October 3, 2011 
Shooting the radiation machine before it shoots me.
Today was treatment #10 (26 to go) — so two weeks of salvage radiation are now in the rearview mirror. All’s gone well, but…
It’s a bit early for side effects to set in, and exactly what they’ll be, how severe they’ll be and how long they’ll last — well, those are the uncertainties, all of them idiosyncratic to each one of us. However, they did caution me today to be prepared for some side effects: There’s no get-out-of-jail-free card.
Fatigue, though, is a given, but then, fatigue is cancer’s spectral companion and a hidden cost of its treatment.
I’ve now experienced one full cycle of the treatment protocol: Radiation every weekday afternoon followed by a rad onc appointment (on Mondays) and a blood draw (on Thursdays). The blood draw is for a complete blood count (CBC) to keep tabs on what the radiation to my pelvic bones may be doing to the marrow that makes blood cells. Thursday’s CBC proved to be fine.
This is a short post, just a reader-board update. The best news is: There’s no news.
My First Cancer 
Bill,
So glad we reconnected! I devoted a chunk of my Sunday morning reading your thoughts and observations shared via your blog. Your passion, intellect and–best of all–candor come across loud and clear. I find myself angry and frustrated that you’re going through all this, but I admire your thoughtful and multi-pronged approach to fighting what is aptly called “the emperor of all maladies.” Well done, Bill.
Sherry Nebel
Yay for no news!
Hey Bill, OK so you are nearly 1/3 there!
Let me know if you need anything…a ride…some cookies..going out to a movie..or taking Becky out so you can rest!! XX ~N
Bill, I’ve been praying for you on this journey. Last weekend, at a conference on Civil War medicine, I bought a get-well card at the hotel gift shop, mainly because as a retired psych nurse, I got a laugh from the picture. I’m sending the card on to you, and Carol Kruse joins me in wishing you wellness. By the way, as part of the conference, I visited the recently discovered site of Clara Barton’s Missing Soldiers Office on 7th St. in Washington,D.C. The find was written up in the Washington Post in 1997. Be well — Carol
Geez, your cancer treatment sounds like a full time job! And Salvage radiation is what exactly? While I wish you weren’t in a position to be writing this blog, I appreciate that you are and the information you’re providing.
Bill-continue to have an uneventful-even boring time. Onward!