Monday to Wednesday everything was fine - no headaches, no nausea, are they giving me the real radiation? By Wednesday evening I was quite tired, and on getting up Thursday morning I was completely shattered. Thursday and Friday I managed to check my email but not actually do any work, and I'm still fairly tired today even after 11ish hours sleep. On balance I think I'll take the tiredness over nausea and headaches
I am definitely losing some hair now. I thought there was quite a bit in my hairbrush and on the floor where I tend to stand when brushing it, but then a good bit came out when I washed it this morning. There does seem to be plenty left, as I can't find any huge gaps yet. (I will only be losing hair in a band around my head roughly at eye level, i.e. only where the beams go in and out - the rest of my hair will remain, and so cover any loss. It's likely that where I do lose hair, it'll be patchy rather than completely bald). Of course there will be pictures, once there is something noticeable enough to show you
But half way there now, so that's all good. Just wait and see what side-effects the next week brings!
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"This just gets more boring, I'm afraid."
You might think so. I don't and I'm sure others don't.
The biggest fear of medical treatment is the fear of the unknown. Your account of what is happening and the side effects is very human and readable. Keep it up and you'll likely have produced a resource that Addenbrooke's could use for new patients: a patient's view on what can happen.
Personally, I'm a bit shocked going from reading you had the biopsy results and discovering it is 20 years old and probably not a threat, then me not following things for a few weeks, and suddenly you're two weeks into a six week curse* of radiotherapy.
My wife had to have a major operation last year and what made everything possible was the consultant surgeon who gave her so much information and time to absorb it and involved her in all the decision making about the treatment. In the end my wife opted for the biggest and scariest "Go on then, zip me open, whip it all out and be done with it" with confidence it was the right thing to do. As a Librarian, her mantra is "Information is always a good thing".
I hope you are, or will, get benefit from writing down your experiences (are you likely to fret over a TMA ever again after this?). I expect I'm not alone in being enthralled by being allowed to follow such a personal journey and, in so doing, becoming better prepared to face such a journey when one happens closer to home. Your openness is very generous.
Gotta love your honeycomb mask face, though! Your SuperHero name will need to refer to that.
* That was such a good typo, I left it in.
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Simon, one of the fab things about the oncologist was that she actually went through all the different types of radiotherapy, and explained why the one I'm having is the best option and what made the other types less suitable. It wasn't just 'this is what we'll do'. I love information too.
That's how I know that there's about a 90% chance that zapping it will stop it growing at all in future (well, for the 10 years that they follow up - if it's still not growing then, I get discharged and it's considered done with). If not zapped, it would still have grown (however slowly) and likely caused more problems with my vision. One of the thoughts was get it done now, because even if I could put it off for ten years, it would still need doing and I'd be ten years older even if no other health problems happened. So I can empathise with your wife's "get it over with" idea
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It might be sensible to do it now, but I still think you are brave not putting it off.