The View From Inside The Microwave

Well, not quite a microwave, but this is my radiation machine. And now that I've completed my second (hopefully not) annual Summer of Stereotactic Love, I thought I'd help you visualize what happens in this lead-lined room.  You enter through what looks like a normal sliding door, until you realize the door is actually a cinder-block wall. I'm guessing the motor to slide that thing could easily power my mini-van.

Then you see this contraption. The black table is where I lay in the mold I've mentioned before (not pictured). On the wall behind is a four-armed rotating beast of a machine that does all the dirty work. The big arm at the 12 o'clock position is what actually "shoots" the radiation into me. The 3 o'clock arm is a scanner, which is used to make sure I'm aligned perfectly after they shifted me around on the table. Remember the tattoos I received? They use those to align me visually, then the scan to get it precise within a mm or two.

The two flat paddles at 6 and 9 o'clock are just for receiving whatever comes through from the ones opposite them - like the plates in an old x-ray machine.

The cool part is when they raise the table so I'm aligned with the center of that circle on the wall, then slide the table toward the wall. Now all four arms rotate around me. I guess they could try rotating the table, but then you'd feel like a roast on a spit.

The whole process of scanning, radiating, scanning for lung #2 and zapping lung #2 takes about 30 minutes. During that time I have to lie as motionless as possible with my hand clasped on top of my head. Somehow the software accounts for my breathing throughout the process, but I try to keep it on the shallow end just in case. The mold helps me say still, and my feet are strapped together. Still, it's hard not to squirm a little, especially once my hands and arms go to sleep. So I'm always happy to hear the giant door slide open and to see the techs telling me it's time to relax.

I gave the office two copies of my book when I checked in this morning. By the time I was checking out they had already devised a schedule for who would get to read it first, second, etc. I love it when people seem excited about reading my stuff - whether here on the blog, the book, or elsewhere. I just hope they're still fans once they've actually read it!