Next Question: Radiation or Not?

Aaaaaand I'm alive!

This week I feel like a human again. Human? you ask. Yes, human. This week is what I would call one of my "human weeks," in which I have energy and feel like my normal self. Days like these feel great - my stomach doesn't bother me, I'm not high on medication all day or drowsy, and I enjoy my food. I wish every day could be like this!

But alas, this Friday I will have to go in again for another treatment - treatment number 5b, to be exact (or #10). After this Friday I will only have TWO more chemo treatments to deal with. Good God the finish line is so close!!!

My next steps are to decide whether I will be receiving any radiation after my treatment. Last week I met with a radiation specialist (who interestingly resembled David Bowie) and we went over my options. Of course, he recommended I get a full dosage of radiation after my treatment, especially because I have a large, bulky mass (tumor) in my chest cavity. However, since I am responding so well to my chemotherapy, my oncologist might recommend something different, whether that be no radiation or a lighter dosage of it. It's really up for the radiation specialist and my oncologist to determine after I get my PET scan results at the end of my chemotherapy treatment.

Of course, this all brings up many thoughts. Mainly, what's the risk involved? Well, if I don't get radiation, there is a high chance - I was told an estimated 40 percent chance - that the Hodgkins can grow back in the same area. If I do get radiation in that area, it will kill any remaining cells, however, it will increase my chances of developing secondary cancers in the future such as breast, lung, or throat cancer - at about an estimated 20 percent chance. So what's the lesser of two evils here?

Here's what I was told about the radiation:

If I get a full round of radiation, it will be about 15-17 treatments, which would take place once a day, every day Monday through Friday (so it would be about three weeks). The treatments themselves would take about five minutes and be just like getting an x-ray. The radiation specialist told me that the side effects would be much less severe than chemo, mostly being just fatigue and maybe some light burning on my skin.

The hard part is to think that after all this is over, there is still a semi-high chance that in my future I will have to go through this all over again, despite what methods I decide on after chemo. I'm not happy about that. However, I am just trying to focus on getting over this hurdle now so I can start living a healthier lifestyle. I need to take one day at a time!

I have a tremendous amount of respect and trust for my oncologist and nurses, so I am sure that together we can all come up with the best possible course of action to take after chemo.

**note: I'd love to hear opinions/experiences about radiation from anyone reading this. Not sure who comes across this blog, but I'm interested to hear what others have to say!