A long and winding road.

Today is the end of a very long road. A day I couldn't imagine getting to.
It has been gruelling, exhausting, painful and an immense struggle.
I have been reflecting recently about life and death, and have written some meditations for Advent.
My conclusion is that we need death to make life more intense and precious. There is nothing like suffering for focussing the mind on what is truly important, and, as a family, we have now made some decisions based on our new focus. It is good for us to consider our mortality and our legacies, and the daily allotment of our time- but very often we are too busy to do that, and life just hurtles on. My life has definitely not hurtled on for the last 9 months, but has dragged beyond belief! I wake up from the dream to discover that the world has not stood still, and I am now 9 months behind on so many things!!
Tomorrow I may take action on those things.
But today I CELEBRATE!!!!!!!

Easy peasy now....

Well, today was a much quicker procedure. Instead of lying on a frame and holding on to a post, I was on a mattress with a pillow! True luxury compared to the last 5 weeks. And, although I still needed to be aligned properly, there was only one burst of radiation as opposed to three (so basically it takes a third of the time and is much more comfy). And I have already done one- so there are only 4 left. Woohoo!

One week left!

The skin reaction is now slightly worse, and I have some peeling and broken skin- but it is basically a bit like heat rash, quite prickly and itchy. I am controlling it well by slathering it in aqueous cream, and it is really not much of a problem compared to surgery and chemo!!!
Only 5 sessions left- next week I am having 'booster' sessions. Not quite sure aboout the detail, except they will be much quicker and I even get a pillow!
The end is definitely in sight now.

Good News

I am now into week five- only this week and next left. It has been a drag getting to hospital every day, but I am still not experiencing much more redness or pain than at the beginning. I saw the doctor today (every monday I have a review appointment) and they were delighted with my progress- apparently I could have been MUCH worse at this stage.
So, having started with a worryingly fast reaction, I seem to have stabilised and not progressed at the rate they were expecting.
Hoooooooray!