burned

Let me describe what the radiation burn looks like, now that it's edges are so sharp and clear. I suppose a picture would be quicker. (It's actually probably a good idea to take one. Maybe Em will help me with that in a bit....) I should warn you guys, though, in case I do get one taken and posted -- people find how it looks disturbing. I think it looks fine, just burned -- which it's supposed to, so what's the big deal? Alan and Em don't like looking at it, though, Matthew won't even try, and I was surprised that the last time I saw the radiation oncologist, it bothered him, too. It took me awhile to figure it out...... this was last Tuesday. He asked to see it, as he does every week, I showed it to him, and he said "Yeah, that's what it's supposed to look like." Then after another moment he winced and said "Okay, that's enough, cover it up." He'd never done that before..... Imagine being a radiation oncologist and being bothered by how your patients look for the last two weeks of treatment when they are really burned...... and you have to keep doing it.

Anyway, here's a description of what I look like now. It looks like a 2D bowl, rounded at the bottom of my right-side ribs, going up beyond my right armpit and onto my back a bit, and on the left coming up a little left of the center of my chest and straight across on top. It's very dark on the sides and bottom, reasonably dark on top, and oddly light in the middle. WHich brings us to next week.

They have done all they are going to do on the outside of this "bowl," is my understanding. (Whooppee! I mean I am cooked. If this were a sunburn I woulda got out of the sun a week ago, at the latest -- and I can be pretty oblivious about that kinda thing.) So next week, my last week of radiation, my understanding is that they are going to radiate just the the scar, which is a diagonal line going up the middle of the "bowl." It goes from my right armpit down to the bottom/middle of my rib cage. It's a fine scar -- I'm happy with how it looks (well, when it's not burned, but this is short-term-temporary.)

It's a bit raw near the middle of my chest (left side of the burn) since I went swimming yesterday. The right side is maybe darker (in the armpit) but it's leathery and solid. I had a little trouble sleeping last night -- I am a belly sleeper...... which is a bit tricky at the moment! Today I bought a couple of 6x6 tegaderm bandages, thinking to try one next time I go swimming...... which might be Tuesday, or I might wait on it, depends on how the burn goes (and timing, as usual.)

ALso I have a yeast infection. This is only the 2nd since I started treatment, but it got bad fast like the other one (spread back I mean, along my episiotomy scar) and needed days of diflucan, not just one. The other one was in the summer, when I was on chemo, so no wonder it got bad fast. This time I am not sure...... it's been over a month and a half since my last chemo, and my white count was barely abnormal even then. I hope this is not some new low point for me with yeast infections..... I hope I won't need a 5 day course of diflucan every time I get a yeast infection..... especially since I start with a ONE day dose, and don't know it hasn't worked til after 24 hrs, so it's one day on, one day off, and then 5 days on......

Okay I'm off. Time to take the very patient dog for a walk. We tend to wait on it now that we've fenced in the back yard and can let her out during the day...... which is nice given the way our schedule has been lately -- ALan leaves before 7am, I get the kids out and then get out on my bike at 8-8:10. If you think I have time to walk the dog in there...... she does come out when I get my bike ready, though.....