Fade Away and Radiate

I just juiced up the following cleansing concoction recommended by my friend and colleague, Pat:

bunch of kale
bunch of romaine lettuce
lemon
1/2 apple
knob of ginger

It's delicious, actually. Hopefully I'll be cleansed of radiation (week one), the Portland Advertising Federation award show celebrations and all the crap I've eaten of late.

As for radiation, its been a mildly entertaining and totally side-effect-free week. Almost disappointing. Since my only reference for radiation is early James Bond movies, I was expecting a bright orange beam of searing light and the smell of burning flesh. In fact, the only evidence that anything is happening is a buzzing sound as the machine zaps the offending breast six times - three on each side. The whole process (set up and zapping) takes maybe three minutes.

The distractions they provide in the room include a picture of Mount St Helens in spring on the ceiling, which I think is really funny - it is, after all, a large breast-shaped object with a big chunk blown out the side with some steam emerging from the crater. There's also music playing - this week it ranged from a Bollywood soundtrack to Free Bird (which almost had me crying with laughter.)

In truth most of the action takes place in the waiting room. One of my regular radiation companions is Bobbie - an older, lung cancer patient. She used to be a dancer. And she can't believe she's receiving treatment in the hospital that killed her husband. Also, she kept all her hair as it fell out and was surprised to discover it only weighed four ounces.

Sooooo, so far so good. Apparently the side effects (burning and fatigue) might become more apparent in week three. More on that later.