DON’T MOVE!
May 21st, 2010 by Grandpa OddballCopyright © GetOddNews and Grandpa Oddball May 21, 2010. All rights reserved.
The day of the dry run came and confidently we went to the hospital. The reality of the dry run was somewhat different than I expected. The dry run was actually a continuation of the CT scan session. Whereas the CT scan did a gross alignment for the radiation beams the dry run performed a fine alignment. The session went something like this:
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After arriving at the hospital we were escorted to a waiting area where we were informed of the coming procedure. The first thing I was told was once positioned, “DON’T MOVE.”
And don’t worry because while the technicians couldn’t stay in the room while I was irradiated they had video camera and audio mics that saw and heard everything I did so they could spot anything that went wrong. I guess they wanted to be sure I didn’t move.
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Escorted into the equipment room it was like some sort of ancient cop show. In effect I was told assume the position! And they had the photos to make sure I didn’t cheat!
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The table I was required to lay on was identical to the table used for the CT scan and so was the pain. It took some minutes to align the equipment to mimic the CT scan setup. As before I had to remove my shirt and expose my previous markings and my happy faces and hearts. They found the latter somewhat amusing. Then we proceeded with the dry run only this time several technicians were involved. As each technician left the radiation room they all commented with practiced familiarity, “You’re doing great, DON’T MOVE”.
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The equipment started humming and clicking when from over the loud speaker came the message, “You’re doing great, DON’T MOVE”.
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Shortly thereafter a couple of technicians came in and slightly repositioned me. As they left each one admonished me, “DON’T MOVE”.
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Then came the encouraging news,”We’re half done. The doctor is checking the x-rays now, DON’T MOVE”.
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Again the technicians came in and pushed and pulled me into a slightly different position and further marking up my body (obliterating one of my happy faces) before adding as they left, “DON’T MOVE”.
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At length the technicians reentered the room saying, “we’re almost done, “DON’T MOVE”.
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One of the technicians took out this tattoo gun and proceeded to shoot spot alignment tattoos at several spots on my body. Assuring me that the tattoos won’t wash or wear off they finally told me I could move and go home so moving through a fog of back pain we made our way to the van and home.
LATEST UPDATE
Last night I completed my second radiation treatment (no more dry runs). The actual treatments were much like the dry run except faster. I was “only” on the table for about 20 minutes but that was enough time for my back to become really very painful. As I was positioned at the first real session I commented, “I know, don’t move”.
“You got it”, one technician replied and I was spared further imperatives although she didn’t have to be quite so cheerful while answering.
At my session last night one of the technicians was new to me. As she was trying to position my arms over my head the other technician commented, “He can’t raise his arms. He keeps them the the praying position”. How appropriate I thought.
Anyway things went smoothly. The only hitch was when we had to wait until an emergency patient was treated before the radiation facilities could be used but that could not be helped. My drain totals from the tube in my back are slightly down so we are making progress but we have a long ways to go before encountering success. Oh well, three more radiation treatments and I’ll be done with this round!
The radiation is making me very tired. I think I’ll quit now and go take a nap.
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