Last one, best one. *Skip if you're not into skin photos*

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I'm stickerless! WooHOOO! And I got to sleep in my own bed last night, but that is another post entirely. The TL;DR verson is that proton radiation did not take place here in our town, so Dada and I have been leaving on Monday mornings and returning Friday evenings for the past 6 weeks. 

But yesterday was "last one, best one" and now I'm done!

Lighting always being interesting, here are shots of my skin and what 28 sessions of proton radiation looks like. Yes, my armpit is almost black inside and sloughing off dark pieces of skin, which is as disgusting as it sounds, haha.

Already missing plenty of stickers but the team claimed they had what was necessary:

And now sticker free! Now if I could just get rid of the compression sleeve... Alas. I'm being good and wearing it every day and removing it at night like I'm supposed to. 

 There will be a lengthy post next week about all the Shenanigans we got up to whilst we were out of town. I promise that will be a much more fun post, but feel free to toss a handful of confetti on my behalf somewhere you don't have to clean! Woohooo! All done with rads! Thanks for all the prayers, texts, snacks, support and love!

A victory and a plan

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Sorry to those of you who've been so patiently waiting for proof that I'm still alive and that chemo is done. YES! 

It is finished. 

I rang the bell. 

I hugged the nurses. 

I don't have to go back until June.

No more of pretending to be a rooster when I'm there with Thing One:

No more sucking down ice chips and holding bags or gloves of ice for an hour whilst wearing my compression socks:

No more hard drugs straight into my bloodstream, haha. I've been sent along the treatment road to the next thing, which will be proton radiation starting in a few weeks, every day during business weeks for the new, temporary normal of 28 days unless the machine decides to take a break, need maintenance or otherwise be uncooperative. I've already had my CT scan appointment for rads treatment planning purposes and the team stickered me up accordingly because I'll be matched to precise specs for the machine I'll be on each time. Somehow the stickers are supposed to stay on for weeks and I'm not to scrub them off. Every tiny itch I have makes me stop and think, "is that a sticker I'm scratching?" Doubly entertaining as I have an adhesive allergy but so far *knocks wood* so good, doing okay.

                                                  

It was the highlight of my appointment yesterday (my surgical follow up from September) when she asked how I was doing and I got to flash her from the nicest hospital gown I've ever worn while telling her: 

                    "I got all fancy for you!" 

She felt me up (that's part of her job) and declared me to be doing very well and that she wanted to see me again in 6 months after everything is done. I think the visit lasted 7 minutes total, but to be fair, I'd scheduled it thinking I'd already be there for radiation because I'd mistakenly assumed I'd have started already. Kind of on me- I got incorrect intel. What can you do? 

Next up will be a check in with PT to make sure I'm not developing lymphedema, which will also be a potential side effect from radiation- all kinds of good times around here- and a check in with my plastic surgeon for my 6 month follow up. In my case it's been 7 but again that's on me for scheduling the best I could with the info I had at the time. Then I have the "dry run" rads appt and it's off to the races.

Some things to pray about if you'd like: 

* that I don't develop lymphedema in my right arm or my chest

* that my brachial nerve isn't damaged by the radiation as that could lead to weakness in my right (dominant) side

* that I don't end up with any rib fractures as again everything gets exposed to the radiation and the risk for that increases. This will be my second kind of radiation and  another month of doses so my risk will be higher than other patients'.

* that the skin burns won't be too bad. Last time it didn't get bad until very close to the end, but again, I'm already compromised on that side from the previous rounds so my skin most likely will break down faster this time. I'm stocking up on the good lotion already and have been told to up my protein going in so I have plenty of stores to heal from. Why do I never get to store up on carbs? *sigh* 

I'll try to do better about keeping you posted, and I intend to blog more tomorrow, especially the storm damage photos. No worries, our home is fine, safe, snug, but we lost some trees so I have photos to share. All is well!