Radiation, Keytruda, Return to Work (Part Time), and Surgery for Mike

TL:DR; I’m setup for radiation and will start that 2/1. I’ve had my first Keytruda only infusion which went well. I’m feeling much better mentally and feel really good physically too. I’ll be returning to work part time next week which I’m very excited about. Please keep Mike in your thoughts as he has back surgery on 2/9. Thank you for all of your support!

Last week was an incredibly busy week with doctor’s appointments. I had 10 separate appointments. (Phew that was crazy!) This week is much slower and I’m grateful for that.

Last week one of the most important appointments was getting setup for radiation treatment. I had a long appointment (almost 1.5 hours) where I was laying on my back in a CT scan machine with lots of measurement devices while they did CT scans and setup the beam angles for radiation treatment. I had to hold very still for a long time and I was really grateful to move my arms when it was done. (I had to hold them still up over my head…) At the end of this appointment I also got 4 very tiny (like a dot from a very fine ink pen) tattoos to help them line me up on the radiation machine when I do treatment. I will do 28 treatments starting on 2/1; they will be every weekday.

I’ve talked to a few people about what the side effects are like from radiation treatment and have been assured this will likely not be too bad. The side effects will potentially be delayed and are cumulative so I will likely feel the worst about 2 weeks after treatment is done. However, hopefully the side effects will be limited to redness/burns on my skin and fatigue. I’ve already started using the special cream they recommend to moisturize as a preventative. (Recommended to start early by the plastic surgeon.) Thank you to everyone who shared your radiation experiences with me to help me prepare!

If you don’t want to read about the plastic surgeon’s work with reconstruction last week, please skip the next paragraph.

As part of the prep for radiation, last week the plastic surgeon “filled” the tissue expander on the treatment side (left breast) to ~20% larger than its final intended size. This is so that the skin has room to shrink/retract due to radiation as you can’t expand radiated skin. On the other side (right breast) he left things as is (under expanded) so that there’s room for the radiation beam to not “hit” that side. (They still had to tape it down to “squish” it out of the way of the beam path during the planning session.) After radiation is complete he’ll expand the non-treated side (right breast) to match the left but for a little while here, probably a couple of months I’ll be a bit uneven. It’s noticeable to me, but, I’m not too worried about it as there’s not much to be done about it and it’s weather weather. That being said, I will likely use a prosthetic a friend knit for me (thank you!) to make things less lopsided when I want to.

Last Friday I also had my first Keytruda only infusion treatment. So far I feel pretty good and haven’t had any side effects…hopefully that will keep up. 1 down, only 8 more to go!

Mentally I am feeling light years better for which I am very grateful. Sleep is also consistent with the medication and I’ve just accepted that this is how it will likely be until I can work to wean myself off of the sleep medications post radiation. I’m so grateful for feeling better mentally though as it is just a huge difference. (Getting sleep really helps this!)

Physically I am feeling really good as well and feel almost normal with the activities that I’m doing now. We’ll see how/if that continues as I increase my “load”.

Now for the thing I’m really excited about! I’m returning to work next week part time. I’m very excited to be back in the office (masked of course) and try my hand out at helping the team. It will be a small slice of “normal” and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m hopeful/confident that the part time will still allow me the time to focus on what I need to do to continue treatment and healing for the next couple of months. So, if you’re a colleague, please look for me next week and say hello!

I can’t end this post without mentioning another big thing that is on my mind that’s not at all about me. Mike is having back surgery on 2/9 and I would be grateful if you would please offer your positive thoughts, support, and prayers for him as he goes through this surgery. He’s having surgery in hopes of allowing nerve healing that would reverse some numbness, pain, and reduced muscle strength he’s having in one of his legs. A scary thing but we’re hopeful it will work and offer him some pain relief. (He has a long-standing back injury that flared up quite badly in the Fall.)

Thank you to all of you for your continued support – it’s crazy that this journey is so long and we are so grateful to each and every one of you for continuing to offer your care and support in all the many ways you do for this long time. Thank you!

The now “standard” note at the end of posts for website navigation help:

Thank you for taking time to keep up with us and see how we’re doing as well as all the help!  Because, I think like me, much of the world does nearly everything on their phones…I’m adding this note to the end of posts to make website navigation easier if you are on a phone.  If you’d like to read other journal entries, please click here (oldest post is at the bottom of the page).  There’s also a “hamburger” menu in the top right of the webpage that can help you navigate between the journal, ways to help page, stay in touch, and welcome pages.   Please know that reading this page and thinking of us is help!   Thank you for your support in all forms! If you have any issues, please email [email protected].