Radiation Therapy Begins

Hi all: Yes, the 2nd phase of my treatment began on Monday, May 21st as I started radiation therapy. I've had the first 5 out of 30 treatments (6 weeks X 5 treatments). So far, it's been a breeze. Side effects are skin burns (apply 100% aloe gel 3 times a day) and fatigue (take a nap).

The preparation before the radiation therapy was interesting. Once again, I exposed my breast to a whole new crowd of strangers but at this point, my modesty is totally thrown out the window.

On one of my initial visits, the radiation therapists and nurses took X-rays to determine where the radiation beams should be aimed to avoid hitting my organs, such as my heart and lungs. A good idea!! After they determined the correct beam path, the nurse tattooed 4 little dots on my chest to line up the rays. But before she applied the tattooes, she made a bunch of measurements with a ruler and drew lines on my chest. Now mind you, I was lying on my back with my hospital gown open in the front, so I couldn't see what she was doing. When I got home I took of my shirt and was shocked to see what she had drawn. There were about 15 lines criss-crossed across my chest. I looked like some kind of victim on the TV show "CSI", but instead of a psychopathic killer attacking me with a knife, it looked like a crazed 3-year old had attacked me with a purple felt pen.

There's a waiting room just for the radiation patients and we all sit around in our hospital gowns and chat. There's a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle that people work on while waiting. I'm the only one in our morning group who works on the puzzle, but every day there's more and more pieces completed, so there must be other fellow puzzlers working on it when I'm not around.

The actual treatment only lasts 2-3 minutes. I just lie there with my arm raised and this giant round X-ray machine rotates and zaps me with radiation. It's really very easy. No skin burn so far and the fatigue shouldn't hit for a couple of weeks.

Red Mountain Spa
Our trip to the spa was fabulous. Red Mountain Spa is in southern Utah just above the Arizona border. It's in the middle of No-wheresville. It's the high desert (over 3,000 feet altitude) with incredibly clean air and warm weather.

Annette and I utilized as many of the activities as we could in 4 days -- exercise classes (yoga, stretch and Pilates), cooking demonstrations, massages, horse back riding, delicious meals, educational seminars (meditation, self-discovery, lymphatic system) and just hanging out in their hammocks. Annette also took a 3-hour morning trek in the mountains as she's a total stud muffin.

We met guests who came from all over -- Oklahoma, New Jersey, Boston, Vancouver, Salt Lake City, LA, and Washington DC. The place is fabulous that accommodates only 190 guests so it's not too big. The staff is incredibly friendly and knowledgable. After you've been there a couple of days, they start to know you by name.

They claim to have 60% return rate from their guests and I believe it. Annette and I had such a great time, we signed up to go again in May 2008.