Preparation for Radiation

December 21, 2012

Yesterday we went again to the Huntsman Cancer Hospital.  This time to get tattooed and fitted for the straight jacket that will hold me calm and quiet and very still during the 15 radiation treatments that will begin on the 27th.  The tattooist said that he was not a very good artist, but would do his best with the tattoos I requested.  I also suggested they use some better colors this session, but I got the same boring blue-black as last time.  They have no imagination - no creativity.  And the tattoos were exactly the same size as last time - just a tiny dot.  Can't make out at all the airplane, the spanish galleon, or the Maserati that I asked for.  They don't even deserve the name "tattoo" if all they are is a dot.  Why don't we just call them "dots?"  (My daughter - who shall remain unnamed - suggested a Bugatti instead of the Maserati, but if she wants to see a Bugatti tattoo maybe she should get one of her own.)  But at least they gave me five instead of the three they promised.  So the time was not a complete waste.
Another disappointment:  no straight jacket.  At least not this time.  If there is one at all, it is going to be a generic one - no fitting or measuring or anything.  I will just have to wait to see what is in store for me in that category.
After it was all over, I spoke with the same Dr. Page we saw earlier.  Part of the process of placing the dots was to do a CT scan to make sure the dots line up with the tumors.  They want to align the beam so as to zap the two biggest tumors at the same time, and she is quite confident that can happen.  The remaining 60+ will be treated with Chemo after the first of the year.  I asked her how the tumors compared with the PET scan or the CT scan taken earlier.  She said that she could see no difference.  I take that as good news.

MJ Gee