Crosshairs

There are three crosshairs drawn on my chest with a Sharpie for alignment with the linear accelerator when I get my radiation treatment. The radiation techs place a clear sticker over the marks to protect them. But every week, usually on the weekend, at least one of the stickers falls off. It loses its stickiness from the water when I shower and the steroid cream and moisturizer I apply three times a day.

To redraw the the crosshair, the techs have to do an x-ray. I was concerned that I'm getting unnecessary x-rays every week. But I was told they have to do these x-rays anyway even if the sticker doesn't fall off. It's so that they can check that the crosshairs are still correct or something. Anyway, I'm no longer worried about the stickers coming off.

My irradiated skin has been red since Friday. Usually the redness goes away within hours of my treatment, but not anymore. The radiation oncologist and radiation techs said my skin looks good despite the redness. I get occasional itching and soreness and have to be more diligent about applying steroid cream and moisturizer.

Today's treatment was the end of the fourth week. Two more weeks to go. I hope my skin doesn't get worse.