the Mould Room beckons....

Today was one of those fantastically efficient days that convinces you that the NHS is the best thing since sliced bread and reaffirms your faith in the medical establishment. After the horrifically agitating tedium of the last 2 weeks it was such a relief to be doing something, even if that something involved being bolted to a bed, with no hearing aids in, while a sheet of hot floppy plastic was moulded around my head by three grown men.

This is the result of that claustrophobic ordeal:

The mask/mould starts off as a flat piece of hard plastic (with a diamond-shaped nose hole) which is heated in a water bath before being wrapped around the patient's face, with pressure on the eyes. Ouch.
It's then bolted down onto the bench with those black things to keep the patient nice and still (well you try moving when your EYES are being squashed and your nose is sticking out of a small hole).
The neck has to be extended as far as possible to keep most of the head out of the way of the radiation.

Fortunately it was only 5 minutes until the now-hard mask was peeled off and I lurched upright, blinking, red-faced, dizzy and frankly astounded that I'd survived without kicking and screaming and generally making a prat of myself.

I asked if I'd be able to keep the mask, as I know some people who had been allowed to and was getting very excited at the prospect of my own personalised jelly mould. Alas this was not to be; perhaps it is to be recycled or has its own bit-part lined up in a new horror/sci-fi movie. They let me take lots of photos though - aren't you glad you can see its creepiness for yourself??

I then toddled off to see my radiologist who got me to sign yet another consent form and checked my schedule (this is like starting a new year at school - very organised with timetables being handed out left right and centre). My timetable informs me that I am to start radiotherapy next Wednesday and finish Tuesday 11th of August, which is a much better scenario than I could even have hoped for two days ago. Praise the lord and the NCCC. Devon here I come!!

The session wound up with a simulation; I was ushered into the CT room, where the mask went back on and stayed on for 6 rather unpleasant (blind and deaf) minutes while technicians drew little marks all over it with some rather delicious-smelling solvent pen. Mmmm. I was then jerked through the CT scanner to get a picture of the site to be irradiated, so my radiologist can plan exactly where to direct the radiation rays. In addition to the mould I've had a wee tattoo i.e. a tiny black dot in the middle of my sternum. I can get this lasered off later if I want but to be honest I can barely even see it.

So that's the planning all done - I start next Wednesday. "Nothing but good times ahead."

update: oooh I made a mean risotto with sundried tomatoes, goats cheese, bacon and orange peppers. nom nom nom. Felt the blog was getting too boringly medical....