Treatment Plan
Once again I found myself in front of a computer learning about what was about to happen and things that could help me through it, risks involved, side effects and my treatment plan. I almost went into radiation therapy myself so I already understood a lot more than most people visiting this office for treatment.
The plan was 25 treatments. One every day Monday through Friday for 5 weeks. Each one took about 5 minutes on the table. Each week I had a check in with the doctor to monitor side effects.
I started in a CT machine a couple weeks before we started to let the radiation team set the parameters on the machine. The radiation machine (gantry) has a multi-leaf collimator that takes the exact shape of the tumor they are aiming at so it blocks radiation from exiting the machine outside of those parameters. The idea is to only radiate the tumor or area of interest and protect healthy nearby tissue. Of course it has to go through the skin and any tissue in front or behind that area as it passes through, but they change the angle of the gantry that accommodates the treatment with the least amount of exposure.
Laying on my back (topless of course, at least on the side needing treatment) in the machine I could see the multi-leaf collimator changing shape with the various angles as it passed over me. The gantry rotated over me into various positions and the table I was laying on moved to line me up in the exact position I need to be in. It’s important to recreate exact positioning each time and they have various ways to do that with positioning pillows, laser lights and many other things to make sure you’re lined up and stay there the whole time.
The radiation therapists leave the room while radiation is happening for their safety. The walls and door are lead lined to keep everyone outside the room safe. I didn’t pay much attention at this facility, but when I did my radiation therapy rotations in school at a hospital in Virginia the thick heavy door reminded me of a bank vault.
Radiation therapy doesn’t hurt, you can’t feel it. It’s like an xray. But it does have side effects because it is a lot of radiation. I’ve heard people say they were physically exhausted by about half way through until their visits were done and had never felt so tired in their life. That didn’t happen to me.
By the end of it I had what looked like a sunburn, but it went away in a couple weeks.