My PERFECT BUTT

While I'm laying on the table, getting ready to be irradiated, I can hear the techs murmuring over my butt.
They say things like, "AWESOME", "PERFECT", "EXCELLENT"
I've never had my butt so admired!
But really it's all about the how I'm positioned on the table. When my tattoos line up perfectly with the lasers, then the techs are happy. Otherwise, they have to twist my legs until it's all "Perfect".

The Kinkiness of Strangers.

This woman, in a Carmen Miranda outfit, was handing out flyers in front of the hospital where I go for radiation every day. She agreed to pose with me after I put the guilts on her, mentioning the 'C' word...that's cancer.

Week Two

That should be WEAK TOO.
By the second weak, the chemo affects have kicked in. I'm tired, oh so tired. I can barely stay awake, even on the subway, going to my radiation appointments.

Missing in Action

This is the time when I really miss my husband Wil. He was around for my breast cancer treatment, many years before. He added a note of reality, confusion, support, humor and love to what I was going thru. He was my muse.
Here you see us in happier times. He was also a ham for having his picture taken.

Side Effects

They call them side effects so you won't take them so seriously. But they are actually just plain old EFFECTS. One of the Effects, that I noticed right away, from the chemo, was Nausea. UGH. I was given something for it and had to take medicine every day that first week to counter it.
I never actually did get to what is shown in the picture, but I FELT LIKE IT!
Let's face it, everything about anal cancer is in the toilet.

First Radiation Treatment

The three techs measure carefully, check, measure, x-ray, check some more. This picture is not technically correct. Of course, the techs left the room before the radiation therapy took place.
It didn't hurt in the least. I've got pretty tough skin.

It's Showtime!

The first day of treatment: It starts out at the chemo suite. First I'm given some anti-nausea medicine, then I'm given my dose of Mitomycin. Yummy! Then a tube is attached to my port along with a bottle of 5-FU. The bottle will hang from a pouch on my waist for 3 days, then I go back to the suite for a refill. Finally it's all done on Friday.
Here I am with my 5-FU. Inside the bottle is a bulb of the medicine. Over the following days, the bulb will deflate as the medicine goes into me. There's no motor or anything. I'm told it happens thru body movement.
I'm also given pages and pages of info on the medicines. But I'll only tell you about the side effects that happened to me as they come along.