Boogle Takes a Trip to the Radiotherapy Unit

I went into the office early yesterday morning to have a number of conversations about current projects and my treatment programme.

I was out of there by 11:45am so that I could make a radiotherapy appointment which was "bang slap" in the middle of the day at 1:00pm.  Fortunately, as we get towards the end of this week my appointments are scheduled closer to where I would like them to be, which is at the end of day.  The first couple of weeks of appointments have to dovetail with the schedule that is already there for existing patients but then your preference can be accommodated, as others' programmes finish.

As I was getting to the hospital by train, Kitten arranged to pick me up and it was great to see not just her but also Boogle's smiling face when I came out of the treatment room.

I haven't said much about what the radiotherapy treatment entails as from a patient's perspective very little appears to happen.

I have mentioned that the radiotherapy suite is a dedicated new suite at the hospital.  The machine that I am treated by is very sophisticated and an its four elements are able to rotate 360 degrees around me, allowing it to deliver the X-Rays from above, below and the sides.  I have just scanned the web for a decent picture of the machine but I can't find one that seems to be as up to date as this impressive piece of machinery.

The bed I lay on is adjustable via handset electronics in three different dimensions allowing the radiographers to get my body positioned exactly where they want it.  The positioning is aided by laser markers and they make painstaking minor physical adjustments (in addition to the bed positioning), before leaving the room and leaving me to lay completely still for around 15-20 minutes whilst they deliver the treatment and produced scans from an adjacent room.

To be honest I find the whole experience quite relaxing and the communicative manner of the personnel removes the impressive but austere feel of the environment. When I came out yesterday, the senior radiographer said goodbye and, seeing my daughter, invited her to come and look at the treatment room.

I feel that this was a great move because it removed the mystique of "daddy's treatment" from young Boogle's mind and, I assume, some of the worry.

She was allowed to use the handset to rotate the "big machine" and this will have given her the feeling of just a little control over the situation.

Later in the day Boogle saw Kitten at the computer looking at this blog and she asked if she could leave a comment.   We try and include the children in the process as much as possible whilst sparing them from things that we believe that it isn't helpful for them to know, so Kitten was happy to help her.

Boogle is nearly three years older than Huffty and her awareness of the situation is much greater.  I hope that little things like yesterday will help her feel more comfortable in what is a difficult environment.