Radiation 101

I have been meaning to get a blog post out for weeks now.  Time has a way of filling up and if you are not careful every minute is taken up by one obligation or another.  If I didn't enjoy (and need) sleep so much, I could get much more accomplished.

Well, as many of you may know, I have started radiation therapy.  We had a "preparing for radiation" appointment a few weeks ago at which time doctor explained the type of radiation they would be doing, created a body mold that I would lay in during radiation treatment so I would not move, and gave me some tattoos they need to have as reference points.  Everything went well and they got all the information they needed, left their mark(s) on me and sent me out the door with a "see you in a week".  All seemed to be going according to plan I was supposed to start my radiation therapy the day before thanksgiving.

As you may have noticed, I do not like to do things the traditional way and therefore my treatment has not been typical - which has been a great blessing from Heavenly Father.  It turns out that I am a larger than usual patient for the treatment method the New York doctors had prescribed.  The method of radiation therapy suggested is limited to a certain size.  As it turns out, most patients with DSRCT (Desmoplastic Round Cell Tumor) are adolescents and therefore smaller than me.  Even most of the adult patients are most likely smaller than me.  This special method for applying radiation was going to be quiet tricky and would take a significant amount of time to administer.  The radiation oncologist called me and explained the situation.  He acknowledged the benefits of doing radiation the new way but said he did not feel that the benefits were significant enough to warrant the added complexity of the procedure.  He suggested a more straight forward and traditional method.  He made it clear that the cancer sites would receive the same amount of radiation with either method, but that certain parts of the bone would be hit with radiation using the more traditional method.  From his point of view, the complexity of the newer method increased the chances for error and accident.  The dose of radiation is low and therefore the bones would not be getting a worrisome amount of radiation.

I initially told him to go forward with the more traditional approach.  Angela prayed daily to know if this was the right thing to do or if we should plan another trip to New York and have them do it the newer way.  Neither of us felt good about leaving the family again.  We need to stick together.  I started radiation on Tuesday and have had four treatments thus far.  It has all gone according to protocol.  They informed me I would have sun burn type reactions to the abdomen, nausea, and fatigue.  They are drawing blood each week to keep track of red blood cells since certain bones are being radiated.

The staff are great and I am able to get the treatments at the South Jordan facility in the Day Break area.  They have a Huntsman center there in the U of U facility.  The drive (traffic) is much better than going to Huntsman Hospital in SLC.

We have been truly blesses throughout this ordeal.  Heavenly Father has wrapped us in his arms and given us the courage, strength, and assurance to go forward.  Many have heeded the prompting of the spirit and come to our rescue as we have needed it.  We are so thankful to be surrounded by people to listen to the spirit and are the answer to heartfelt prayers.  Thank you so much!

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are real.  They love us and are there for us each step of the way.  Let us prepare ourselves to meet them.  I have so much to learn and so much to repent of and improve on.  I hope and pray that I will want to stay in their presence when I am able to come before them at the end of this life.  I have felt of their love and have a peace for what the future holds.

May Heavenly Father bless each of you.

-Doug-