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Goodbye chemo, hello radiation!

In celebration of the end of chemo, I had my port-a-catheter (not-so-fondly referred to as Igor because he was a pain in my neck who sometimes made me hunch my shoulders) removed from my chest Friday morning. This event was spurred on by the fact that on Wednesday, part of my neck went numb, starting from about where Igor's tube hooked into the vein in my neck up to my chin. Weird. 

I had a hard time believing that removing the likes of Igor is an  in-office procedure. But it is. The doc numbs up the port area on your chest, slices open the spot where she installed it, then yanks out the port along with the catheter tube in your neck and sends you on your way within half an hour with a few stitches in your chest. Seriously. I was in the office at 8 and out by 8:30.  After all the pain and suffering endured from Igor's installation, his removal was a piece of cake, relatively speaking. Good riddance Igor, you did your job and I'm grateful for that, but I'm so glad we've parted ways. So so glad. Even if my neck is still numb.

I met my radiologist on Thursday (another great doc at the Swedish Cancer Institute)  and had my radiation planning session on Friday, after Igor's removal -- Friday was a busy day. After being measured and tattooed at the planning appointment (all I had to do was lie on the table while the techs figured things out -- it was a nice break in the day), I scheduled my 33 radiation appointments and am all set for the next adventure. My dry-run happens on Tuesday when they check to make sure that all will go as planned for the radiation treatments, then Wednesday, the fun begins. Radiation five days a week for the next six and a half weeks. Expected side effects: fatigue and skin burn. I hope that both will be minimal. I'll be wrapping up treatment by the end of June and will be ready for a little fun in the sun. Please please please weather gods, can we have a sunny summer this year!