Radiation therapy begins

     Today I had the first of 28 daily M-F radiation therapy sessions at Hershey Medical Center Cancer Institute. I am just as nervous about this "cure" as I am about chemo. As I lay in the machine (fortunately for just a short 10 minutes or less - I'll time it tomorrow) I couldn't help but think of awful, terrible, unspeakable damage to my good guts! Somehow radiation is harder for me to comprehend than chemo. Chemo is a toxic chemical infused into the body to kill fast-growing cells. That's fairly plausible. But radiation is very different. First, it's invisible. So, for me, it's mysterious, hard to fathom and yet so very powerful. How does the beam "arrive" at my pancreas tucked under my (so far healthy) liver?? Does the beam have a target distance after which it no longer kills good tissue? In other words it hits the pancreas and then what? does it pass through it to the liver or spine or lungs??? I will have another visit with my radiation oncologist on Wednesday to ask these questions. Secondly, radiation can CAUSE cancer. How comforting is that?? As you may surmise, there was some angst today.
     Fortunately, these treatments don't take long. They will ask me the same three questions every day: "Is this a picture of you?" (they took a headshot of me during the calibration phase), "What is your date of birth?", and "What are you here for?" (Barb said I should answer the last questions with "a chocolate milk shake") My friend Tom Burnett gave me a ride today. He picked me up at 2 pm. Treatment started at 3:10, and by 3:30 we were driving back to Akron. The machine used for my cancer is Varian's Trilogy. It's very high tech and I am confident the technicians are skilled in this arena and are not related or in any other way like a certain cruise ship captain that was recently in the news!
     I am still totally blown away by the response to the CareCalendar we launched on the internet last Thursday asking people to sign up to give me rides. All 23 or so trips were filled with drivers by Sunday!!!! That just gives me goosebumps. As my pastor, Barry Kreider, said in an email to me: "You are loved.".  Indeed. I am loved.
     Cellulitis update: My lower legs are still red and hot; but the new antibiotic seems to be slowly gaining on the infection. I am to take the pills thru Friday when I have another visit with the amazing Dr. Yee. Otherwise, I am doing very well, actually. I have occasional nausea, headaches and poop problems. I am also more sleepy. But I've been sleeping well at night compared to the first few weeks right after the news that I have pancreatic cancer.