Radiation Trauma

I had 33 radiation treatments. Radiation is tricky. I heard so much about the fatigue, the skin changes, the grind...At the end of the first week I thought "No problem. I can do this. What's all the fuss?" I was able to go to work, leave at 3:30, drive myself to Tacoma, park, enter the clinic, greet the receptionist, walk on back to the ladies' dressing room, change into a hospital gown, and work on a jigsaw puzzle chatting with the other ladies. No problem. It wasn't until the end of the third week that it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was whipped. I could barely move. I stayed seated between classes. I fell asleep during dinner. I could barely take our evening walks, and then it was only to the corner and back. I felt empty, as if I had been abandoned and only an empty shell was left behind. It was at that point, with Michael's encouragement, that I started working half time. I came home at noon, slept until Michael call at 3 PM urging me to get out of bed and get ready for him to come home to take me to my treatment. He cleverly called again 15 minutes later, insisting that I get out of bed. He arrived at 3:30 and drove me across the tideflats and up the hill to the clinic. I could not have done it without him.