So the process of radiation started this last Monday and man, oh man it's been an ordeal! Let me give you some background first. Last week we came for Tristan's fitting of his radiation face mask. He laid on a table the same exact size as the one in the radiation treatment room. Then they put this mask on him (see picture below) while it had been in hot water and set it on his face for like 10 minutes to dry to the shape of his face.
Then we had our first treatment this last Monday. We are getting proton therapy so we have to go the closest place which is in Irving, which is about 50 minutes away with no traffic. The treatments are Monday-Friday for 4 weeks. Each treatment can last up to 1 1/2 hours. You don't know when your appointment time will be until the day before at your treatment and the window is anywhere from 8:30am-6pm. And you can ask for certain times, but it can't be guaranteed since the schedule changes so often. So last Friday we found out our treatment was at 9:10am on this last Monday. Since I'm the best one to take him, I had to plan on opening the bar late. It's 1 hour and 40 minutes roundtrip and then I have a 40 minute drive back to the bar to open it up. Plus, you have to take in account the amount of time at the appointment too. It's been a few long days for me, honestly. But on Monday, I got a call as we were about to walk out the door that the machine was broken down. This apparently is very common for these type of machines. I was told they have a lot of moving parts and so there's more opportunities for it to break down. But we were told at 8am that they didn't know when it would be working again but they would call. Well, that's when Vincent and I were freaking out. I was supposed to open the bar and work it by myself (and I don't have a back up to work for me consistently during the day) and Vincent had to work. We waited for the call at 9:30am to tell us that our new time was 12:20pm. Yeah, this kind of put a dent in how soon I would be able to open the bar. So I did some parent math and figured I could be back at the bar by 3pm. So on the way to the appointment, I put signs on the door of the bar telling our customers that we wouldn't be able to open until 3pm. It sucks that this had to happen but as business owners what can you do? We arrived at the facility. They gave us a badge and told us that each day we would scan it and then sit down and wait for the techs to call you back. We probably waited a good 30 minutes before they called us back. Then they told Tristan to change into a robe just from the top up in the dressing room that is just outside the treatment room. Then they took us back to the treatment room and we saw this amazing machine. It's huge (see picture below). The whole circle spins so that the device points at exactly where they want it to go. It's super important to lay absolutely still during the entire process because the radiation has to go exactly where it's supposed to go. They even draw on him in some kind of sharpie (that's really hard to get out with soap and water) lines that line up with their lasers on his body. Tristan says he's afraid to fall asleep because he thinks he'll wake up jerking right when the laser hits so he forces himself to stay awake. The whole radiation treatment takes like 30 minutes but actually radiation takes about 4 minutes. The rest of the time it's them lining up everything perfectly. It's a very intense job, I assume.
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We were really surprised that the treatment only lasted 30 minutes but then we had to go wait to talk to the doctor. Once a week you meet with the doctor to get updates on the process. Monday is our day to meet with the doctor. We met with the doctor and then we got to go home. I started the drive back to Celina to drop Tristan off and pick up Biscuit to go to the bar with me. Then I drove to the bar and sure enough, got there around 3pm. We were told that our appointment time on Tuesday was 1:20pm. We had lots of people volunteer to take Tristan to his treatments and we were overwhelmed with gratitude but Tristan told us he would feel more comfortable going to treatments with someone he felt comfortable with. So my brother David and my sister-in-law Becky made the list and their house is on the way to the treatment center as they live 10 minutes away from the treatment center. So I text them and David was able to take him on Tuesday. I had to take him to David's house on my way to work and get there around 10:30am and Tristan would be hanging out until his appointment time. Then I would get off of work around 6pm and come back and pick him up at David's house. David handled the appointment like a champ and Tristan hung out with his cousins while waiting for me to pick him up. He actually had a good time so everything worked out great and I opened up the bar in time.
Then for Wednesday, our appointment was for 9:20am. I woke up at 7:30am to a missed call from the Proton Therapy Center and the machine was down again. Here we go again......
But luckily they called us back 30 minutes later and said our new time was 10:35am. I did the parent math again and figured I'd be back at the bar at 1pm. So on the way to the treatment center, I put the sign up for 1pm. Then we went to the treatment center. Waiting for our appointment took 40 minutes and then the treatment itself took 30 minutes. So then I make the trek back to Celina and come back and open the bar.
Today our appointment was 8:40am and again the machine broke. So we waited to hear our new appointment time was 11:20am. Parent math put me back at the bar at 2pm.
Tristan is handling his treatments like a champ. He says there is absolutely no side effects and can't feel anything during the treatment. Thank God. But it sure is a beating on me, not to complain too much. Driving takes up a lot of energy, I'm assuming to concentration and when I'm at the treatment center I'm anxious about Tristan's treatment. It is physically draining. I honestly don’t know why but I know all of it is actually affecting me. But at least there’s a perk. The best part about all this is the Meal Train that was set up for us. It has made a difference 1,000%. The last thing I want to think about when I get home is getting dinner figured. It really has been a life saver. For everyone that has provided us meals this week, THANK YOU SO MUCH! It really has blessed us.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we navigate through the next few weeks. It's definitely more tough for me than Tristan so I'm grateful for that. I will definitely take the hard parts and handle it. But it is tough so I just hope I can balance everything. Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers and help through all of this. It is very much appreciated!null
