Piece of cake

... or easy as pie, whichever dessert you prefer.

Today was my first radiation treatment. From the time I sat down in the waiting room to when I walked out the doors to my car was all of 15 minutes. And next time will probably be even less because they took a couple of measurements that they won't have to do every time. Basically, I go in and partially undress (at least I don't have to have my bare bottom hanging out of the hospital gown), then lay on a table. There's a big machine at the head of table, part of which curves up and over and ends in big circular part that can rotate above and around you from one side to the other. The radiation therapists push and pull me around until I'm all lined up properly, then they leave the room to operate the equipment. The machine rotated first to above and to my right, and there was a couple moments of buzzing. Then it moved to below and to my left, more buzzing, and that was about it. I thought I felt a warm sensation in my breast during the treatment, but that might have been in my head.

There are things I have to remember, though. I can't use deodorant on my left side, because the metals in it can react with the radiation, apparently. So I use cornstarch instead. I'm going to try and put aloe vera gel on every day to help keep the skin from drying out or getting red. I also need to remember to drink plenty of water, since that will help hydrate the skin (and keep future kidney stones at bay) and eat plenty of protein, which helps the skin to rebuild. We'll see what happens.

On a side note, why is there more and more hype about the Superbowl every year, but the next day all anyone can say is how much the game itself sucked?