In comic books and super-hero films the story often starts with radiation. Bruce Banner sees a green flash, and before you know it he literally pops out of his skin and start throwing around cars like they’re hot-wheels rather than audis. Sadly (or luckily really) it’s all less exciting in real life.
The radiation I’m getting is basically light, but more powerful. Light and gamma-radiation (and X-rays) are particles - photons - that move as a wave. It sounds strange, a particle that’s also a wave, and it is. Physicists don’t completely understand this behaviour either but luckily it doesn’t matter to this story. These particles have so much energy and go so fast they just pass through most matter. A few of the particles, however, will happen to hit cells in my body, slamming into them with enough energy to kill the cell. The more particles you shoot through, the more damage you do, simple really.
Because it’s not a great idea to just irradiate someone until they glow in the dark they try a little harder to aim well. You send someone that needs surgery to a surgeon and not to a butcher. As I explained in the previous update, some careful thought has been given to the way I will be irradiated to ensure it’s only the relevant part that’ll be hit.
Yesterday I descended into the hospital’s basement for the first time. The staircase to the so-called “radiotherapy bunker” calls forth a bit of a bat-cave feel (look at me being in a superhero mood). After arriving in the waiting room I was pleasantly directed to the changing room by a very pretty nurse/technician (I’m not familiar with radiology terminology yet). I usually keep my clothes on on a first date, but that’d make it a bit tricky to take aim at my pretty tattoos and stickers, so the shirt had to come off. On the other side of the dressing room I was led to a pretty carbon-fibre table and carefully aligned to a green set of laser cross-hairs projected over me. When I was roughly in the correct position (and quite uncomfortable), and X-ray was taken to ensure I was in the right position, and I was ready to get started. A sort of wax fake skin was put over my armpit to make sure the radiation got where it needed to go (it needs enough material to deliver it’s energy) and we were ready to start.
I was left alone - we weren’t in a bunker with thick radiation blocking walls for nothing - and the machine started doing its thing. I was trying to keep as still as possible and watched, from the corners of my eyes, the wonderful piece of engineering move about and kill the last of the cancer-cells. The big round head of the device contained a set of lead plates that could be moved around to make different shapes blocking any radiation from getting where it shouldn’t go. That head was attached to a big round arm rotating around me, allowing the machine to hit me from any angle. The head would spin into position, move the lead plates about to form a shape and make a buzzing noise for about 10 seconds as it irradiated me. You don’t feel a thing. The head then moves again, repeats its trick 3 more times with different shapes in lead and it’s all over. That means all the right spots were hit four times, and the rest less often. After that I was allowed to go home, all in all it took no longer than 20 minutes.
Even after round two this afternoon I’m perfectly fine. I even went climbing yesterday like usual (and got my diploma!). I’ll have some skin-irritation in the long run (who cares) and I’ll get a bit more fatigued. But all in all it’s not much of a fuss. I’ll be all done in less than three weeks, and then it’ll be time for a well-deserved vacation.
I’m feeling a little stronger every single day, and in contrast to the past few months I’ve never felt this good. And that’s only just starting my recovery, so the future is looking (and it was about time) sunny.
But to be honest, it feels a little like I’m all done, and it feels good.