First Radiation Treatment

This post is #28 in a year-long series ... Through this series of posts I plan to share our family's experiences during our 17-year-old daughter's year-long battle with brain cancer, which began in February of 2008. My desire is to process through the events of that year from the perspective that a decade of time has brought ... for myself, really. But if you'd like to follow along, you're welcome to join me.

March 13, 2008

Ten years ago today, we began Hannah's first round of radiation treatments.  We really had no idea what to expect ... and were relieved that the first treatment seemed to go well.  It was very important to Hannah to miss as little school as possible, and we were thankful to be able to schedule her treatments around her school schedule for the most part.

Those six weeks of driving back and forth to Little Rock turned out to be a real blessing for us.  There's something about a cancer diagnosis that brings things into a very sharp focus.  Instead of feeling inconvenienced by the daily two-hour round trip (if the traffic was good), we fully enjoyed the time we had in the car together.  We talked about the latest American Idol episode, discussed the latest gossip from school, sang along with the radio, and stopped for strawberry slushes from Sonic.  Those car trips remain some of my favorite memories from that year.

I sent this email that evening ...

Well, Hannah had her first radiation treatment at UAMS CARTI this afternoon, and it went really well. They will be shooting the radiation from seven different angles during each treatment. On Friday mornings, they open the office really early and close at noon, so Hannah is going to have her treatment at 6:30 tomorrow morning, so she can get back in time for school. Most days her appointments will be at 3:20 in the afternoon, which will allow her to miss a minimum amount of school time. We are very thankful for that. She has been working hard on her school work, and is already completely caught up in two of her classes!

On Monday, we have an appointment at 11:00 with the oncologist at Children’s and she will be starting the Temodar drug. Again, we are praying that the side effects from this treatment will be minimal.

Bethany is feeling somewhat better today, and made it through a full day of school. It’s just going to take some time for her to build her stamina back up.

We continue to feel the peace that only God can give throughout this situation…Thank you so much for keeping us before His throne!

God is good, all the time!
Jill and Brad