Thursday, October 21, 2010

Visit to the Radiologist

Went in yesterday and got tattoo'd.  They put marks where they want my body part to line up on their metal table so the radiation beams can shoot straight when they flip the switch.  Apparently, the beams shoot from across the room.  I feel so "007" - too bad this stupid computer wouldn't let me drag a photo of James Bond.

They're aiming, well, you know where.   

About the heart, the beams should well miss the heart.  And, everything else.   That's all I really cared about.  They say my breast/armpit/shoulder will be sunburned, nipple won't be happy.  I could give a shit.  I can drink coffee now. 

By January, this part will be done, then I'll be on a pill for 5 years that's supposed to suck the estrogen out of my body.  My body has been sucked of estrogen since I was in my late 40's.  If there is any estrogen left, I'll be real surprised. 

They did a CT scan yesterday, lots of measuring, and will design the plan that will be done daily for about 6 - 8 weeks. 

I had a really cool picture of beams shooting across the room, right into breasts, but my POS computer won't even bring them up.

Well, upon second try, it worked.
I guess they're lungs, not breasts. 
Pretty, huh.
But, that's how it works.  From across the room, they beam the spots. 

Today is Thusday, 10/21.  The last treatment was Monday, 10/11.  I woke up ready to get up and go.  Usually, I have to allow my mind to surface through many layers. Not today.  It takes about a week and a half for the chemo to apparently not attack me anymore.  The deep desire for See's candy is just blah now.  Good thing, it's almost gone.  I'm back to buying Jalapano potato chips - they have the best at the Cancer Institute - go figure.  I don't know if I'll have the Starbuck's desire now.  They do have marvelous potato chips and the clerk said their buttered popcorn is the best.  I'll have to give it a go.

Have to get some vitamin E and some Aloe now; that's ALL they said will work on the radiation burns.

Correct me if I'm wrong - for vitamin E - do I just buy a bottle of capsules and cut off the end and squeeze it out, onto the sore???

Anybody know?
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownOctober 27, 2010 at 8:30 PM

    I'm not sure about the vitamin E, but that's how I would do it. A health food store might be a good source of info.

    Radiation therapy is really fascinating. I really wanted to go into it after I finished my xray training, but there were very few places that were accepting students. I trained about a month or two in radiation therapy and really loved it. I liked the idea of really getting to know the patients instead of seeing them for a few brief moments, like I do now, but in the small town of Bishop we get to know our patients fairly well.

    Rad Therapy is very high-tech these days!!! I love the picture!

    Enjoy the jalapano chips. They sound delish!

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