“The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything!” Albert EinsteinI’m sure Einstein didn’t exactly have me and Princess Di in mind when he said this, but hey, it works.
We’re done! The nuking is over; we’re healing up from our daily dose of cancer killing sunshine—it can take a while to get back to normal. And the best news is that our pre-martini nuking spot, otherwise known as the Beth Israel Waltham Radiation Oncology Center, has a less than 1% recurrence rate, for our type of cancer! Hey, we can live with that, pun intended! [This outcome is slightly less than the general rate reported in the literature. Boston’s best, for more than baked beans!]
To tell you the truth, it wasn’t so horrible, especially with our happy places: Di’s horsey adventures and my Berkshires house to design & decorate. Even with the one breasted sunburn/tans and that ‘hitting the wall’ feeling that overtook us toward the end, it was do-able. The wall hit Princess Di a couple weeks ahead of me—profound fatigue, weary brain, dragging body, and the instantaneous, immediate need to be horizontal! For me, it was intermittent but when it hit, wow! I continued to walk ten mile walks when time and weather allowed.
There were a few times when I literally pushed myself out the door, when the only thing motivating me was a Starbucks stop and the E!-Online Answer Bitch podcast on my Ipod. And the pushing paid off—usually by the time I got to Starbucks, I was game to keep pacing up the bike path toward the next Starbucks! Nuking side effects are frankly mysterious; the docs can’t predict who gets them or what causes them, yet they whomp on one right out of the blue, further reinforcing that this whole odyssey ain’t no joke! It’s still the mortal bitch slap it felt like when our docs said the words breast cancer!
Early on, Nurse Nancy sent us on a field trip to the Lady Grace Lingerie shop to buy no-wire bras as the wires soon irritate the tender nuking sites. So we obliged and bought one black, one beige bra; yikes they were like training bras! It was our third bra selection that was the most important buy in the whole trip—the aspiration bra! Mine is red mesh with white lacy bits and under wires! Princess Di’s, is a lacy nude one; both attained the exact Mae West vibe we were aspiring to for total post nuclear WOW!
Let me tell you, even nuking had its comic moments. Like all twins Di and I nuked together most days and while there we’d joke with Nurse Nancy, Rhonda & Kim, our radiation therapists, and Bunny the receptionist…we made it as much fun as we could. It helped diffuse the stress with a little “what the fu*k” attitude. Just like good accessories, attitude also separates us from the lower forms of life! And speaking of accessories, you can wear them during nuking. Hermes scarves, pearls, earrings, all can stay on. Thank God a gal can maintain standards even while nuking! There were touching moments, too. Nurse Nancy told Bunny that I loved Janis Joplin. Bunny, also a huge Janis Joplin fan, brought a JJ CD in and they played it for me while I was nuking on my last day—a rock n roll mitzvah!
We had a weekly appointment with Dr. Berman, our radiation oncologist, a great guy huge Patriots fan! He answered every wacky anxiety driven question Di and I threw at him. Somehow it came out that he went to the University of Virginia Medical School. Small world moments ensued, I used to work there! He was at UVA while I was head of public services at the UVA Medical Library. I asked him if he remembered coming to my annual meet the new med students keg party on the library deck? He looked at me and said “I did, and now that I think of it, your name is familiar!”
If you ask Dan he’ll tell you his observation of an additional side effect—radiation brain—elevated ditz factors evidenced by: losing my ATM card in my purse (found only after I called to report it missing and failed my 3 security questions—don’t even ask!), continually forgetting certain aspects of his schedule ;-) yes he actually said that, increased instances of opening the fridge, or entering a room and forgetting why, etc. But wait; let’s put it into perspective… Len went to pick Dan up at a babysitting job a couple miles away about midnight night on Christmas Eve and was so engrossed in Laura Ingram’s right wing ranting that he drove away as Dan closed the car’s back door after depositing his backpack…Len drove all the way home before he noticed Dan was not in the car! It will take years for Len to live that one down. I still can’t stop laughing…it makes me and my radiation brain look like Einstein!
At the end of January when nuking was done, Princess Di organized a little dinner celebration at our favorite Belmont joint, Savinos Grill. Her old pal Tom is the Chef, it’s a great new place sort of upper eastside 84th & 3rd Ave vibe—the first in Belmont licensed to serve cocktails in Belmont. We’ve done the research; they serve sublime food & martinis! We really wanted to mark the end of the scary nuclear phase with our families, friends, food & fun, WE’RE DONE!
I’m writing another update about my surprising twist in moving to the drug phase…sex and rock n roll to follow, I hope! Including all about our trip to Paris, à bientôt !
Hugs, kisses, and good vibes going out to all of you!
Elaine
