Yesterday was my last day of radiation, which began at the end of October. What a wonderful way to celebrate Thanksgiving!

The treatment wasn't hard or painful, just a little uncomfortable and definitely inconvenient. But how bad is that in comparison to letting any lingering cancer cells have their way in my body? I'm told radiation therapy is as effective as a mastectomy because it kills any lingering cancer while healthy cells will recover. So the discomfort I'm feeling is actually a healthy thing, knowing the therapy did its job.

I sailed through the first couple of weeks, experiencing none of the side effects I'd been warned about. Just when I was hoping I might be one of the lucky ones and avoid all that, around the third week the expected symptoms showed up. Fatigue was the most evident, but only in the afternoons and evenings. If I slept well or even just fairly well the night before, mornings were normal. I quickly learned to do whatever I needed to during those hours. But around the time I'd have to leave for the hospital's radiation department, the fatigue would start. I've never been a nap-taker, but finally learned how! Even just a twenty-minute zonk-out worked a miracle. It's taught me to be extremely envious of those like my husband who can take a nap whenever necessary, so I'm actually hoping this talent will stay with me even after the effects of radiation have faded.

My next and final phase of therapy is to take Anastrozole for the next five years. It's a drug they've found effective for women my age and for the type of cancer I had, which was helped along by lingering estrogen. This drug will stop my system from producing anything like that, even in the small amounts found in women my age.

Since some of the potential problems are skin irritation, I won't start taking this until the reactions from radiation have cleared up. Besides, since I'll be on this for such a long time, there doesn't seem to be a huge rush to start taking it—particularly since one of the other side effects is weight gain. There was actually a very long list of potential effects, everything from UTI's, liver problems, high blood pressure and/or bone density issues, but I had to look at the paperwork to remember those, since WEIGHT GAIN is the only thing I recalled. Telling that to a woman over sixty is like saying this medicine will rob you of whatever youth you might envision yourself still clinging to. Actually, now that I think of it, I should probably start taking this right away so I can blame my medication for any holiday over-indulgence.

Other than an occasional doctor visit and bone density tests (because I'm already prone to bone thinning) I'm totally expecting life to get back to normal. I have my days back! While the holidays have never been an especially productive time of year for my writing life, I'm usually as busy as most people with decorating, baking, shopping, wrapping presents and extra visits with friends and family. I'll be glad to be back up to par in a couple of weeks to carry on with all of that!

Finally, I just want to end the way I began this entry: with a note of thankfulness. Even though no one welcomes a cancer diagnosis, mine was caught so early that it's had a minimal effect. I'm extremely grateful to God for that. Plus, I've met some really wonderful people—caring doctors, an efficient, outstanding radiology team that offered smiles along with daily treatments, and have been reminded of how precious friends and family are to me. Not a bad silver lining!

With that, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving to kick off a blessed Christmas season! For the time being, you can catch me in front of the Hallmark channel watching holiday romances. :-)