STARTING RADIATION
I finished my first week of radiation - 5 treatments down and just 28 to go!
A week ago Friday I went in to have a CAT scan and get marked up by the doctor. I thought I would get small tattoos to mark the place where the machine would be lined up, but they used a Sharpie instead. The doctor laid it out by pressing on my chest and collar bone. The process was pretty quick and painless.
The following Monday (6 days ago) I went in for my first treatment. I arrived and had to wait for the techs and the doctor to finish their planning session. They reviewed the CAT scan results and other points in my medical record to lay out how much juice they would give me and at what angles etc. I was led back into the room where the CAT scan was done and was told they would be taking some additional pictures first. They left the room and the machine got to work. About 5 minutes later they came in to tell me they were done. I was ready to move on to the radiation treatment then. When the tech said goodbye I realized that not only did they take pictures in that 5 minutes, they did the radiation treatment too! Wow, that was easy! I didn't even realize it was happening. :-)
It's continued to be pretty easy. I've had a little itching right afterwords, but that's it. I think the skin is drying out and I need to remember to put the moisturizer on it they gave me.
I've started thinking more about what is actually happening and it freaks me out a little. When I was going through chemo I could see the needle and the bag of meds and within hours then I could feel the effects. With radiation its invisible and painless (at lest for now). I walk into a room with 2 foot walls and a vault looking door. When the radiation is administered there are red warning lights on the wall. I lay there and look at this machine firing this "dangerous" beam into me and remind myself that it is good for me. This beam, that I can't see or feel is penetrating my body, disfiguring cells, and causing scare tissue to form on the corner of my lung --- all in five minutes. Then I just hop off the table and am on my merry way.
I wonder why I didn't think like this as I watched the chemo drip into my IV. It attacked my whole body. I guess it is because with radiation it seems so silent.
I finished my first week of radiation - 5 treatments down and just 28 to go!
A week ago Friday I went in to have a CAT scan and get marked up by the doctor. I thought I would get small tattoos to mark the place where the machine would be lined up, but they used a Sharpie instead. The doctor laid it out by pressing on my chest and collar bone. The process was pretty quick and painless.
The following Monday (6 days ago) I went in for my first treatment. I arrived and had to wait for the techs and the doctor to finish their planning session. They reviewed the CAT scan results and other points in my medical record to lay out how much juice they would give me and at what angles etc. I was led back into the room where the CAT scan was done and was told they would be taking some additional pictures first. They left the room and the machine got to work. About 5 minutes later they came in to tell me they were done. I was ready to move on to the radiation treatment then. When the tech said goodbye I realized that not only did they take pictures in that 5 minutes, they did the radiation treatment too! Wow, that was easy! I didn't even realize it was happening. :-)
It's continued to be pretty easy. I've had a little itching right afterwords, but that's it. I think the skin is drying out and I need to remember to put the moisturizer on it they gave me.
I've started thinking more about what is actually happening and it freaks me out a little. When I was going through chemo I could see the needle and the bag of meds and within hours then I could feel the effects. With radiation its invisible and painless (at lest for now). I walk into a room with 2 foot walls and a vault looking door. When the radiation is administered there are red warning lights on the wall. I lay there and look at this machine firing this "dangerous" beam into me and remind myself that it is good for me. This beam, that I can't see or feel is penetrating my body, disfiguring cells, and causing scare tissue to form on the corner of my lung --- all in five minutes. Then I just hop off the table and am on my merry way.
I wonder why I didn't think like this as I watched the chemo drip into my IV. It attacked my whole body. I guess it is because with radiation it seems so silent.
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