Hot Zone

Tuesday I entered a bomb shelter to continue my treatment regimen. The metal door was over a foot wide and is magnetically sealed after the techs leave the room. The process does not take very long and I do not feel a thing. I lay down on a slightly skinny table. They made a mold of my arm position a few weeks ago so I lay down on my personal pillow with my arms above my head while they strap my ankles together. The the table slides me under a radiation apparatus about the size of a truck tire that is secured by a C-arm above me. They use lasers from the ceiling and walls to line my tattoos up with my original positioning. Then, if that wasn't enough they take a standard x-ray of me to make sure I am properly aligned. Two arms are mechanically opened on either side to take the x-ray. After I am in the proper position the computer takes over an radiates me for 5 minutes. There are 9 angles in my treatment so the machine rotates almost 360 degrees by the time we are done. I get shot twice from each angle. There is a buzzing sound for 7-8 seconds and then it repeats. There are metal leaves that shape the radiation rays so sometimes the beam is curved and at different angles. I guess I could have just said at the beginning that it is all highly technical and precise. The radiation goes right where it needs to go and at a pretty low dosage.

They tell me that it will take 2 weeks for the side effects to peak at which time I can expect a sore esophagus and fatigue. It will probably last a week or two after my treatments end. I am slated to go 17 consecutive business days, meaning I'll have my last one on my birthday. What a happy day that will be! They thought I might get nauseous because the radiation gets the top of my stomach but so far so good. I have really enjoyed the past several weeks of feeling good but this will be nothing compared to chemo. Almost to the end!