I Don't Like Pain

After 10 radiation treatments on my lip with 10 more to go, my lip is now hurting enough to cause me more than a little discomfort. It's all for a good cause but I don't handle pain well and it tends to get me down. So far I've rarely needed to even take a Tylenol but the poor sleep I had last night tells me I should have taken one yesterday. This isn't a strong, biting pain but even a steady ache can get pretty annoying after a while. The discomfort now seems to be coming from the effects of the radiation so it can only get worse...10 treatments to go and I'm told the effects worsen for 2-3 weeks after the treatments end.

I know I'm lucky that all I'm dealing with is skin cancer. Every day that I go to the cancer clinic for my 90 seconds of radiation, I see so many people in various stages of what could be more severe cancers so I do know how fortunate I am. The staff at the clinic are out and out wonderful. If there is a bright spot in a cancer clinic, it has to be the staff there who are angels in their own way.

Skin cancer is one of the easiest to cure (90%) but it isn't something to take lightly. I'd never even heard of someone with skin cancer on their lip until I developed a small sore there that wouldn't heal. That is one of the clearest signs of skin cancer and I knew that but let it go longer than I should have. The doctors still refer to my sore as a small one but it sure doesn't feel that way when I see an eruption across 2/3 of my bottom lip...that is since the treatment, of course, and not as horrible as it might sound. The original sore was really quite small but treatment also affects the healthy skin around it because the doctors want to make sure they kill all of the cancer cells.

Once I'm healed, I will always have to protect the treated skin (and all the rest, too) with sun block. I've already bought lipstick with an SPF15 and that will be a pain to have to wear because I seldom wear lipstick. But life and circumstances change all the time and if my only complaint is having to wear lipstick then I'm a lucky soul, aren't I? I'm kidding about it being my only complaint, though. I'll have lots more!

Anyway, I'm off this morning to have treatment #11 of 20 and that's not the worst thing in the world, is it?