Elizabeth,

I have to agree with Cindy's comment that life makes time for things that must be done. When I was diagnosed, it was at a truly hectic time of year in my business, and one of my first responses to my oral surgeon was that I wouldn't really have time to deal with treatment issues for several more weeks. He gave me some rather tough talk about rearranging my priorities and told me that my colleagues would have to pitch in so I could get going with the tests and treatment ASAP. I found out after the fact that he also had separate conversations with my husband about the urgency of the situation.

You're right that the prospect of radiation can seem terrifying when you haven't experienced it. While I felt really miserable for the last several weeks of radiation and quite a few weeks after that, I was still able to go to work part-time and drive myself to my treatments. The healing process can seem slow and frustrating at times, but as more time has passed, I've been left with fewer and fewer "souvenirs" of radiation, and I've never regretted following my doctors' advice to be aggressive in attacking this disease.

Cathy