Masks and radiation: Simulation

Tues 17th of Nov. 2009

The previous week I had had my mask made, now was the time to try it out in a dry run - the so called simulation- and and make sure that all the 'ports' for the radiation had been calculated correctly. The mask itself was an extremely tight fitting one that clamps over the face, shoulders and upper chest. They lay you flat on your back, put in a mouth piece and then literally clamp you to the table with the mask. No movement at all is possible! For the mildly claustrophopic like myself, it is not very pleasant, for the truly claustrophobic it must be alarming. AnywayI survived my fifteen minutes.

The idea of course is to make sure that your head is positioned in exactly the same spot for each session. Radiation is so precise nowadays that it is delivered in a narrow beam to the tumor from several different angles, so that the skin and non affected soft tissues only get the least possible dose of radiation. I'll try and get a photo of this and post it next week. I start my radiation proper next Monday on Nov. 23rd.