When we had seen Quenten about my starting radiation I was halfway though my chemo and feeling quite ill. He assured me that the worst part of radiation therapy would be having to go to the hospital 5-days a week for 6 weeks. He'd explained that they had a new way of treating breast cancer patients now by lying me face down with my breast sort of hanging which I couldn't picture at the time but I had to trust that he knew what he was doing LOL. He explained that I would get tired and a little sore like a bad sunburn and said that they would give me creams to manage that. I was just pleased that it wasn't going to make me ill.

We had a set-up appointment the week before I was scheduled to start treatment at Royal Brisbane Women's hospital. I've lived in Queensland now for 15 years and I'd never had cause to go to this hospital before so I was a bit surprised at how huge it was. There were two entire floors dedicated to oncology and radiotherapy. I filled in all the necessary forms and was then taken down for a CAT scan of my breast. Then they had me lie down in exactly the same position that I would be treated in on a simulator machine. They took a lot of measurements of the area to be treated and marked me in four places with a small dot using a little tattoo gun which didn't really hurt, just a little pin prick. This I was told would help them get the right positioning when I went down to the machine for treatment. I saw another radiologist other than Quenten who checked all the measurements out then they were going to take me down to the machine and show me what would happen on Monday. But I think one of their machines had broken down that day and they were running very behind so we didn't end up doing that. I was given an appointment card with my first appointment on and that was it we were ready to start.

They had six separate machines in the department and I was assigned to machine number LA3. For the first appointment one of the radiation therapists came out to the waiting room to get me. I was taken through to my machine area and was given a gown and a slot to keep it in with my name above it and told that I would be called to the machine on the intercom in the waiting room from now on. And that when my name was called I was to come to the dressing room, remove my shirt and bra and get into my gown then sit outside.
I was actually very nervous I wasn't sure exactly what was going to happen to me yet and it was worrying me a lot. Outside the change room there was a control area with a lot of computers and screens and a staff of about 6 people. When they took me in I was a bit surprised at how big the room was. At this point I was going to try and explain what the machine looked like but I think I would just confuse anyone reading this if I did so I've found a picture instead.

The radiation therapist put several large solid styrofoam blocks that were about 2 foot square on the total surface of the table leaving a gap of about 8 inches towards the top, then a thin plastic plate was put over the top on one side. (Not the side to be treated) I was made to get up on the table on my knees then lie face down so that only the breast to be treated was hanging in the 8-inch gap between the styrofoam blocks. It was a bit uncomfortable but not too bad. There were laser beams coming from in front of me and to the side of me and these acted like a crosshair for the exact area to be treated. Once I was in position the machine was bought to its starting position (which was to my left side (the side the tumour had been on) and an X-ray was taken that had to be checked by the radiologist. (The machine had an in-built X-ray machine) I was told to lie very still and an alarm sounded at which point all the staff left the room quickly and the doors closed automatically. I must admit that I found that a little scary the first time. The staff were very good though and they told me everything they were doing at all times and what was going to happen next which I found reassuring. The machine whirred and clicked a little and an X-ray was taken The X-ray had to be done every day before treatment was given but it was only the first time that it had to be checked by the doctor. If the X-ray was deemed to be ok meaning that I was correctly positioned then treatment proceeded automatically
For the actually treatment the machine hummed a little then there was a loud single beep that lasted approx 25 seconds. Then everything went quiet before the machine automatically moved over my head to the other side of my body and the same thing happened again. The whole process including getting me on the table in the right position, the X-ray and the treatment took around 10 minutes at most. As my treatment progressed and I got to know where they wanted me I was often able to get on the table in the right position and the whole thing took only 5 minutes. There was no pain, I didn't feel anything at all.

Once it was finished I got dressed and put my gown in its slot and went to reception where I was given my appointment for the following day. And that was how it went every day for 6 weeks. Once a week I had to see the Radiologist and my treatment was arranged around this appointment time. Every two weeks I got a day off when they were servicing the machine something I really enjoyed. Quenten had been right getting to the hospital every day was royal pain in the butt. Early appointments were always allocated to those people that were already in hospital or who were coming in by ambulance so my appointments were always around about lunchtime or just after, which was just a nuisance because the whole day was ruined. Although the treatment didn't take long at all sometimes we spent a long time in the waiting room waiting to go in. But you do what you have to do because the alternative sucks.

By this time it had been nearly two months since I had finished my chemo and my hair was really starting to come back now and to everyone's great surprise it was blonde. Now I admit that the chestnut colour it had been before I'd lost it had come from a bottle but my hair has always been naturally a reddish brown colour so I have no idea where the blonde colour came from. My head was starting to get itchy and at home at least I had stopped wearing my bandanna. I still wasn't confident enough to go out with it though. My mouth and lips continued to be very dry all the time and I didn't go anywhere without a bottle of water and a Chap Stick. But the other side effects of the chemo were starting to wear off. My periods had started again, I'd got my sense of smell back although getting my taste back took a bit longer to return.

For the first few weeks of radiation treatment I didn't notice too much change I was very tired but that was about it. By the fourth week my breast was starting to get very red and quite sore, and it was very hot to touch as well, but it was still bearable. But I found that it was much more comfortable to go without wearing a bra from here on.
Unfortunately in the fifth week I picked up a skin infection and it all got really sore and infected and I had to go onto antibiotics. But the doctors including my own GP told me that it was quite unusual for this to happen. So it was in typical fashion for me because I never do things the easy way LOL they gave me creams to help with the burning and I ploughed on.
The last week of chemo was a *super dose* and administered a little differently. It was still done on the same machine but I was positioned sitting up and lying back a little and it was given from the front. There was no movement of the machine just one straight dose. I was supposed to have 5 of these treatments but I ended up having only four as it was Christmas Eve and quite frankly I'd had enough. I few people were a bit upset with me for not having that last dose but I figured that if the cancer was going to come back, then this last dose wasn't going to make any difference�.. I guess I had just reached the end of my tether. But finishing all my treatment was definitely the best Christmas gift I got that year.