I’ve just started radiation this past Monday. We started a week later than expected. I think it was probably pushed out because of the Easter long weekend. So far so good. Nothing unexpected has happened. Besides driving out to the General everyday it’s been relatively easy.
I went about 3 weeks ago now for my preparation appointment. That lasted about an hour. The first thing the therapists did was to make me a “shell” . It’s essentially a fitted piece of plastic for my chest. They heat it up and then place it on top of me to get a firm impression. It’s made to keep me in place every day and to keep my breathing from my lungs very shallow. They want me to breath from my stomach. Not sure I’ve ever done that before but I try while I’m in the machine. The shell snaps on to the sides of the table to keep me tight and in the same place every time. The therapist then lined me up on the table that goes into the CT scanner and slid me in. They took all the images they needed in order to plan my radiation treatments. Next was the part I wasn’t prepared for. The BIG needle to tattoo me in 4 spots so that they can line me up every day. That was unpleasant for sure.
So every day I go to radiation it lasts about 20 to 30 minutes. The type of radiation I’m getting is called Tomotherapy. Everyone refers to the machine as Tomo. The Ottawa General has 2 Tomo machines. Basically I lie on a table with my arms above my head, they put my shell on, line me up with lasers that are in the room, slide me in the machine which looks just like a CT scanner and do an initial scan to make sure I’m in the right position. Then the therapist comes back in the room and does minor tweaking on the computer screen on the Tomo machine and then the treatment begins right after. There is a slight noise the machine makes during treatment but I can’t feel anything. It’s actually nice to have 15 mins to just close my eyes and rest in the middle of the day. I’m told in a couple of weeks I’ll start to show signs of a sunburn and might start to feel more tired by the end of the 5 weeks. In general I'm feeling great! I think the chemo is finally out of my system. My energy levels are back and I feel like that huge cloud that was over my head has lifted. My eye sight was getting bad by the end of the chemo treatments too but that has resolved it's self as well.
I went about 3 weeks ago now for my preparation appointment. That lasted about an hour. The first thing the therapists did was to make me a “shell” . It’s essentially a fitted piece of plastic for my chest. They heat it up and then place it on top of me to get a firm impression. It’s made to keep me in place every day and to keep my breathing from my lungs very shallow. They want me to breath from my stomach. Not sure I’ve ever done that before but I try while I’m in the machine. The shell snaps on to the sides of the table to keep me tight and in the same place every time. The therapist then lined me up on the table that goes into the CT scanner and slid me in. They took all the images they needed in order to plan my radiation treatments. Next was the part I wasn’t prepared for. The BIG needle to tattoo me in 4 spots so that they can line me up every day. That was unpleasant for sure.
So every day I go to radiation it lasts about 20 to 30 minutes. The type of radiation I’m getting is called Tomotherapy. Everyone refers to the machine as Tomo. The Ottawa General has 2 Tomo machines. Basically I lie on a table with my arms above my head, they put my shell on, line me up with lasers that are in the room, slide me in the machine which looks just like a CT scanner and do an initial scan to make sure I’m in the right position. Then the therapist comes back in the room and does minor tweaking on the computer screen on the Tomo machine and then the treatment begins right after. There is a slight noise the machine makes during treatment but I can’t feel anything. It’s actually nice to have 15 mins to just close my eyes and rest in the middle of the day. I’m told in a couple of weeks I’ll start to show signs of a sunburn and might start to feel more tired by the end of the 5 weeks. In general I'm feeling great! I think the chemo is finally out of my system. My energy levels are back and I feel like that huge cloud that was over my head has lifted. My eye sight was getting bad by the end of the chemo treatments too but that has resolved it's self as well.
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