Savoir-faire... not so much

My radiology office is a 20-30 minute drive away, but it's so nice. It's still Kaiser but completely different from Chemo. They have a "Zen," motif and it feels like I'm walking into a spa appointment. The receptionist doesn't even need to see my medical card, she just waves me in like I'm coming over for lunch. They play music during my treatments and make small-talk. Chemo was always sort of cold and impersonal. The "infusion center," would always ask me if my appointment was a result of a work injury blah blah blah. If I didn't have my best friend with me for those I probably would have spent the whole time crying.

Today it seemed like there were more people scheduled than usual. One woman close to my age was there waiting in her gown and started conversation with me. I'm pretty friendly myself, so I appreciate meeting other friendly people. However, I could tell english was not her first language so it was challenging to carry on a conversation. She immediately wanted to know what stage my cancer was, how I found it, how many treatments I was having etc , etc. Obviously I don't mind sharing but it seemed a little overwhelming all at once. She showed me her sentinel node biopsy scar and wanted to see mine. I said it might be hard to see because I had tied my robe up, and she said, "Oh that's ok I can look through here," and pulled my arm sleeve down. At this point I was impatiently waiting to be called back for my radiation. She seemed confused and concerned that I was only stage 1 and still had to do chemo, and she did not. I tried to explain, but the language barrier wasn't helping. The longest 5 minute conversation ever was gracefully ended by the technician calling me back for my treatment. If she has the same appointment every day like I do, I know it won't be the last. I just hope I can communicate with her a little better next time. Cancer and treatment is really scary no matter what kind you have and talking to other survivors can be comforting. I feel like I just confused and scared her.

Treatment so far is no biggie. My skin has the sensation that you might experience from an annoying shirt tag or wearing wool on a warm day. My nipple looks like I insulted it and it's really annoyed at me. I've only had 4 sessions so far, so I hope it doesn't try to run off by the time I'm done.