Day 7 - Run to Radiation

I woke at 5am, and immediately checked the rash on my nose and cheeks. It had calmed down a fair bit. The reddish tinge remained but it was no longer tender to touch. As well, there were a couple of very small blister type sores on the side of my nose which were a little tender. The chemo nurses advised me that one of the side effects of the new drug was an acne looking rash (which would disappear quickly once treatment ceased).

Apart from this, I felt completely fine.

It was going to be a relatively hot day and I wasn't sure how I would go riding to my treatment this afternoon. To arrive at the Cancer Centre at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital for my appointment at 3.20pm, I would need to leave home at 1pm, around the hottest part of the day. I wanted to ride on Wednesday when I would leave around 7am to be at hospital all day for my second course of chemo in the morning and radiation therapy in the afternoon, so I decided not to ride today and appreciate that Vicki had the day off and wanted to support me through my first radiation therapy appointment.

Instead, I went for a run. Similar to last time, a leisurely 5km. I'm not training for any events, so no need to push myself too hard. It was cool and the sun had not quite come up over the horizon, but it was light. The breeze was a strong easterly, but it was a fantastic time of the day to run.

I relaxed with ice on my dodgy knee when I got back and threw the ball about a million times to our energizer dog, Darcy. She is utterly relentless when someone is outside. It's her time and she gets very stroppy if you don't throw the ball.

Once I had cooled down sufficiently, I had a shower and some breakfast - toast and a cup of tea, followed my M&T Routine.

Vicki and I intended to go to Spotlight to look for some material to engineer some kind of headgear to protect my face and neck from the sun. Everything we'd seen online were balaclavas that assist in keeping the rider warm, which is not what I needed.

I had my weekly blood test for my chemo treatment at Pathwest. Vicki came along too so we could then head to Spotlight. On the way to Spotlight, I remembered that Rick Gill Honda was on Main St, so we deviated there. As luck would have it, they had exactly what I was looking for and they came in packs of three. No need to go to Spotlight therefore, so we headed to Bay 33 café on the coast at Marmion for morning tea.

That afternoon I had my first radiation therapy appointment.

The Nurses were very kind and agreed to take some photos for this blog. I had to get re-acquainted with the mask, and then laid down on the machine that delivered the treatment. The Nurses attached the mask to the table to hold it (and me) motionless. The mask basically crushes you into a position and you cannot move. Thankfully, the whole procedure took less than 15 minutes.

I drove home and immediately smothered my face and neck with Sorbalene cream as instructed by the Nurses. I am advised to apply the cream 2-3 times every day during treatment to counter the skin burns resulting from the treatment. I understand why, because my face and neck were red from my eyes to my chest. I applied the cream liberally.

Apart from this though, I feel completely fine.

Dinner was fillet steak, pepper sauce (yum), with home made vegetable fritters. Ice cream and a cup of tea to finish. Then my M&T Routine and off to bed around 11pm.