E1 Radiation has begun

The radiation "dry run" was apparently a success for E1. He got to start radiation today. Radiation takes a whoppin' 10 minutes or so. Of course, the radiation office is on the exact opposite side of town from us, so it takes approximately 45 minutes to drive there. All in all, it's a two-hour adventure. Throw in a yummy breakfast out and our entire morning is booked.

E1 will be getting radiation every weekday (Monday through Friday, excluding holidays) at 9:15 a.m. He has that slot reserved until the end of June, when he'll hopefully have all his radiation sessions complete. That's a tentative date though because if E1 has to miss any sessions due to side effects or anything else, those days get tacked on the end. Reminds me a lot of snow days at school . . . so fun at the time, but not so fun when summer rolls around and you have make-up days cutting into your summer vacation.

Every Thursday, E1 will meet with the doctor after his radiation session. Much like E. did, the weekly check-in allows the doctor to monitor progress, check for side effects and answer questions. A list of potential side effects was reviewed with E1, although they don't typically begin until between the 4th and 5th week of radiation. A few patients experience side effects right from the start and a few patients never experience side effects at all. We're hoping that E1 is in the "no side effects" or "minimal side effects" camp.

No CTs or other tests will be performed to monitor progress. Six weeks after the last radiation session, E1 will return simply to make sure any side effects are dissipating and his activities are returning to normal. Six months after that, he will return again for blood work and that is when his PSA will hopefully be in the normal range, showing that treatment was successful. So, from the way I understand it, we won't really know if everything was successful and E1 is cancer free until February of 2011. Wow, that's a long time. We've just got to be confident all is well.