CT Scan - Thursday, December 10, 2009

Today, I had the CT scan in order to set up the radiation protocol. I must admit I was somewhat unnerved by it. Whenever I think I am used to this process, I discover that I am not. You ladies may understand. First, I found myself uncovered from the waist up in a room with two men who were strangers. One man was the doctor I met one time a few weeks prior. The other was someone I had never met whose job position was not explained to me. (I kept secretly wondering if, perhaps, he was the janitor.) Then, they began putting pieces of clear tape with markings on them all over my chest. The whole time they were trying to distract me by asking questions about my recent vacation. It really did not help. I still felt so embarrassed by it all. I think the radiologist sensed this because on several occasions he put his hand on my arm as if to steady me, somewhat like a father would a child. Even though it was a simple gesture, I was very affected by it. At the same time, the other clinician, who I later found out is the Supervisor of Radiology, talked to me about putting permanent markers on my skin in order to guide the laser beams. I did not want any more permanent marks on my skin, so I agreed to allow them to apply temporary marks with stickers on top of them for protection. The only problem is that I have to keep a marker and extra stickers with me at all times in case the "X’s" begin to disappear. Apparently, for the duration of the protocol, they must always be visible on my skin. Finally, we set up the time for a dry run for the radiation therapy on December 15th and the actual radiation to begin on December 16th. The one "bummer" in all of this is that the first day of radiation will be on my birthday. I am not really happy about it, but it seems there is no way to avoid it. If all goes well, I will be finished this leg of the journey around February 2nd.