Recurrence Part 3: Radiation Vacation

Horseback riding in Texas between scans

They said:

Radiation is like a vacation (compared to chemo).

You’ll feel fine (the first couple of weeks).

The worst part of radiation happens…after radiation ends.

It was all true.

Bob’s radiation oncologist compared Bob’s CT scan to the PET that had identified the beast. She tattooed six large, black “x”’s on Bob’s belly to show radiation its target. She formatted the radiation machine to recognize the x’s.

And then? First thing in the morning, every week day for 28 days - with time off for Christmas, New Year’s and Martin Luther King Day – Bob fasted from midnight to treatment. He consumed the fat chemo pills on an empty stomach, pre-radiation. We drove to the radiation location. He laid on a table as the machines buzzed about him. It didn’t hurt, he said. His skin didn’t tickle or burn. There was no sensation at all.

Treatment took about 10 minutes from the time Bob left the lobby to the time he returned. It took longer to drive to the doctor’s office than it did to receive radiation.

Every five days, Bob met with the doctor. How are you feeling? Any pain? Are you eating, sleeping, eliminating? Fatigued?

Fine. No. Yes, yes, yes. Fatigued? Oh yes! After treatment, Bob slept. And slept. And slept. When he wasn’t sleeping, he was hard at work in his home office. He ate and drank and walked. Bob did not lose weight during his radiation experience.

Above is a googled image of a small “x” tattoo that resembled Bob’s as we (uncharacteristically) did not take pictures of his radiation experience. The tattoos were covered with waterproof tape. The tattoos faded and by the end of treatment had completely disappeared.

The day after Bob’s last radiation treatment, his face swelled. His belly ached as (we learned) his organs within the radiation site expanded. There was discomfort. For the first time since his Whipple surgery, Bob was unable to eat or drink.

This period of discomfort lasted about a week. Slowly, the swelling faded and Bob returned to his usual activities.

Eight weeks later, a CT suggested metastasis. A follow-up PET revealed that the offending lymph node was still (very lightly) lit. Bob’s cancer marker tests, however, including another Signatera, all claim the cancer is Khalas. Finit. Kaput. Gone.

Doctors agreed with the tests and gave Bob (a second run at the coveted) three months off.

Three months between negative tests/scans for two years; six months between negative tests/scans for the next three years; annual tests/scans beginning at 5 years. A positive test requires review and potential treatment; treatment begins the count between tests/scans all over again.

The five year goal happens 3- and 6- months at a time. Battling “scanxiety.” Ignoring odds and percentages, those “whatifs” of the cancer crowd. Work, trips, family…life…is the antidote.

We believe.