Girl's Got Tatts

(Please be warned this post has images of a graphic nature so look away now if the sight of a reconstructed breast isn't your cup of tea!)

I had my Radiotherapy Planning appointment at the hospital yesterday.

As is the nature of this manic journey, I bounce back from one treatment with just enough time to take a breath and dive right into the next. The appointment was essentially a chance for the technicians & nurses to plot out a roadmap of my chest and take measurements.

By this stage of the journey I am long past feeling self conscious or awkward about stripping off and letting complete strangers scrutinise, scribble on or have a good feel of my boobs. There is nothing sexual or sensual about it...it feels and just is...clinical...and cold...always cold. Cold hands, cold rooms, cold equipment...brrrr bloody brrrr!

Typical of any scan, it started with stepping into a tiny cubicle, stripping to the waist and gowning up. Then into a large room with a CT scanner. I spent the best part of 40 mins lying still on the machine with my arms resting above my head on metal stirrups while they measured and sketched, stuck wires all over my chest and scanned me. My Radiation Oncologist popped in to say hi and assess the roadmap.

When they got the ok, the technicians then sealed the deal with three tattoos. I was super brave and didn't sook a bit when the needles went in. Ok, technically my tatts aren't elaborate designs. Ok, design is probably not the right word...more like an abstract impression really. Ok, they're dots the size of a freckle, in fact some of my freckles are twice the size but THEY'RE TATTOOS DUDES, I'm a badass now! The technicians took some happy snaps of their artwork and then set me free to go home.

So...radiation kicks off on the 18th of July. Here's hoping that its smooth sailing.

 

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