In the Waiting Corridor

It’s a bit like a conveyer belt for those of us receiving radiotherapy.  If all goes according to plan you are only on the treatment table for about 10 minutes.  You spend more time sitting in the corridor outside the treatment room waiting, after taking your trousers off and putting on a gown.

For the first time, things didn’t go to plan.  After an initial ultrasound scan to make sure my bladder was full enough, they adjusted my position on the table to make sure I was in the right position for treatment.  This is important because there are lots of sensitive body parts that they don’t want to be irradiated with a powerful blast of x-rays.  A second scan confirms your position and also makes sure the bowel is in the right condition for treatment.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t for the first time, so I was sent away to empty it and then refill my bladder.  It resulted in a delay of about an hour before trying again.

I’m now 1/3 of the way through.  The staff were lovely, very patient and supportive.  They’ve said that it’s about this stage in the treatment that side effects can start, but I wasn’t to worry, I’d done really well so far.  Let’s hope.  At least I have a couple of days to relax before heading back to hospital.