Friday, January 29, 2010

First Day of Radiation

Yesterday was Melanie's first day of radiation. My mom and Melanie were suppose to be there at 7:00 a.m., which was a lot earlier than they were hoping. Traffic was pretty bad at 6:30, so they were about 20 min. late. They did her brain boost first. Melanie can lay down for this. My mom said Melanie just didn't like how tight the face guard was. I talked with my mom before the full body radiation, and Melanie was doing good. At about 8:45 p.m., I get a text from Melanie that reads: That radiation process sucked

I guess the full body radiation process took 5 hours! They had to make sure the lung shields were working right, so they would do something, then take an x-ray and wait for a doctor to check it was all good. Once they started the radiation, it was horrific for Melanie. She got really nauseous and had to leave a few times, get sick, then come back for more. She has to stand in a weird position, which caused her back to spasm a few times. There is a bicycle type seat underneath her that she can "lean" on if she feels like she might faint, but they really don't want her to sit on it. One of the nurses commented that it looks barbaric. They were also upset that no one called them and had them bring some anti-nausea medication down to her.

When I spoke with my mom earlier today, she said today it was a quicker process and they kept medicine in Melanie to alleviate the nausea. I hope the next four days are better as well. I know Melanie was really concerned about being able to stand for 20 min., especially once her counts get really low.

Hang in there, Melanie! You are so strong and can get through this radiation! Love you!!!

4 comments:

Brynne said...

I would have to agree, that sounds like it SUCKED! We'll be sending extra prayers your way. You are one tough chica!

Amy Johnson said...

Ugh! How awful!!! Hang in there!

Les said...

Scott and I are thinkin about you!!

Darlene said...

That sounds like it totally sucked ... big time. Hang in there, Mel. I am thinking of you and sending healing prayers all the time. Tons of love. Darlene