They tell me that the majority of patients get bad side-effects simply because they believe they are going to get them. Shannon (radiation therapist) said "and then there's the less than 1% like you, who are so strong willed (who me??) that they refuse to get most of the side effects". First, who ever said I was strong willed??! (D'oh, busted!) and secondly, who said this was easy on me? Sleeping is so difficult when every time you move skin rips off. I have so much skin peeling off in the radiation zone right now that I'm tempted to keep it all and make a pair of shoes ... or maybe a belt. ;)
My friend Deb just pointed out that "Hey, rich ol' broads pay big bucks to have a peel done on their faces. Too bad yours is on your ass where no one can see it when it heals with all that nice, new, smooth skin!!!!!" thanks Deb! I LOVE friends like you. :)
Here are some photos from my radiation treatment. (Mark has promised me some more detailed descriptions but I'll update with those later.)
The Radiation Machine: Lisa (she shaves her head for her patients) and Karen are getting me (and "foam Lori") positioned perfectly for radiation. It almost takes longer to get the positioning set up perfectly than the treatment itself takes. Apparently, radiation has eaten my eyes out!
The Control Room: 2 CCTV monitors (to see if I freak out or something on the table and try to escape!), images of my pelvic skeleton (to ensure perfect alignment for each treatment), the radiation field images and the dose input screens (as defined for each of the 14 radiation dose "fractions").
A close up of one of the radiation fields. The IMRT technology allows for the highest doses of radiation to be applied directly to the target zone, without allowing too much "scatter" damage to other areas.
An image of how the radiation field overlays on my pelvic region. It looks like my hips are "excellent" !
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