nothing can stop me... except a little blizzard :)

well, needless to say, day one of radiation didn't happen as planned on monday. my dad and i tried to beat the storm, getting into boston on sunday afternoon, only to find out sunday night that my treatment was cancelled. after a couple of nights at the hotel adjacent to dana farber, we came home with one treatment under my belt. now starts the trips to boston for radiation everyday (monday - friday) for the next several weeks. i've been told everything from 'expect radiation to hit you harder than chemo did' to 'radiation is a piece of cake after chemo'. i have a good feeling about this and am optimistic that the latter will be true.

the anticipated short term side effects include sore throat, dry mouth, changes in taste, skin irritation/burn, swelling, decreased blood count and, of course, my old friend fatigue. the long term side effects include thyroid dysfunction, dental cavities, heart disease, 'electric shock sensation on bending the neck' (!?) and secondary cancers. for those of you dealing with radiation on the horizon, you have reason to be hopeful that your list of side effects is likely a lot shorter than this; my set of radiation fields extends from the base of my teeth to the middle of my rib cage, apparently lengthening the list quite a bit. although the long term side effects worry me, my philosophy is to attack the devil i know, do everything i can to decrease my chances of meeting the devils i don't (yet) know and adjust the sails if they present themselves down the road. right now i'm thankful to just be able to see down the road!