We are still waiting for the doctor’s call about when my wife’s radiation treatment begins. It was a couple of weeks ago that she went in to have measurements taken and be blotted with magic markers.
As it was explained to her, the radiology team had to create a specific written plan on how they were going to X-ray her body over and over again. After they wrote their report, they would pass it on to a review board at the clinic which had to approve it before they could begin.
This might take a while, they said, because it was hard to get all those doctors into the same room at the same time to agree on a radiation procedure.
We’re glad they want to take their time and not make any mistakes, but my wife is getting a little antsy about the wait. She wants to get this whole ordeal over with. It is six weeks of five days a week with each day centered around getting dressed, going to the therapy center, getting undressed, enduring a hopefully brief swipe of radiation, getting dressed, driving home, getting undressed. And she may or may not feeling like eating dinner. She has been told that while radiation is not as tedious, time-consuming and painful as chemotherapy, it does drain a patient of energy.
This comes at a time when she’s finally getting some energy back and feels like helping cook a meal, go shopping and engage in other activities which she describes as “boogying.” The idea of being drained of all energy again after a taste of the thrill of living returned is really depressing.
It’s only six more weeks, we keep telling ourselves, but when will those six weeks finally begin?