me a prescription for a special $70 skin cream for radiation treatment. I told her I was using an Aloe Vera plant. She said there is nothing better to apply to the skin while receiving treatments than the Aloe Vera plant. So, three times a day: before treatment, after treatment and at bedtime, I slice of part of the plant and apply it. They say my skin looks good.

The TomoTherapy radiation machine looks like a CT scanner. It has a huge drum that spins around my body with little jaws that open and close sending radiation at the speed of light to prescribed pathways. It sounds something like horses galloping around me and I find it rather meditative. During these 7.6 minutes, I imagine all of sickness and suffering in the world coming into this field of radiation and being blasted to pieces.

Radiation travels in a straight line and it is very important that the radiation follow the curve of the chest wall with minimal exposure to important organs like the heart and lung, which are just under the ribcage. The illustration may help to understand how it is accomplished.

I will be receiving 25 treatments over the entire breast, which will take me up to 45 gray on the radiation scale. Then I will receive 10 more treatments just on the area where the lump was removed and in the end I will be up to 63 gray on the radiation scale. That is a lot of radiation. I pray you will never have need for these levels of exposure.

By the way, I have been drinking a bottle of kombucha every day. Someone posted on facebook about its benefits during radiation. I am feeling great…

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