Radiation and Chemo on the Fast Track

Dr. T sends us from our appointment with him straight downstairs to radiation.  We meet with the radiation oncologist who explains that this is very unusual -  to schedule radiation for only three days. Normally, chemotherapy is done over a three-to-four-week period and then chemotherapy is begun.  Since Scott's cancer is growing so fast, he doesn't have three weeks to work with, so the radiation oncologist says they will give him as much radiation as they safely can for three days until he starts chemotherapy.  They can't do chemotherapy and radiation at the same time.  Good thing, really.  It's all poison to the body; better that it's one poison at a time.


They show us the scan and zero in on the humongous tumor that they are going to zap. It's one thing to hear about it and another to see it.


The radiation oncologist makes a great analogy. He says to think of the tumors as weeds in a field of grass.  Radiation is a hoe to take out the big weed.  Chemotherapy is the weed killer to wipe out all the other smaller weeds all at once. The hoe is direct and swift for one weed at a time, but not efficient for lots of weeds.

They explain the basic process and get everything measured and prepped. Another person comes in and takes Scott to the "tattoo" room. What it's really called, I have no idea.  They put little tattoo marks on him so they will know exactly where to aim the radiation beam to hit the tumor and nothing else.  They then schedule him to come back the next three afternoons for radiation - to annihilate that big nasty football-sized weed that doesn't belong inside a person's body.



A Room with a View

We know they are going to admit Scott on Saturday but they don't give us a time, so we just have to wait for a phone call.  It's so hard when you have no idea when the call will come.  Finally at 1:30 pm the right phone call comes. Be at the hospital at 3:00 PM. 


We make the not-so-comfortable trip to the hospital.  We get put in a room with another patient.  He's not so happy to have a roommate. But it seems he's probably really not aware of what's going on. Just as Scott has put his hospital gown and is getting settled in, he becomes very agitated and starts screaming for the police to come, that he needs help because there is a naked man in his room. Scott realizes he's talking about HIM. He's in his hospital robe. He's not naked.  Then the man threatens to kill Scott if he doesn't get out of his room.  Scott sees that the man is restrained in his bed and a nurse is with him.  The nurse is speaking to him calmly.  I've just left the room to get meds from the pharmacy. I hear someone yelling something about the police just as I hit the elevator button and I wonder, is that Scott's roommate?  I begin thinking, how is Scott going to sleep tonight with THAT going on in the room?  Just then Scott texts me and says, 'Don't come upstairs yet.  I don't want you to be worried or upset'.  Then he texts, 'I'm in another room'.  So I come upstairs and find him in a nice quiet room with no roommate.  And we get the bed with the window.  Wow. We've just been upgraded!