I've done 4 radiation treatments this past week - the machine I'm assigned to was in maintenance on Thursday. You can see some general information about external beam radiation therapy on the   NCI   and the  Canadian Cancer Society  sites. I'm assigned to one of the LINAC machines at the hospital. So far it's "as described": The radiation therapists put me in position on the bed so that I'm aligned with previous treatments and the original simulation session. For the first few sessions, they did a CT scan to verify that internal anatomy lines up with the tattoos on my skin. After the CT scan,  radiation treatment itself takes less than 10 minutes. If the CT scans this week were consistent, they'll only do a scan once each week going forward. Appointment times are all over the place and can change even a few days before. That's made it challenging to plan driving me to some appointments. I am going to apply for Wheel-Trans as a backup option. A pe...

We saw the radiation oncologist today to go over the radiation plan and prep for treatment. Prep included a CT scan, photos, and tattoo markings that will be used to ensure consistent alignment each time I get radiation treatment. Thankfully, these were the least painful needles I've had to endure so far. Each one was no worse than the most pinchy vaccination I've had, and no residual pain afterwards. Treatment will start Mon May 27. Every weekday with weekends off. The first 3 weeks will be treatment for the local area. The last "booster" week will focus on the breast and underarm area where cancer was found. I still have neuropathy in my hands and feet, though I think it's a little bit better than it was 2 weeks ago. Still waiting for food to taste normal again, but at least some meat is ok now. I'm also starting to incorporate some cardio exercise in addition to walking. Gilda's Club has a Zumba class over Zoom on Thursdays that I've done twice. Car...