A Rude Intrusion :: Day 20

This is my blog for day 20 of cancer treatment, Saturday, 29 Jul 2017.

No doctor visits today! And it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day - 77 degrees and sunny!

One of the things I thought I'd do with today's blog is to describe exactly what a radiation treatment is like. I don't think I've done that before. So here goes.

All my radiation treatments are at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, IL. It's a 45-minute drive (during the day) from the house. So Nancy and I leave at 1:15 PM every day, or so, and Nancy drives me to the treatment, the same drive we've done for years - what I call "the back way" to the hospital - down Roberts to Barrington to Cuba to Ela to Northwest Highway to Wilke to Kirchoff. (Those who live in the are will perhaps recognize the route.) We park in the Oncology parking area on the first floor of the Busse Center parking garage. We have a placard that identifies us as being allowed to park there, so it gets displayed in the front window.

From the parking lot, we walk into the main floor of the Busse Center, past registration, on down a hallway bordered by a row of windows to a bank of elevators. We take the elevator down one floor, then walk through a hallway to the Radiation Oncology department. Being downstairs, this area gets no natural light, but is well-lit by fluorescent lights, giving it a . Generally, as we know all the admins, we are greeted warmly. I swipe a bar-coded card under a card reader - twice - and that tells the staff I'm there. After an exchange of pleasantries I usually sit in the waiting are. There are a few "regulars" in the waiting area, including one poor fellow who has his head bandaged, and is generally wearing a cap.

After a short wait - these appointments are punctual - one of the technicians comes to get me. We walk down two hallways, past several examination rooms and a nurses office, and I'm usually asked to sit down in one of two chairs in an alcove just outside the unit. There are multiple machines in the unit, but I've only been treated in one - the particle accelerator. The techs sit inside the unit, opposite a bank of computer monitors that tell them what's happening with the machines. They also have a monitor which shows the patient. It's really rather high-tech.

The same patient almost always walks from the treatment room every day. He's older than me - I'd guess he was in his late 70's - and we now exchange greetings each day. Once he's done, the technicians call me in - Barb, Linda, Cindy or Mary - working in a team of three. One of them will walk me in while the others prepare for treatment. I stop by a mirror, place my phone and glasses on its ledge, then take out my mouth guards (technically, they're called "fluoride trays"), pop them in and leave the case on the ledge.

The treatment room is full of the various components of the machine. On the far wall is a rack containing the various masks and molds into which the patients are placed. In my case, a mask was made of my face, using a plastic which keeps its shape when room temperature, but was pliable enough to conform to my face, head and chest when warm (and wet), I think I described how this was done in a previous post. The person that followed me, one day, appeared to have had a mold made of their knee. This is done to ensure that you are in almost the exact same position day-to-day.

In my case, I am asked to lie on a table, with my head in a depression at the top of the machine - again, to ensure that I'm in generally the same position each time. The techs place a piece of foam under my knees, for comfort, and then put the mask in place over my face and the top of my chest. The mask is then snapped into place, six buckles in all, I think, and the techs verify that my face is in the proper place. They set the table into its place using a series of three numbers (X-, Y- and Z-axes, I'd bet). (I hear, "Shout out your numbers loud and strong!", each time, though they never say it out loud.)

When they're ready to go they let me know, and leave the room. At this point, I'm laying on my back, unable to move, hands clasped together and feet splayed out to the left and the right. For some reason, I'm not allowed to cross my legs. The machinery starts moving around me, and does a CAT scan to ensure that I'm in the right position. I think the machine will make slight adjustments if it needs to. The table shakes a bit when the treatment is ready to begin, and at this point I puff my cheeks out and hold them there.

The particle accelerator itself makes a buzzing sound when it is working, and I swear that I can feel the radiation hitting my tongue. Really. But the machine makes one pass on the right side of my face, concentrating on the tumor on the base of my tongue (and its associated parts, wherever they stretch out to), then the buzzing stops while the machine moves on to its second pass. I continue puffing my cheeks out (to keep stray electrons from burning the inside of my cheek - it does seem to work), and the machine eventually finishes it second pass. At this point, the staff returns to the room and unbuckles me from the machine.

They have to lower the table back to the proper height, then they help me to a sitting position and I swing my legs over the side, stand up, walk over to a sink, take out my fluoride trays and rinse them off. I take the wadded up paper towels I use to dry the trays and toss them into the garbage can, about six feet away from the sink (I'm a perfect 15-for-15 at this point). Then I gather my belongings and head out to get Nancy and return home.

Total time in the room: around 15 minutes, I think. Have to do it 20 more times, starting Monday.

Today's music is another classic - Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford (here) - 'nuff said!

For convenience sake, here a running list of all of the links I've posted to YouTube in the past few days:

According to Plan, Carolyn Arends - Link
And I Love Her - Link
Back In You Own Back Yard, Al Jolson - Link

Because We've Ended As Lovers, Larry Carlton & Steve Lukather - Link
Cross Road Blues, Robert Johnson Link
Crossroads, Eric Clapton and Cream Link
Groucho Movie Clips - Link
I Love Being Here With You, Diana Krall - Link
In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening, Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman - Link
In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening, Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman, from the movie Here Comes the Groom  - Link
Limbo Jazz, Coleman Hawkins and Duke Ellington - Link
Lookin' At The World Through A Windshield, Bill Kirchen - Link

My Funny Valentine, Kristin Chenoweth - Link

My Funny Valentine, Miles Davis - Link
On The Street Where You Live, Dean Martin - Link
Route 66, Asleep at The Wheel - Link
Shim, Sham, Shimmy (dance) to Tain't What You Do, Jimmy Lunceford - Link
Sisters, Bette Midler and Linda Ronstadt - Link
Sisters, from White Christmas - Link
Sixteen Tons, Tennessee Ernie Ford - Link
St Louis Blues, Stephanie Trick & Paolo Alderighi - Link
Standing at the Crossroads, Elmore James - Link
Starts and Stripes Forever, United States Marine Band - Link
Sweet Georgia Brown, Wynton Marsalis/Mark O'Connor - Link
That's Jazz, Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong & The All Stars - Link
Time to Blow, From That Thing You Do - Link
Zappa Medly, George Duke - Link