“Soooo…. We don’t like to use the word, ‘Blast’….”

That was the response from our wonderful radiation oncologist, though Mark insists on using the term. Blast seems to describe his experience those last few weeks. And let me just say it is not as in, “We are having a blast.”

My update is quite overdue; sorry about that. We completed our final bout of radiation on the 14th of September and have relished the last weeks at our home.

I know many of our friends have had their own adventures with cancer while to others it remains a mystery. For our record I thought I would record just a bit about Mark’s radiation experience.

As is his custom, Mark made a few friends in the radiation waiting room. Because they have to sit around in their gowns, the men and women are segregated. We went each morning at 8:00 a.m. and a there were a couple men with whom Mark became acquainted. Both of them helped us to remember that there is much suffering all-around and the importance of family and friends. One man was here from Nevada so his wife stayed at home. He had a large tumor blocking his esophagus and could scarcely eat. He could have stayed at Hope Lodge, but he brought his own fifth wheel and stayed at a campground just outside of Salt Lake City. It was very hot and we were sorry for him, alone in his trailer week after week. The second man also had trouble eating due to two tumors pressing in on his esophagus from both sides. He was able to live at home but had no wife and no children. He had a couple of grown up nieces somewhere nearby but they were not close.

Working through our cancer experience together we became more and more grateful for one another. At Hope Lodge we had a magnetic board with a P magnet for the patient and a CG magnet for the caregiver so they would know if we were in house, away, or home for the weekend. Several rooms have only a P magnet and I just cannot think of the loneliness.

Back to radiation. Because they want to carefully target his tumor they made a cast to position his leg exactly as it should be. While we were there I saw a couple patients leaving on their final day with the mesh mask of their face – presumably they had been receiving radiation to their brain. Bless them!! Each day Mark went to “vault” 4 and had the same team taking care of him. I think there were 8 “vaults” in total so a lot of coming and going. When we arrived each day Mark would head back and I would join other family members in the waiting room. To protect the skin Mark applied Aquaphor to his leg three times a day. That final week he began to experience radiation burns which brought on a new level of pain. The tumor pain can be alleviated by sitting in a recliner, but the burns were his constant companions for a couple of weeks; something which he hopes to avoid in the future!

But now we have closed those blast doors (can my children name the movie?). By way of general update, Mark’s sarcoma has metastasized to his lungs. We are none too pleased about this, but away we go…. For treatment at present he is having immunotherapy infusions, hoping that his body will recognize the tumors and fight them. This treatment allows him to go forward with his surgery on the 11th of October. He has had two infusions already and will continue as long as it is working. A CT scan next week will begin to determine the effectiveness. If necessary he will receive chemotherapy instead, but for now we are grateful for the more mild treatment and hope that it works.

The photo is of an amazing box of delicious cookies sent to us by Mark’s business partner (and his thoughtful wife) to celebrate the closing of the blast doors. I am fighting the temptation to write an entire blog post on how good they were compared to other popular cookies with clever flavors which I try to avoid (bleh). It was fun to come home to treats that we could slice and share every day. They even came with a glossy book containing an entertaining description (of several paragraphs) about each cookie. My personal favorite, hands down, was The Floor is Lava – just in case you ever have a chance to try one. The company is called The Last Crumb and their packaging rivals that of Apple products… if you know what I mean. Very fun.