I’ve been radiated!!

So, yesterday I went to my first radiation therapy appointment. It was easy breezy and everyone was super friendly!! I had some wee teachings before hand and I thought I’d share it with you (are you ready to go to radiation with me??!!)

Where to go when I arrive at the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre? Just check in with the radiation reception and walk right in. Don’t even have to flash my well used OHIP card …

What to do to get ready? Undress from the waste up (yep…those beauty hospital gowns are stacked there ready for use). Store my stuff in a little locker. Take off my shoes and put on some hospital slippers (you know the ones – papery blue material with the seam running through the middle). They did say I could bring my own slippers if I want…

Where to wait? There are four treatment rooms and I will likely be in the same treatment room for most (if not all) of my treatments. Yeah for Treatment Room 1!! Each treatment room has a little corresponding waiting room. So I wait there for the radiation technician to come and get me. There is a white board outside each treatment room that will let you know if they are running on time, or if you are in for a wait. Yesterday there was a twenty minute wait. Today when I went there was someone looking for me before I even had a chance to get changed!

What to expect? You walk down an S shaped hallway into the treatment room. There is a bed (and I use this term most loosely – it’s more of a movable metal board) that has the mold we made a couple of weeks ago. I lie down, slip my arms out of my gown and get my head and arms in the right place in the mold (it surprised me how easily they fit!!) and then the technicians push and pull me (using the sheet underneath me mostly) to get me in the exact right place. They also move the bed/board around (up/down/right/left) to help get me in the right place. The room is not brightly lit, and there are red laser type beams coming out of the wall. These beams help them line me up. There is a TV in the wall that has my “prescription and coordinates” from the radiation oncologist and the radiation technicians proceed to check their angles to match these instructions (using my tattoos). I get “zapped” three times at each treatment from different angles. I found this picture of a radiation machine on line. It looks a lot like the one they use for me.



The machine moves to correspond with each angle and than stops to deliver the treatment. It moves again for the next treatment. For the first two, there is this gel like material that they put on top of me to sort of trick the machine about the depth of the treatment. This material comes off for the last treatment. The technicians leave the room while I’m getting my radiation, but if I need them for anything, I just have to wave and they’ll see me. They come back to take off the gel like material before my last treatment, and at the end to put the bed back in the start position so I can hop off.

So, I’ve had two treatments and have 23 left…no problem!!

Not only did I start radiation yesterday, I also started a new Tuesday afternoon routine! My young friend, Jade (from across the street) is in Grade 2. Her Mom asked me if I would be interested in walking Jade home from school on Tuesdays and then have her hang out with me for half an hour or so until Mom gets home. Yesterday was our first date! It was pretty fun. She is great to chat with and loves cookies!! I was even able to schedule my radiation therapy so that it won’t interfere with walking Jade home!

I’m off to have dinner with some girlfriends I haven’t seen very much in the last six or seven months! I’m really looking forward to seeing them. And very glad my driver has a big truck with big tires to get me there!!

Stay warm and don’t forget to stretch when shoveling!!

xoxoxoxxoox