The C-Word
I was diagnosed with cancer in March of 2024. It’s been quite the experience, and I have a head full of thoughts about it. This is a place for me to tell the story, to keep it straight for myself, and to help others understand a little better what it’s like. We’ll start with an archive of Facebook posts I made in the beginning, and the story proceeds from there.
September 7, 2024
The radiation oncologist told me the burns from the tail end of the treatments would get worse for a while, but once they started healing, it would go very fast. He wasn't kidding. I can see differences in the course of a day.
August 28, 2024
CONTENT WARNING: I'm going to talk about burns in detail. Skip if you're squeamish.
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Burns are in a category all their own. I dealt rather well with the surgeries. There was a certain point where I could even ignore a fair bit of the pain from those. There's no ignoring burns.
August 22, 2024
Radiation treatment 30 of 30 done. They're over. I took home the mask they used to hold me still on the table. There's a little gong in the hallway you can hit to celebrate on your way out. I hit it with the mask.
August 15, 2024
Today I had radiation treatment 25 of 30. This time next week, I'll be done with them. I won't be sad to end the treatments themselves, but I will miss the people involved.
July 24, 2024
Back from radiation treatment 9 of 30. Here's what it looks like when I'm clamped to the table!