9-19-09 Saturday

Well the second week of radiation is over and I want to highlight the week. Now that I've finished that. No not really. These people are very nice but very different at the same time. They have a large number of tecks that do the set up of the machine and me on the machine. My first week I had the same people most of the time. However this past week was quite different. They had the second machine break down last Friday and were not able to get the machine fixed until Thursday late. That meant that everyone had to switched to the one machine. That also meant that us Ginny pigs got to deal with people we had never seen before.

Every time I come in thay have to find the cast that fits me. The first week they were the one's that made the cast, so they knew what it looked like or at least where they put it. This week not so much. I would normally have at least one person that I had at least seen before in the x-ray room with me. However the past two day's none of us knew each other. It would take a few minutes for them to find my cast and then the fun began. They have to put it on the machine just right so that when I lay down I'm under the x-ray part just right. The entire machine can move in almost any direction so there I am laying down and them playing with this machine like a video machine. That is exactly what it feels like. Having been through this now 10 time, I've got a pretty good idea as to what it should look and feel like when they have it lined up correctly. However they don't want to hear any of my suggestions an more. The first week it took about 20 minutes for the entire procedure once I got back in the room. The last few days it has taken some what longer. Now the kicker yesterday was, I'm asleep on the couch when the telephone rings and a voice says "Mr. McLaughlin, are you coming for your treatment today?" I look at my watch to see that it is 4:10pm. I sheepishly asked if I could come right over, she wanted to know how far away I lived. I said I could make it in 10 minutes. She then said OK, come right over. I got there at about 4:25 and there was no one in the lobby so I headed back to the waiting room for radiation. No one there either, I then walked back to the x-ray room. It too was empty. So I figured they decided it was too late and they left. As I started to leave I hear this soft voice saying, "Mr McLaughlin?", I said yes, I'm Darleen and I will do your treatment if you are ready. So I walked back into the x-ray room with her and started to take off my shirt and get ready for the treatment. About that time another person who I didn't know came in and introduced herself and said she would be helping, she was an intern. That brought back memories of my surgery and all the good things that happened during my stay in Indy.

It got funnier from there. They couldn't find my cast to save their their soul. I finally ask if they wanted my help, they said they did. I had remembered watching the one nurse put it away once and went over and grabbed it, sure enough it was mine. The intern asked how I knew that was mine. I told her I was a Psyche. She just looked at me and said OH.

Now I had to show them where to place the cast on the table because they have only certain areas where it can be x-rayed. I now lay down on the table and they start trying to line up the machine. When you lay there you can tell when the machine is in the correct position because they have pictures on the ceiling of leaves and trees and things. The only problem is that I can't move once they have laid me down and they can't hear me anyway because they are in the other room. I just have to lay there until they get the lazer beams lined up correctly and start the procedure. After all that I did get out at about 5:15 and I did thank them for waiting after hours to give me my treatment. They then told me that this was the earliest they had gotten out this week. It seems today they actually fixed the second machine and I was the last person, but that the rest of the week they had people up to 6pm. They usually close at 4:30. Next week, thank God, I start my treatments at 7:40 am. So I should not have this problem again.

I did see the Dr. briefly and he thought everything was looking good. He did apologize for the crazy week as he called it. He told me not to take naps during the afternoon if I could help it. He said it is much better to go as long as you can each day and then sleep at night. He said he knew that I would feel tired and not have much energy, but to try not to give into it. He said to try to do something that would take my mind off being tired. I told him sleep usually did that just fine for me. He looked at me sort of funny and then saw me start to laugh. He said."You very funny Mr. McLaughlin".
He then did say that the arm is starting to show signs of burning but that it does look OK for now.

Sharon and I are excited to be leaving for Carlsbad. We both could use a break, Sharon maybe even more than me. She just works way too much.

More later, thanks for being here.
Tom