Bored Yet? Radiation, Day 8

February 3rd — Are you bored with my radiation blogs yet? I am and I have 30 more to go. Sigh. Over the weekend, the surgical tape came off that had my center X on it that was originally used to do my CT scan a week before I began radiation treatment. I was told to make sure to keep those Xs on my body until I began radiation when the radiation techs could remark me daily. Since the tech had put the tape on while the ink was still wet, the ink stuck to the tape instead of my skin. I didn’t say anything then because heaven knows these folks have done this thousands of times before and I’m not about to tell them how to do their job, but it didn’t seem like the best idea at the time. So, the tape comes off and the X comes off with it instead of leaving a faint mark on my skin. The radiation techs freak out a bit and tell me I may have to have my mapping CT redone and the dosimetrist and radiation oncologist will have to make a new plan and I’ll have to begin this hell all over again. Really? I know I only made it through calculus and any conversation involving higher math will likely lose me, but I have multiple marks elsewhere on my body, can’t they triangulate and figure this out? Again, I say nothing because this isn’t my job but I lay still and expect the doctor to come in and chastise me at any minute. Sigh. Instead, the radiation techs begin my radiation that day so obviously they weren’t too worried about not hitting the targets. At the end of the treatment, they came in and remarked the center X. When I asked them about that, they explained that they backed through my treatment using my other Xs to basically triangulate the position. Then, they proceeded to put clear surgical tape ontop of the wet permanent marker ink. My kids play with markers and that ink stays on them for weeks despite daily baths and much soapy scrubbing. Maybe the radiation folks need to invest in the cheap non-washable kid markers for their patients.