Radioactive, radioactive

About radiation-
Acute side effects occur during the treatment phase and typically go away a few weeks after treatment is finished. They include fatigue, skin reactions, and side effects specific to the area being treated. The most common acute side effect of radiation therapy is fatigue, a sense of tiredness or general weakness.
So there's that.
Radiation has not been a breeze for me.  I was more tired than I expected I would be.  Everything else has gone so seamlessly, I figured this would just be another blip on the screen.  Instead, I have found myself to be exhausted almost all the time.  The area of my radiation burns and feels like I have a wicked sunburn that continues to get worse because I keep getting back in the "sun" so to speak.
In all though, it's nothing.  I mean a little exhaustion, whatevs!  I have four kids.  I have been exhausted since 1993.  Burnt skin, whatevs!  I used to fry myself at Natasket beach every summer hoping to get that Bain de soleil for the St. Tropez tan.  (Do you remember that add?) 7 weeks of radiation everyday is more of a nuisance than anything else.  One delightful benefit of my radiation therapy was the little posse of gals I shared a time slot with each day.  Oddly the four of us were all teachers and all four of us had breast cancer. Two of the four had undergone chemo while two of the bunch had not.  As you know I was one of the lucky ones.  These gals lifted my spirits each day.  I loved seeing them and talking about our families, our careers and our faith. Each of us had a  positive prognosis and we all felt a sense of peace that our collective futures looked good! Sometimes if I was there early I would visit with another gal.  Her situation was dire.  She too had breast cancer, but her cancer had returned to other parts of her body.  She was undergoing treatment to prolong her life, not save her life.    Her three children at home were all school aged.  She knew many of the things she supposed would be part of her life and theirs would not be.  One day she told me she spent a few months in utter despair.  Everyday she lived thinking about dying.  Her attitude when I met her was one of happiness and light.  I asked her what changed in her.  She told me that she woke up one day and recognized how grateful she should be for each day she has, and just like that, things changed for her.   It's funny, we all say "no one is guaranteed a tomorrow," but do we really believe that?  I know I have always gone to bed  planning the next day's, week's, month's and even year's events.  Did I really ever consider how grateful I need to be for just today and the time at hand? More now than ever before I have gratitude for what is right now.  
Cancer has changed me in some ways.  Mostly for the better I think.