today went so quick. it helped that debra and i knew the drill about how to just walk in and scan in at radiation and go to the dressing room to wait. we were early for my 2pm appointment – like maybe 1:40-1:45 – but they took me back within 5 minutes. same tech team. still nice, though maybe a little less effusive than yesterday since it was now my second day. lol

i swear it went faster than yesterday… like, my actual time on the table and with the radiation on felt like less. but the techs said it was exactly the same as yesterday so i guess i’m just getting used to it or just wasn’t as nervous. it’s not quite 15 minutes on the table; it’s more like 10-12, with the first few minutes of them taking xrays. i can tell the difference in the sounds of the machines. but i was done and out of there by a few minutes past 2. literally a half an hour in and out.

i only took a half of an ativan today, to see the difference. much more manageable, i.e. it didn’t give me double vision. i’m not even sure i need to keep taking it from here on out.

i did once again smell chlorine, only when the radiation machine came on. it wasn’t as strong as yesterday but i smelled it. i’ll have to ask my radiation doc about that at my next check in. so weird.

other news to report: i did end up with a slight headache last night after my first treatment. the radiation can swell your brain so headaches are normal side effects and my radiation oncologist told me to let him know if i experienced any. so i sent him a note through the portal just to report that. i took an ibuprofen last night – what he suggested – and it seemed to work as i slept really well. but i did wake up with it again this morning, so i took more ibuprofen. i guess i should stock up on it. (i really really hate taking it cuz it’s so bad for your kidneys and i went through such a long time in my late 30s into my 40s taking SO MUCH ibuprofen because of my fibroids. but he said ibuprofen is much better at combatting inflammation than tylenol so it was his choice. so ibuprofen it is.)

i probably won’t keep writing each day unless something interesting or notable happens. maybe i’ll do an end of week, or weekend, recap. i dunno. i don’t want to overwhelm anyone with all these entries. i have much more to say about what a strange experience this is but i’ll hang on to that until i have a few more sessions under my belt. that’s all for today.

onward!