November 8, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. My schedule.

For the next two weeks, at 11:15, I must report to the radiation department of the Cancer Center of the Baptist Hospital. I must budger 30 minutes. The treatment lasts 20 minutes and with setting up and then finishing, I was told to budget 30 minutes. So far, the department was on time and I was given instructions to be on time for my time slot. When I arrive, I am supposed to park, then call the phone number they gave me on a card. They will come out and get me from the car and take me directly into the radiation room. No sitting in a waiting room. I am to wear comfortable clothes with an elastic waistband and a loose fitting shirt wih no bra. And I must stay perfectly still for the whole 20 minutes. Kashina is working Monday and Wednesday so she will take me to my appopintments on those days. My good neighbor Donna, offered to drive on Tuesday and my friend Carrie from down the road has offered to drive on Friday, so I will only use Lyft for Thursday. My calendar is filled in for the two weeks. So I am set. Normally, I avoid reading about the side efects of a procedure or medication but the good radiation doctor told me before I could stop her. Anyway, the side effects are minimal: some fol;ks have difficulty with irritation of the skin and sometimes stomachs get upset. She also told me that the treatment is 80% successful. I am hoping I have nothing else that will cause me trouble. And of course you get tired with radiation. The last time I had radiation arter my lumpectomy they clipped my left carotic artery, causing it to harden, thus causing me to lose my words when the artery was blocked. But I am hoping for the best. Certainly my belly and sides are marked up so my body is ready for them to do their work. For the next two weeks I will be busy. But I am ready.