CT simulator

Had a great weekend round with Dom and Lynda. The boys always go a bit mad when they meet up with their cousins. Had a fun day on Saturday at Eureka in Halifax, they all enjoyed that. We also booked a short break to Italy next week, 6 days, it was the only chance we had before the start of radio. We got back very late last night and flaked out in bed.

Fortunately this morning I didn't need to get up early as I was back at the hospital again. In the shower this morning The Monkees were on the radio again: same as on operation day, is this a sign - complete circle? I suppose I still have a way to go, although I think of myself as being cured.

Today's hospital appointment was the CT simulator. This was down in the Oncology centre. I thought it was the same place as the CT scan I had 2 weeks ago, but it was downstairs. I discovered a whole new part of the hospital, there's a whole lot down there, mainly radiotherapy I suppose.

I had a bit of a wait, but not long. Then I was called in, one of those rooms with the big doughnut machines in the middle and a control room behind a glass screen. But I think this machine is just for simulation, setting up for radiotherapy. There were 3 radiographers in there, they were wondering how to target my armpit, seems to be a difficult place to hit. I didn't establish if this is a bit of an unusual one for them. They had me lie on the moving bed on top of a plastic tube which would form into the shape of my back to keep me in the same position. They pushed and nudged me to get into just the right position. They then made some pen marks on me to allow them to get things lined up accurately. The pen marks were filled in with an injection to make it permanent - basically it's a tattoo. I've been poked by lots of needles in the last 4 months, but I think this was the most painful. I then had to lie still for a few minutes while the bed slid in and out of the doughnut with some lasers shining at me to line things up.

At the end they seemed to indicate that they will target quite a large area around my armpit. So, after all the careful millimetric lining up get a 13 mm target they will probably shoot at about 10cm. Hardly the same as lining up a silicon wafer to make nanometre silicon chips.

I had a discussion with the radiographers at the end to find out how things will progress and what effect I should expect it to have. A lot of soreness it seems and probably tiredness which could be progressive as the treatment goes on. I suppose it hit me a bit that radio might be quite hard. I was thinking I was now cured and the radio would be a bit of a breeze compared to chemo, but it might be quite hard. It really is a new stage and I've still got a bit of the journey to complete yet. I only had 6 treatment days for chemo, but I'll have 15 for radio over a shorter timescale.