Week One Done... CHECK!!

First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone for the calls, texts, comments, cards, and prayers!!  I really do appreciate everything and have the most absolutely AWESOME family and friends!! 

Disclaimer - I have made the decision to be brutally honest about this journey.  No holds bars, no subject too "personal".  So I will go ahead and apologize to those of you who find some topics uncomfortable ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Week one is in the books but it didn't go as uneventful as I had hoped.  On Wednesday morning I learned that cervical cancer + "that time of the month" = some pretty significant pain!!  I will spare you all the gory details but in short, my menstrual cycles have become increasingly painful over the last few months and this week I experienced some of the worst pain I have ever felt.  In addition to the pain I was also experiencing some pretty significant nausea (not sure if this was chemo induced or due to the pain).  Luckily, I was able to see one of my doctors after radiation on Wednesday and was prescribed pain meds and ended up spending all of Wednesday taking anti-nausea and pain meds.  I was soooo out of it!!  By Thursday I was feeling well enough to return to work and tried to maintain somewhat of a normal schedule. Overall I've just been feeling really fatigued and have been trying to get adequate rest.

Highlight of the Week:  Something really encouraging happened on Friday before my radiation treatment.  When the Rad Onc staff member brought me back to machine 3 she told me that the team would be back in just a moment to start my treatment.  She explained that they were going with the previous patient to "ring the bell" - a tradition that is done after a patent's last radiation visit.  During some of my recent visits to Rad Onc, I had seen a few patients take part in this right of passage.  The patient rings the bell and family, friends, members of the treatment team, and everyone in the waiting room all clap and cheer to celebrate this milestone!  I had seen this women each morning this week, being the patient that was treated before me on the same machine, each day she was heading out and I was heading in.  As I changed into the gown, I thought about that woman ringing the bell and although I didn't know her, I felt such happiness for her.  When the Rad Onc staff returned one member approached me with a small metal medallion with an angel on one side and "protect me" on the other.  She said that the previous patient had been given this medallion and that she wanted to pass it on to the next patient.  I gratefully accepted this gift and although I will never know her name, I will never forget that woman.  I look forward to the day I will ring the bell!!

I spent the weekend resting and am ready to take on week two tomorrow!!