First week of radiation/ Physical therapy

So, I made it through my first week and a half of radiation... 4 more weeks to go. I've found that the radiation really wipes me out. I've had to lay down and rest every day. The past two days, I have also had some tenderness/inflamation on that side, which I guess is normal. But, it's been pretty uncomfortable. My skin looked red after my treatment the past couple days, too. So, I'm being vigilant about applying cream to the area to keep it protected. I'm just glad my body has a couple days off to rest and recuperate.

When I went to my physical therapy yesterday, I told her that I felt very frustrated by my lack of progress. It seems that no matter how much stretching I do, my range of motion is the same. I was also having a lot of tightness in my shoulder, back, down my arm, and down to my ribs. It seemed that things were getting worse, rather than better. The PT I met with yesterday was someone new. When I layed down on the table, she could immediately see that things weren't looking good. She ended up doing some really, really deep massage of the area... it hurt like HELL! I had tears in my eyes and felt nauseous. She actually was able to loosen up a lot of the scar adhesions, which helped tremendously with my range of motion. When I walked in, my range of motion (lifting my arm outwards away from my body) was 90 degrees... when I left it was 135 degrees!!! I've noticed a dramatic difference in that area today! Needless to say, I've switched all my appointments to her. She also gave me some new exercises to do at home, too.

O.K., kids are calling! I just wanted to post a quick update!

Kim