Countdown 2!

So here's the short of it,
With the countdown very close, I've made a cancer brother contact. 

And here's the long

Today was a holiday so this will only be a four day work week, and looking at my schedule, right now it doesn't appear that it will be hectic, so I should be in pretty good shape. And I'll be finished on Wednesday!  I understand that it takes about 6 weeks for strength to really return.  My skin in the larger radiation area, but not the boost area is beginning to "cool down".  I have two areas that are pretty uncomfortable. The inside part of my nipple is in the boost area, and it is so sore and tender that it's in my consciousness all the time.  Today for the first time, the skin on the lower inside of my breast where skin rubs against skin has become very uncomfortable.  I still consider myself so lucky not to have had any skin degradation to amount to anything.  Just two more!

I used to work with someone who always said "there's no such thing as coincidence".  Today, I went to my radiation appointment early.  I usually go in the afternoon.  I started that so that on Wednesday's I can line up my doctor's appointments and two treatments one right after another and only miss a 1/2 day of work.  It's better for the radiation team if I stay in about the same time slot as much as possible.  Anyway, they agreed to work me in this morning because I had thought that Liga was going to go with me.  It turned out that she wanted to go either Tuesday or Wednesday!  Anyway I got there and made myself at home in the little warm waiting room inside and had to wait longer than usual since I was a work in today.  So to my surprise, I got to meet the gentleman whose wife I met the other day.  He and I have had a very similar treatment path, except I'm just a few weeks ahead of him.  We have the same doctors except for the surgeon - so we had lots to talk about.  I'm almost done with radiation, and he's just getting started; I have Herceptin on Wednesdays, and he gets that on Mondays.  We left each other contact information, so perhaps we'll stay in touch.

I want to pass along one thing he shared with me. He said that in all the time he had gone to doctors, he had never been told that there was a possibility he could get breast cancer.  He said no doctor had ever examined his breasts.  He also said that he thought if he had done a self exam, he would have found his tumor earlier.  So this next is for you guys who are reading this.  Breast Cancer in men  - "Like all cells of the body, a man's breast duct cells can undergo cancerous changes. But breast cancer is less common in men because their breast duct cells are less developed than those of women and because their breast cells are not constantly exposed to the growth-promoting effects of female hormones."  If you notice a lump in your breast tissue, guys, go see your doctor.