Journal entry by Jackie Cunningham —
I started radiation on March 11th. So far it’s been pretty easy. I go every day except holidays and weekends. I will say with the pandemic it’s pretty nice to have something to get me out of the house every day! For radiation it takes about 30 minutes each visit. I change into a robe and lay down on a table with my arms above my head and the radiation machine scans all around the left side of my chest. Most symptoms occur later on and most people experience fatigue and skin burning. But so far I haven’t had either. I’m starting to get my energy back post chemo so I was able to start working out again and with the weather getting nicer I’ve been feeling pretty good.
I’ll be honest the hormone suppressors have been pretty tough. They scare me a lot. I get a monthly shot for the next 10 years that will remove all the estrogen from my ovaries. Which is about 90% of the estrogen in a woman’s body. Then I take a pill that will get rid of the other 10% of estrogen in my body. This basically puts me in “medically induced menopause.” So far I’ve just been a little achy and have had pretty extreme hot flashes, those are rough!! 😱
I’ve also had some difficult conversations with my oncology team about what my future looks like for having children. Because my cancer feeds off hormones it’s not advisable I ever get pregnant bc if I experience a reoccurrence it will most likely come back worse and with metastasis. My oncologist said if I’m really interested in getting pregnant I have to be on my hormone suppressors for at least 5 years before they allow me to come off and try. They only allow you a year to conceive then you have to go back on your meds. My teams said it’s about a 50/50 chance that cancer will return. I’ve struggled with this a lot because Billy and I so badly want children but I also want to be alive to enjoy my life with them and my husband. For now I’m waiting to meet with a new obgyn in hopes that we can come up with a plan.
For now I’m excited because Billys’ homecoming is so soon!
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