A Little Beat Up But Smiling

I feel like a couple guys grabbed me, pulled me into an alley, and stomped on me for awhile last night.

My head is swollen and bruised this morning, very tender and sore.

There was a couple of guys, and a couple of girls, but they were doctors and nurses who beat me up like this. They beat me up for my own good, and they were quite professional about it.

Yesterday was my Gamma Knife radiation treatment. It proved to be a very long day. But everything went well.

There were only two patients scheduled for the Gamma Knife yesterday. We were both there at 7 a.m., and both had somewhat complex treatments ahead. I don't know why they scheduled us both for the same time. But we lost the coin flip and the other patient went first.

They did fit the "frame" to my skull awhile though so they could at least get a MRI scan and plan the treatment. I was loaded up with drugs to relax me, and my skull was numbed, then the frame was screwed to my skull in four places. I don't feel a thing except the weird sensation of a chunk of metal attached to my numb head.

They set up an IV and gave me a double dose of dye then wheeled me away to MRI for a quick scan of the brain.

This became the best news of the day. The MRI showed that absolutely nothing happened in the brain since my last scan. There was no new tumors. The five tumors that existed were all the same size, and all still small. Woohoo! That's what I wanted to hear.

I sat around with the frame on my head for some time. Barb kindly ran and bought me a soft pretzel. It was interesting to eat a soft pretzel with a metal bar running in front of my mouth. I kind of had to drop it into the cage and catch it with my lower lip.

Barb, Susan and I finished a crossword puzzle, taking turns, and correcting each other's mistakes. We buy the easy crosswords. It makes us feel smart.

I wasn't called in for treatment until around noon. Because I had to have the frame attached to my skull for over seven hours yesterday I'm sorer than usual after this affair.

But the staff was very professional, and I believe they did a very thorough job with my treatment. They planned a separate session for each of the five tumors. All five of the treatments lasted for about 15 minutes. They adjusted the machine and its components several times during my treatment to fit the gameplan.

I felt bad that Barb and her Mom had to wait so long, the entire day, until this process was complete. It is by far the longest day of Gamma Knife I've had. I know if I had to wait around for 7-hours I'd probably be grouchy and restless.

But not Barb and Susan. They were all smiles, great positive energy, very supportive, I'm so lucky. I don't know how they do it. Thank you.

So the scan before treatment was good news. Besides being a long day, I believe the radiation treatment went well. And I ended up with a dozen wings from Mosby's in my lap on the way home some how.

I'll take this morning's beat-up feeling. I'll take it with a smile.