Radiation

I started radiation on July 11th, and I have completed 3 full weeks of my 6.5 weeks of treatment. What they told me is that you won't have any symptoms or skin reactions til about the 3rd week. Again, they were right. I had no symptoms what so ever until this last weekend, and it's mostly skin burns. I've been lathering myself in the radiation lotion they gave me since I started hoping to avoid it, but it is there. As you can see in the picture below, there is a straight line down the middle of my chest, and very obvious that my treatment field is on my left side (right side in the picture). I'm praying it doesn't blister; that will be very uncomfortable but they told me it is possible. The other major side effect of radiation can be fatigue, and they said that can come later as the radiation builds up in your body. So far, the fatigue has not been an issue, but I've noticed it a little bit. What it sounds like is that it will get worse before it gets better, but if you all know me, I'm not going to let a little tiredness and skin burns bring me down. The radiologist in charge of my radiation advised me not to return to work until my treatments are complete, so I'm going back to work on Aug 29th. 

   Radiation burn on the right side of my chest in this picture.

I've been being good to myself by eliminating stress, eating healthy, and beginning to run! My goal is to run in the breast cancer 5K on October 2nd, so I've been training to do that. If the fatigue kicks in I will feel highly inconvenienced if I can't keep up with my 5k training schedule, but it's a goal that I have currently and will be pretty proud of myself if I can run the whole thing! 

Other than that life has been well at the Owen household. Last week was pretty sad for us as we had to put our beloved dog Dawson to sleep. He was 10 years old, and what Ryan and I consider our 1st baby. He got really sick really fast and after hundreds of dollars in vet bills, medication, and care we finally came to the realization that it was his time. I think that was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make in my life. I really wanted him to die on his own, and I didn't want to make that decision, but once you realize they are suffering it was the humane thing to do. Either way it's hard to be home without him here. Everytime the doorbell rings or someone knocks, his bark and greet is no longer there. It is such an empty silence I can't get used to! It is definitely harder on Ryan and I than the kids. Dawson has been with us through our entire marriage and we loved him dearly. The kids just keep asking when we are going to get another dog. 

   Our last family picture with Dawson the night before we out him down. We miss him so much 🐶

My hair is growing back quite quickly. This is a good thing, except for its dark with A LOT OF GREY! I wear a hat a lot now since my wig is no longer that comfortable with hair underneath. Not to mention its summer and hot out anyway. I made my 1st appointment to get my hair colored next week, and I'm pretty pumped about it! I need to hide those greys... I look like an old lady! 

That's all I got for today, have a great week!