Radiotherapy - one week to go!

It's two months to the day since my surgery.  I'll put up some detail about the recovery soon.  Today marked the end of the fifth week of my radiotherapy treatment, just one week to go now.  It has almost felt too easy actually.  I have had treatment every Monday to Friday in the basement at UCH.  I spend at most 30 minutes in the radiotherapy wing of the hospital, most of which is waiting time.  The radiographers take a few minutes to get me in the right position and lock my head down in my mask (see photos).  The mask makes sure that the radiation is only being delivered to the tumour site and not to the healthy surrounding brain tissue.  I’m keeping the mask when this is all over – teamed up with my scar it is perfect for Halloween! 

Making sure I'm in the perfect position

Mask on, locked down

An alarm then sounds and the radiographers flee the room at which point a scanner confirms that my head is in the right location.  If not then micro-adjustments are made to the scanner bed.  The radiotherapy machine then kicks in to gear and arcs over me, delivering a pain-free dose of radiation for about two minutes.  It is then all over for another of the 30 sessions that I will receive.