Hoping to Become a Superhero

 It looks like I'm taking a short break from chemo whether I wanted to or not.

After weeks of waiting for my health insurance to cover a short regimen of radiation to my hips, the approval finally came through. We visited the Beloit Cancer Center today for a kind of scanning/targeting appointment. Starting tomorrow and for the next ten working days, I'm going to receive brief radiation treatments. The radiation oncologist conferred with my oncologist and it was decided that they don't want me to have any chemo treatments while I'm receiving radiation. I'm definitely okay with that. 

I think I mentioned in a previous post how we had moved my next chemo from 7/23 to 7/30 to give myself four weeks before the next infusion. This new schedule of radiation treatments will end on 7/31, so my next chemo infusion has now been bumped from 7/30 to 8/6, giving me five weeks before my next infusion. 

How did this short radiation treatment come about?

Early on in this journal, I mentioned that the cancer had spread to my hips, spine, and a couple other places. I already had some slight bursitis in my hips, but the cancer attacking them made them hurt much, much more. My need for a cane to get around or for oxycodone to help me sleep at night were both largely due to how bad my hips were feeling. The palliative care specialist that we've been working with suggested that a short regiment of radiation to my hips should relieve a lot of that discomfort. I was all for alleviating that pain, so here we are.

Since many a superhero story starts with the protagonist getting irradiated, I'm looking at the next ten days as having ten chances to become a superhero. I'll be sure to write about any progress made in that direction.