Yeah for Radiation!

So I did not succeed in 2 or 3 posts this week. Who knows maybe I will write 2 or 3 today! HeeHee

A good part of the past week was spent waiting. Waiting! Waiting! I kind of think that made this one of the hardest weeks in this whole journey. We were always doing something to fight this nasty stuff growing in Mom's head, but for one whole week we had to just wait. Oh it was hard! I know it was hardest on Mom. She had already been told by the doctors that both tumors were growing back and to start radiation ASAP. But she had to wait, wait, wait on when to start. I guess the Israelites waited for 40 years wandering in the wilderness, so maybe 1 week isn't quite so bad. It just felt really hard.

So Mom started radiation on Thursday! Yeah! Who ever thought I would say Yeah to someone killing brain cells in my mother's head. So weird! But we were all sort of celebrating. It was the beginning of the next step in this battle. I know Mom felt the same way because she looked much more relaxed when I saw her Thursday after school than she had in over a week. She was able to do something more than wait.

Oh, and by the way, they had told us proton therapy was no longer an option because the tumors were already growing back. But when she arrived for radiation, they took her in for proton therapy. We were all happy about this. If you don't know, which I didn't until a couple of weeks ago, the regular radiation would radiate her whole brain targeting her tumors. Proton therapy only radiates the tumors, causing much less ripple effect of damage.

Apparently, there are only 9 proton therapy centers. Can you believe that one of those 9 is in OKC? Wow! OK so God made us wait, but he put that center here. It apparently just opened fairly recently. But a dear friend told us that the man who invented it came here for two years from his home in Belgium to make sure everything met his specifications. As I am typing this, I am realizing how many things God put in place just to have this treatment ready for my mother to have when she needed it. And not a moment sooner. WoW!

So far, Mom is not having side effects from either her chemotherapy or her radiation. The doctors actually say that the extreme fatigue will come later in both therapies. That is part of the reason that when Brian asked if I was going with Mom to her first radiation I said No. If she is going to be as fatigued as they say, she will need me more later. So I worked with my students almost every day this week.

I must say something was in the water on Wednesday! Every child was naughty! Even the ones who are so shy they barely talk. But they were better on Thursday. And Friday we had a great day all around! Best day in a long time! But since I teach Kindergarten again, even when they are naughty they are still so cute!!

So cute Kindergarten story- J was covering his cough with his fist made into an O. I had to teach him that his cough goes right through the O, so it really doesn't help.

That's it for now! Already thinking about a second post for this afternoon. HeeHee