Chapter 3.3

It is Friday, November 15.  Three radiation treatments down, two to go.  On Thursday, we had a little chat with Dr. Hitchcock.  I asked her about the locations they were radiating because the staff seemed a little confused about what area of my "art" covered body I should be preparing to be zapped.  As I reported in previous blogs, the first time in, they told me to keep my shirt on. I wondered how they could know me so well, but this was not a reference to being patient. Rather it was an indication as to where they planned to radiate this patient, since everything below the waist was to come off.  The next time, they told me to keep my pants on but remove my shirt, etc.  And finally, the real story:  take everything off.  So I asked the doctor what is going on here.  Her look indicated that I should have tolerance for the staff;  they have to deal with a lot of folks, but then explained that her job is radiation oncology, the primary effort of which is to relieve symptoms caused by cancerous tumors.  Kill the tumors if possible, but do whatever is possible to ease pain through radiation.  When I gave her a questioning look, she said that the radiation to the right hip was because that is where I am reporting the greatest amount of pain.
Then she said that even though I am not reporting pain in the thoracic spinal area, the radiation to that location is because I have a tumor there that could grow into something ugly; something that could cause a great deal of pain, bone decay and ultimately a fracture.  At that point it could be dealt with only by surgery. That is not something that anyone would recommend.  So this is kind of a preemptory strike; an attempt to prevent further damage.  She went on to say that she knows that there are tumors in the right hip area, and when they start giving me lots of pain, she will be happy to treat them as well, but they can only do so much at one time.  I am grateful to be under the care of someone who is willing to consider future consequences of current developments.  I wish there were more people like that in the world and in Washington D.C.