My Radiation Treatment Plan

I have a start date for my radiation treatment plan ... but I have to admit, I may have bullied my way in to the appointments. HA

This morning I decided that I would take advantage of the instructions to have my radiation "markings" checked to be sure everything was still marked properly before starting treatment. Remember they wrote on me with a black marker (seriously) in 3 "X-marks-the-spot" indicators of where the radiation beams will be pointed. The instruction sheet given to me after my CT scan pointed out how important keeping the markings visible would be to getting treatment started, and to take care in the shower not to scrub them off ... and if I had concerns the marks were becoming less visible to contact them. No appointment or phone call was needed to have the markings checked.

Sooo, this morning I was very concerned that my markings needed to be checked (wink, wink) and made a special trip to the radiation oncologist's office.

The technician looked at them and said they looked pretty good, but she did get her black marker out and touched one of them up just to be safe. She was the tech who did my scan last week ... and I told her I was anxious to get treatments started. She said she would follow up with the treatment planner and be in touch with me later today. Bingo.

About 5 minutes after leaving the radiation clinic my cell phone rang ... and I start treatment on Sunday! Yes, Sunday is a strange day for it and it will likely be the only Sunday of my treatment time, but it's due to the shortened holilday week next week and the need to get at least 4 consecutive treatments in. So I'll go Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday ... and then not return until the following Monday. Most other weeks will be Monday through Friday, 5x a week, with the exception of the Christmas and New Year's weeks, which will both likely be 4 treatments per week and involve Saturday treatments to make up for the holiday closures. If all goes as projected, I'll have my last treatment on January 7.

I'm glad I made a special trip. Sadly, the professionals I've encountered in this process are very busy and the patient load is overwhelming sometimes. I applied a little "squeaky wheel" theory, with a smile on my face, and got the start date set. Who knows, they may have called me today to set it up anyway ... but I'm glad I went to check in.