Okay, my "planning" session with the radiology crew is done. Not too bad. At first glance, I wasn't immediately drawn to Nurse S, who is to be my radiation nurse throughout the 5-week treatment plan. But maybe we got off to a poor start (she came in the waiting room and called my name as "Mrs. C". I'm not now, nor in my view have I ever been, a Mrs. anyone, but anyway...) She took me to an exam room and took blood pressure, pulse rate and temperature (just like they do in chemo). Then she took a complete medical history, asking exactly the same questions (I believe from the same 4 or 5 page form) that Dr. R had asked me when I started chemo. I mentioned this to Nurse S - isn't the information I provided 1 floor up in the chemo section of the Cancer Center available to the Radiation section? Apparently not. Remember, this isn't sharing medical info on a patient between different hospitals, this is sharing medical information between 2 floors of the same hospital! Unbelievable.
Then Nurse S took me to another small waiting room and went to find out if I needed to change out of my clothes into a hospital gown. She returned with the answer that I did not, but I did leave my purse and coat in a locker, took the key (on a 10-inch plastic board) with me, and went with 2 very young, very sweet radiation techs named S and K, and along the way we ran into Dr. VR as well. They took me to a room with a CT scanner in it and did a formal identification thing that was sort of interesting. I had to say my full name and birth date (questions I am very very used to), and tell them what part of my body was going to be treated with radiation (gee, let's see....) and then they took a digital photo of my face (for ID purposes they told me). Then they explained what they were going to do and I had to sign a(nother) consent form.
I lay down on a table or gurney-like thing, my head closer to the CT scanner, first pulling down my slacks and underwear enough to expose my abdomen, which they covered with a sheet. They placed a triangular foam pillow under my knees, and then another foam block (maybe 2 x 8 x 8 inches) between my ankles, which I think they actually strapped to the table, I'm not sure (I guess it is very important to the measurements they were making that I not move and my body be positioned just so.) They offered, and I accepted, this interesting blue foam oval ring that I held in my hands over my chest, the purpose of which was to help me keep my hands and arms still during the measurements. Then they left the room and the CT scan took place. I just closed my eyes and tried to do breathing meditation. It didn't take all that long.
Once the scan was finished, the room lights were turned down, the table/gurney came out of the CT scanner and I could see that there were a bunch of those red laser lights projecting lines on my abdomen, telling them where to put the magic marker lines on my abdomen). They lowered the sheet and drew the lines where the laser indicated, using GREEN magic marker and then they made 3 tiny tattoo dots on me - one on each side of my abdomen on each hip and one in the middle of my abdomen just above the pubic area. These, they were careful to tell me, are "permanent". (Actually, one of the techs also spilled some of the ink they used for the tattoos in a blotch on my abdomen, which they tried to wipe off later. Not sure if the remaining blotch is also permanent.) Finally, they took more digital photos of me to document the exact position I was in on the table, from each side and from the foot of the table. (Probably the draggiest part of this radiation stuff is the fact that I am supposed to be careful not to wash off the magic marker lines, not scrub them, not use soap on them, and not even take baths or at least not take anything but a "quick bath" - isn't a quick bath a contradiction in terms? Showers are okay, as long as I don't scrub my abdomen.)
That was basically it. Dr. VR wrote a letter to my employer to ask that I be given a parking place during the 5 weeks of radiation so I can drive to work, and then drive to the Cancer Center for treatment and then home, rather than having to take the bus, which might require that I walk some distance after the treatments to get the bus home. I don't know if the company/HR will agree to the request. I guess I'll find out. The techs also gave me a plastic card with a bar code on it that I am to scan in a laser device at the front desk each day when I arrive for treatment, and then when the light turns green, I can just go back for the treatment rather than having to actually check in. (Once nice thing I learned is that even for the actual radiation treatments, I won't have to change my clothes; I'll be able to do the same thing I did today - keep my clothes on and just roll down my pants so the magic marker lines and tattoo dots are visible. That's nice; there's something dehumanizing about having to take your clothes off, no matter how nice everyone is about it - after all, everyone being nice is wearing his or her clothes while you're not.)
My first radiation treatment in next Tuesday, 1/12, at 3:00 pm. Then my regular radiation appointment will be at 3:30 pm. Assuming I miss no radiation treatments during the 5-week treatment plan, I should be done with radiation on February 16th. Assuming a couple of weeks off after radiation and before chemo (not sure about that), and assuming 6 weeks of chemo (3 sessions, each 3 weeks apart), I would be done done by the middle of April. That sounds so damn far away! Oh well... one step at a time.
Nurse S said that some patients think of radiation as a "vacation from chemo". I'm not sure I'd say that. There is a trade off. Chemo is intense but over in a day and then you're out of the Cancer Center, back at home and/or at work, yes dealing with side effects, etc., but not going through "treatment". At least from the perspective of this side of the radiation treatments, radiation seems like a slog, affecting your life on a daily basis week after week, just down to dealing with getting there every day for five weeks. Oh well...
So that's the news of the day. In the meantime, while waiting to start radiation and for reading material during radiation, I have ordered books to keep me thinking and learning about the park and its wildlife during these long, cold and dreary winter months. Specifically I ordered a book on pond ecology and life, a book on ducks and geese (no kidding - I'm going to find out about that laughing duck) and finally what looks to be a lovely (and thorough) book on great blue herons. When spring comes to the park, the ice on the pond melts, the grass springs up again and the trees bud and bloom, I'll know a little something about these creatures when they return.
Meantime... peace.
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