Hi everyone,
Hi everyone,
I just finished two days ago, 6 weeks of radiation treatments, 27 treatments each to two different sections of my leg, thigh and lower calf, staggered so that the lower started one week after the upper, due to the wider excision not being healed. My skin on my thigh is red, sunburned looking and feeling and quite painful to touch…but I expected that, after having done 5.5 weeks of radiation to my knee area last year. My lower calf is not as red but the wider excision wound, which is still not healed up, but IS healing (its been since June 1st) remains QUITE painful, open, oozing lymph fluid still, and I change the bandages three times a day. I am doing twice weekly lymphadema treatments, although my leg is not nearly as swollen with lymphadema as it has been in the past after different treatments or leg infections. I am on round two of an antibiotic (had a slight cellulitis a month ago and just as a precaution nowas when I was finished with the antibiotics my leg really started throbbing in pain), and I am on vicodins for constant pain. Overall its not bad though, and I am managing…still working 5 to 7 hours a day……the vicodins take the pain down from a 5 or so to a 3……I do want to describe how EMOTIONAL I have felt this past week…..several reasons……leaving the daily treatments (so the feeling of ACTIVELY treating this beast) and sad about not seeing the staff, especially the doctor and the radiation techs who I knew from last year as well and have formed such a bond with. SO I knew that it was going to be hard as I neared the end of treatments, and it was!!! I have been teary the last two days. On my last day of daily treatment I stayed home in the morning and baked the staff a made from scratch two layer chocolate cake and brought that in with a card, with all their names on it (and those of you who have done radiation know this is quite a team who put together and do your radiation treatments)….there were hugs all around from everyone and I managed to keep it together while in the Cancer Center but did cry afterwards……needed to…..okay, well this is long winded, but just wanted to update how its going and what it was like for me to do radiation treatments. By the way, the surgeon (my oncology surgeon) has said it will take 2 to 3 MORE months for this leg wound to heal…….no swimming, no baths, no hottubs (wouldnt do that anyways with leg lymphadema and sanitation worries)…….Donna, stage 3a, six leg re-occurences, post 11 months interferon, 7 months leukine, isolated limb perfusion, two rounds of radiation, and numerous wider excisionsover the last 4 years
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