Almost at the end....
Officially, all my treatment is over! I finished Radio last Wednesday with 2 'booster' doses (different room, machine comes right down on top of you, blast to the scar area. The actual Radiotherapy wasn't bad at all. There was one day, when Paul and Eleanor had accompanied me in and I'd shown the room to them, when the machine broke down on me. And no, neither P nor E did anything to it. I was lying there, all the staff had exited the room, and the first bzzzzzz came... then nothing. After an ominous pause, the staff came in and looked puzzled. Another long pause, then they told me I could relax my arm down. Then after a while they covered me up, saying the technicians might come in. Finally they sent me back outside, and I waited half an hour, then continued my session. It seemed to go OK, but was a bit worrying!
The same day that my Radio finished, I also finally had my line out. There weren't any beds available, so they put me in a private room (the food was no better tho'). It was taken out under local anaesthetic, and Paul was able to be there... so I didn't need a sedative this time. It is great not having the line sticking out of me any more. And no more waiting in for the District Nurses to come round.
I was warned that after the treatment finished the Radio would continue to work for 2 to 3 weeks (I'd continue cooking, as it were). And at the beginning of this week, my skin, which had been quite red, began to break down. This is a process known as moist desquamation. If that sounds revolting, that's because it is.
I went back to the hospital just under a week after thinking I wouldn't have to go near the place for a couple of months. There they had a look at me and gave me some Gentian Violet to daub on, and told me to expose the area to air as much as possible.
Now there's only so much you can go round topless, especially when still working. Plus the only way to comfortably get air to the burn is to lie on my back. So I have been doing a fair bit of that.
Gentian Violet is a dye... so now I have turned purple, Paul has purple fingers (the gloves they gave didn't fit very well) and various sheets and clothes and the like have purple blotches too.
Things did not seem to be improving greatly, so I went back to the hospital, where they have given me some Flamazine cream. And told me to carry on getting as much air as possible. Fortunately I'm not in work for the next week or so, as I'm not sure how this would fit in with the Clothing Policy....
The same day that my Radio finished, I also finally had my line out. There weren't any beds available, so they put me in a private room (the food was no better tho'). It was taken out under local anaesthetic, and Paul was able to be there... so I didn't need a sedative this time. It is great not having the line sticking out of me any more. And no more waiting in for the District Nurses to come round.
I was warned that after the treatment finished the Radio would continue to work for 2 to 3 weeks (I'd continue cooking, as it were). And at the beginning of this week, my skin, which had been quite red, began to break down. This is a process known as moist desquamation. If that sounds revolting, that's because it is.
I went back to the hospital just under a week after thinking I wouldn't have to go near the place for a couple of months. There they had a look at me and gave me some Gentian Violet to daub on, and told me to expose the area to air as much as possible.
Now there's only so much you can go round topless, especially when still working. Plus the only way to comfortably get air to the burn is to lie on my back. So I have been doing a fair bit of that.
Gentian Violet is a dye... so now I have turned purple, Paul has purple fingers (the gloves they gave didn't fit very well) and various sheets and clothes and the like have purple blotches too.
Things did not seem to be improving greatly, so I went back to the hospital, where they have given me some Flamazine cream. And told me to carry on getting as much air as possible. Fortunately I'm not in work for the next week or so, as I'm not sure how this would fit in with the Clothing Policy....
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