Halfway Home

Donna is getting 33 radiations treatments for the breast cancer, so every weekday she works 5-1/2 hours then drives herself to the Cancer Center, gets zapped, drives back to work where I hop in the car and drive her home. I go back to work and finish out my 8 hour day. This is her coming back to pick me up this afternoon, today, Wednesday and it is “Hump Day” in more ways than one. Not only are we half way through the work week, but today was Donna’s 17th radiation treatment putting her at halfway through.

So far she is tolerating the treatments pretty well. She has been complaining of still feeling nauseous and the radiation guy has told her repeatedly that it can’t be the radiation because she isn’t getting any that goes anywhere near her stomach or esophagus. He and the oncology doc are thinking it might be gall bladder. Today when she went in she questioned the radiology techs that if no radiation is going anywhere near her esophagus why was the skin in the upper center of her chest turning reddish brown and why was she getting a mild sore throat. One of the techs took out a marker and drew a green box on her chest to show where the radiation was hitting. Well that box surrounds the area where your esophagus is. Now tomorrow when she goes in for her treatment she’ll ask to see the doctor and play show and tell.