Sonny - IMRT Treatment 2 of 35

It was certainly a very interesting and educational day on day 2.

From drop shorts to raise was 14 minutes. I had a little conversation with the techs about the apparent ease of alignment and delivery of the radiation afterward.

Turns out I am on what they refer to as the latest and the greatest machine for radiation delivery.

TomoTherapy Hi-ART is the machine and they told me the correct terminology for my treatment is IG/IMRT. The first pass of the table through the machine is the alignment verification and internal adjustment for the delivery of the radiation. The second pass is the delivery of the radiation.

Here is where it is really cool, this is the description by Tomo of the process;

* Delivers helical (continuous 360º) IMRT that uses tens of thousands of narrow beamlets, all targeting the tumor and individually-optimized to contribute to the total tumor dose.

* Offers by far the most beamlets of any form of IMRT, which translates to the most precise conformal radiotherapy available.

In my case the tumor is the prostate bed. One of the other things I found out is that the combination of 3D CT Scan information software used by the IG function can even account for movement of the targeted site. If I had a prostate, it may shift somewhat from day to day depending on my bladder, bowels, digestive system and other factors. The IGRT accounts for this and re-calculates the target for exact delivery of the radiation.

Here is the site: http://www.tomotherapy.com/ Use the tool bar at the top of the page and check out the Tab, Difference. It's some really great stuff. At least it is to me.

Tomorrow is Tee-Shirt and cookies day for my wife and I. She is receiving treatment 4 of 13 and I will be receiving number 3. We decided that Wednesday would be cookies day. That is the day that we will take some cookies in for our respective techs to enjoy.

Tomorrow will also be the first day that we will wear our matching Tee Shirts in for treatment for the first time. I took a picture that we had recently taken of the two of us and printed it on the shirt. Surrounding the picture it reads; "We're A Radiant Couple". On the back of each it says; "Radiation Treatment Countdown". Hers has numbers 1 through 13 and mine has 1 through 35. We will cross out each treatment with a sharpie and at the end will have the techs sign the shirts as completed. We plan to vacuum pack them and keep them as mementos.

We figure to wear the shirt in at least once per week. Hey you gotta have some fun with this stuff as long as you can. I'll take a picture of us in the shirts and then figure out some place I can post it if you guys wanna take a look.

We'll let you guys know how the cookies and shirts go over.

Remember; "Every Day is a Bonus", treat it that way.

Sonny

Sonny, Pat and I read you post and laughed out loud at the discription of the t-shirt. Must say you sound very up beat and I could not be more pleased for you. Did you get a chance to read my e-mail. If you did not get it let me know and I will resend.

Take care of yourself and Lynn. We are thinking about the 2 of you.

Jeff T
Cajun Country

I'm with Bluenose...
Good Luck Sonny!

Sonny, you and your wife's attitudes are amazing and will get you both through this! I love the T shirts - they're a great way to put a little humor into an otherwise humorless situation.

Keep the posts coming. And please send our regards to your dear wife.

Sephie & John

Thank you all for you kind words of support.

I am glad I was able to put a smile of some of your faces with the Tee Shirt plan. Lynn and I are both looking forward to the reactions we get from the MDA folks today. We picked up some really good Swedish cookies for the techs, at the IKEA store yesterday.

I want you folks to know that Lynn is really enjoying your words of support for her. As I have said before, she hasn't had this type of support group during her battles the last 4 years. She does attend a monthly local support group meeting, but there is not the daily activity like I have found here at HW. You guys are marvelous. You really need to know much each of you has touched Lynn and me.

Okay enough of the mushy stuff. Gotta get a few things done before we head off for T-Shirt and cookie day. At least for today, the radiation reason for the trip is secondary. LOL

Will post Treatment 3 later today.

Sonny

Sonny, can't wait to see pics of the t-shirt couple!!!!

Jeff T

Sonny,
I'm glad your radiation on going on smoothly. The idea of the matching tee-shirts made me laugh. I love your attitude. I wish you the best through out the treatment.