8 new tattoos

I spent 4 hours on Wednesday in the basement of the Farber getting measured and tattooed in preparation for radiation. I now have 8 new tattoos which define the field of radiation. They are blue, freckle-sized, and I have named them after the G8 nations. The US and the UK are on my chest. France, Germany, Italy, and Russia adorn my left breast. Japan is under my left arm and Canada is under the right. Yes, they are permanent. Dr. Mauch reiterated that radiation is definitely they way to go for me due to my “unfavorable prognosis” as defined by my 4 sites of disease (the cut off is three.) There are/were affected nodes in my neck, chest, under my left arm, and one little one at the base of my heart. I was actually glad to hear him be so clear and confident about the direction we should take. I thought there might be some discussion about whether or not to radiate after the clean halfway PET however he says that the studies that look at cutting radiation out are for people in the favorable category. Plus this was the plan from the beginning and I want to do everything possible to beat this. I do not want recurrent Hodgkin’s. He also reiterated to me that my risk for breast cancer was actually pretty low because I'm 35. He said that because the sites in my neck were low, near my collar bone, he would miss my mouth and also not hit any of my hair. This is very good news as I was very worried about my teeth and losing my taste buds for a couple months. I’ll also be glad to see my hair come back sooner than later. I will probably have a sore throat, definitely fatigue, and there’s a good chance I’ll have thyroid problems in the future, but I still considered this all very good news. So I said, ok, sign me up, let's start as soon as possible and get on with the tattoos so I can make my plane to Florida tonight. Liz was so kind to come with me. There was a lot of waiting around while Mauch and his team defined the plan. The word is that he is painstakingly careful – an incredibly good quality as far as I’m concerned. He’s supposed to be the world expert in Hodgkin’s radiation and I’m glad that it is he who is directing the plan to point 3000 Celsius at the base of my heart. Anyway, we spend a lot of the day talking about how scary this all was…which sort of helps make it a little less scary. Liz is still doing well after 14 of 17 zaps. However the fatigue is catching up to her and she says she’s turning into a couch again.

The actual mapping process was amazing. It was so cool in fact that I didn’t shed a single tear when a team of 6 descended on me, put me on the table, pointed a huge calibration gun at me, and said “this won’t hurt a bit.” I still don’t know exactly how they did it, but the basics were that they made a 3D map of my body and matched it to my original CT scans and the machine in an attempt to only send radiation beams exactly where the disease is/was. They put my arms over my head and said “hold still” while they molded them in packing foam. Then lasers from the walls and ceiling came on and they started marking all over my body with different colored magic markers. I went back to the waiting room for a couple hours while they finalized the plan. When I returned, they put me back in the foam mold, did some checking and adjustments and then tattooed some of the marks so they could use them during the 17 daily radiation sessions I will start on March 28th. The actual tattooing did not hurt – just little pinches. I ran out of the Farber at 4:15pm and was lucky to make my plane – there was horrible traffic due to an accident on the Zakim Bridge. My spring break is great. It is really nice to get some quality rest and relaxation down here in the warmth. I’m finally feeling better after the last chemo. I ran a mile and half this morning and I’m hoping I can do 2 tomorrow.