Reasons Why

Three more chemotherapy treatments, six more shots, twenty more days of feel nauseas, six more days of post chemo sore throats, nine more days of post chemo migraines, one more month of numb finger tips, approximately fifteen days of not being able to taste anything and feeling like my tongue has died, and twenty radiation treatments….the countdown is on and it’s really all I can think about it.

Many people have been asking me if the cancer is gone why I have to still undergo three more treatments of chemo and the four weeks of radiation therapy. The answer is simple, it’s insurance. Typically Hodgkin’s patients can just be treated with chemotherapy, but when their tumors are considered bulky and over 10 cm, radiation is always required. My biggest tumor was 9.6 cm and after the tumor board met (yes, there’s a tumor board) they decided to have me do the radiation. When my doctor originally told me about having to do radiation, he said the reason why they want me to do it is because I’m a young mom with two little girls and they want me to live. Okay, so who can really argue with that?
I know there are risks involved with radiation, most notably developing other cancers like lung and breast cancer. Supposedly I am out of the high risk category for developing breast cancer because that typically shows up in women who had radiation when they were teenagers. The other big risk is heart disease because the radiation can affect the ventricles leading to the heart.

Yes, there’s risk involved. But I will be less upset if I develop one of these diseases than I will be if my Hodgkin’s comes back because I didn’t finish the recommended treatment. I’m looking at it like antibiotics. You may feel better, but it’s the rule that you need to finish all the pills for it to work.

Thanks to the generosity of my friend Nicholle, I have been offered a condo in the Seattle area for the entire time I’m getting radiation. The girls are going to come with me and my mom, Addison and possibly some other friends/family will take turns helping me. Supposedly my symptoms during radiation will be tiredness and a sore throat. I can live with that seeing all the other stuff I’ve been dealing with.