karenulijohn

Harvey had his third radiation treatment this morning. He said he really did not need me to go with him, so I acquiesced and went for my morning walk. I stopped and had a chat with my friends, and by the time I got home, he was there happily reading his paper. When I asked him how “it” went, he said that it only took about 10 minutes, but there was a little excitement. Naturally, my radar went up since I know that “a little excitement” to him and “a little excitement” to me can exist at opposite ends of the excitement spectrum.

You may not be aware that when he is on the table in this radiation room, he is lying on his back and his feet are strapped down. He is holding a horseshoe shaped object in both hands. His head is held in place by a mesh mask that fits completely over his head and is snapped in place to the table. They then insert a lead plate to cover his eye, a lead guard is inserted in his nostril, and he has a lead mouth guard. There are three people (technicians) who set up the device and who monitor the delivery of radiation from another room.

So, back to the excitement. After the first 15 seconds of the radiation, the lead eye piece slipped off and fell on the floor. Harvey let go of the horseshoe with one hand and gave a little wave. The radiation immediately stopped and the technicians came in to replace it. They assured him that they were nowhere near his eye at that point and that this sometimes happens. After they reinserted the eye piece, they continued with another 20 to 25 seconds of radiation. The second delivery was uneventful. After he was released from the table, one of the technicians said that he did very well. She said that usually people get frantic and start waving their arms and trying to get up. Can any of you think of someone you know who would be one of those people?

Currently, Harvey is out “blowing” off the patio and cleaning up the yard. I think he is expecting me to fix lunch. That seems to be the only “side effect” of his treatment so far!