Day one of treatments!

I have only been home about an hour so I have not had the full impact yet, if there is to be one. I could not sleep at all last night. I have been so anxious and fearful. I woke up every hour or so and then would lie awake immagining terrible things that might happen to me. I prayed often for freedom from anxiety. At 6AM I finally got up and prepared to face the music! So to speak.
Karen picked me up at 7:30. My appointment was at 8:00.

When we walked into the waiting room there were about 12 people waiting. Two women smiled and greeted me with a wave and a friendly ,"Hello. "As I recall from my last experience with the "Radiation" crowd. You see the same people every day for a number of weeks and you become a tight knit group. Every one comiserates with everyone else. Everyone celebrates when one completes their series. No one even notices the bald patches and the weakened condition of the other patients. My name was called and I was met at the door by the tech that would be working with me.

Her name was Jennifer and I think she expected me to be feeble. She held my arm and asked if I needed a wheel chair. As we walked down the ramp to the treatment rooms she let go of my arm and trusted me to walk unattended. She did ask me to give her my date of birth.

The treatment room looks about like the one at Baptist East. The gigantic machine hovering over the pristine metal, sheet covered table, looked familiar to me. She introduced me to her assistant and had me lie down on the table. The same raucous music was playing very loudly as it was in the CT room on Friday. I asked if it could be turned down. She said, "Hey, we'll turn it off. How will that be?" Fine with me! I prefer music of my own choosing or none at all.

We had to wait a few minutes for Dr. Stoll to come in. While we were waiting I mentioned that the bone over my left eye was still sore from Friday. Dr. Stoll walked in just then, and he said they did not want me to be in pain so they put the mask on and tightened it down to the table and asked me to show them where it hurt. When I pointed to it they all readily agreed that it was too tight in that spot. They marked the spot and then took the mask off and cut a hole there so it would not put pressure on that bone. Whew, what a relief when they put the mask back on. Before they did all of that though, Dr. Stoll said he would have to cut my hair. He asked if that was OK by me and then assured me that he would not charge for the cut. Ha, ha, ha! I now have a new look, Andrea. Be prepared.

They spent a lot of time getting me in exactly the right position that I needed to be in and warned me that they had elevated the table up so high that it would be advisable for me not to make any sudden moves. I had no intention of doing so anyway.

The marker they used was blue and they marked the area on my head that would be treated. All the room lights were turned off and they all left the room. I was told that I could call to them or wave my arms if I needed help. They can observe me from the next room. A bright red light comes on and a loud humming noise and the machine aims at the marked spot on my head and the treatment begins. It was tolerable and short lived. One down and about 23 to go!

Right now I feel very weak and am light headed. I also have a slight head ache . I may well be suffering from sleep deprivation. I have a huge patch of gauze over the area but I am going to take that off and go lie down!

Tomorrow's appointment is at 8:45. I'll let you know how that goes. Ciao.