Radiation!

For me I’ve been aware of everything that
has ever happen or
been done to me. I’ve been part of the decision making and
conscious throughout
treatment etc. Some people don’t have that
luxury.

They might be in a car accident or have a
stroke and they
only become aware of this when they wake up in
hospital. Or even after they wake from a coma. That would be very ‘Ordinary’.

My treatment was only about 30 minutes every
day over the
course of about 2 ½ weeks.

Mum and I caught a bus across town to my
hospital and within
an hour mum and I were on the same bus heading
home.

Day one! Turned up to wait for my
appointment.

Think it was about 8am! And it wasn’t long
before a nice
nurse was standing in front of me with a medicine cup held up
with a little white pill in it.

I’ve never been one to just reach for
medications and
considered I wasn’t sick, I was here for
treatment. So, I questioned the need for this medication.

I looked toward my Specialist who was the
Radiologist/Oncologist
who just happened to be coming out of the consultation room
with other Neurosurgeons,
etc and I gave him an appropriate questioning look.

And that was the first dose of the steroid
‘Dexmethazone’ I’ve
ever had.

The treatment was delivered with me lying on
a table and my
head bolted to it with a mask.

This is someone else’s mask (mine was
destroyed) and after the
treatment the mask would leave an itchy honeycombed pattern
across my forehead. (Sexy)
that would take some time to go away. Making me very
self-conscious.

The first night I recall I didn’t sleep. I
may have managed to
get to sleep for an hour or 2 before the alarm went off and
I had to get up and
repeat the process…

Day two! Of my treatment the little pill was
presented to me
again. And I asked if I really needed
it?

I explained I hadn’t slept all night. It
was a precaution for if I suffered any brain
swelling. As I had not had a headache after my first treatment I managed to evade more steroids during my treatment faze.

That night, no steroids, slept like a baby.
Overall the
treatments were no drama what so ever. I was very
tired.

Didn’t notice anything unusual until a few
days after my
treatment ended.

At the time I had a boyfriend and some
weekends we has his
daughter stay with us. She was about 4 years
old!

My scalp had been itchy and as it was a Sunday
morning I took
my hair down to wash it and found some mattered bits at the
back of my neck. I
brushed my hair in the shower when I had conditioner in it.
This has been my
practice since I was about 16.