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Well - I went yesterday for my radiation simulation.
My DOC went over my PET scan and regarding seeing stuff in the thyroid, and other areas, she said the bad thing about the PET is it picks up so much, you have to weed through what may and may not be cancer. She saw nothing that is cancer related, including in the lymph nodes. I signed my consent for the radiation, and went to the CT scanner for the rundown.
The "eggshell" was truly no bid deal. It is just a lead box that they place your testicle in. Totally painless. Then I had to lay there for 20 minutes as they did a few CT scans.
Then the guy comes out and says, "Ok, we're almost done. Just have to do the tattoos...did they tell you about the tattoos?". I replied, "Vaguely." He then explained that they prick the surface with a needle to put a little tattooed "dot" - for alignment purposes, etc. Well - as he's talking he holds up what looks like a nail. I'm like, "Is that it?". He replied, "Oops, guess you didn't want to see that." I just laughed.
Now, let me preface this by saying I have no probs with needles - whatsoever. If someone did - I would really hate it for them with all of the tests we have to go through. I have skinny arms - but when taking blood they can never find the vein and use my hand. I always say, "Its hard to find the vein, you might use my hand." They always reply, "I can always find the vein." Then they don't find the vein, and use the hand. It is like clockwork..LOL. Anyhow I did get a bit "alarmed" when I saw the size of this thing..LOL. He told me "Don't worry. I'm only going to put the tip in." He might as well have said, "Insert joke here."....I won't reply on the forum the joke I made next (which he got a good laugh out of) - and no the female tech wasn't in there or I wouldn't have said it.
So, he made the first dot on my left side. No biggie. Stung a bit more than normal - but bearable. Then, as he was about to do the abdominal dot he said, "This can get a little nasty." I'm thinking...I appreciate the honesty. It was painless though. So - I'm in the clear I think. Finally he goes to do "dot" my right side. That one hurt pretty good. I clinched my jaw and muttered, "Yeah...I feel that one." He just laughed and said, "Sorry." Let me say, I kind of created a relaxed mood in the testing area as I was making jokes (while laying naked on the table basically) as they were putting my testicle in the clamshell that I had better not see this on youtube, among other things (like I mentioned previously). Even the other technician, a female who seemed very serious (which is a good thing in their line of work) was cracking a smile or two. I realize they probably have to deal with a lot of very sad cases, so I wanted to make their work on me pleasant. Heck, I'll be seeing them daily for 3 weeks.
All in all though, it was no biggie at all. Met some cool new people who are going to blast me with radiation for the next three weeks - and received my first "ink"...three dots that I will wear with pride. And here I had no plans to ever get a tattoo. Showed me!
My DOC went over my PET scan and regarding seeing stuff in the thyroid, and other areas, she said the bad thing about the PET is it picks up so much, you have to weed through what may and may not be cancer. She saw nothing that is cancer related, including in the lymph nodes. I signed my consent for the radiation, and went to the CT scanner for the rundown.
The "eggshell" was truly no bid deal. It is just a lead box that they place your testicle in. Totally painless. Then I had to lay there for 20 minutes as they did a few CT scans.
Then the guy comes out and says, "Ok, we're almost done. Just have to do the tattoos...did they tell you about the tattoos?". I replied, "Vaguely." He then explained that they prick the surface with a needle to put a little tattooed "dot" - for alignment purposes, etc. Well - as he's talking he holds up what looks like a nail. I'm like, "Is that it?". He replied, "Oops, guess you didn't want to see that." I just laughed.
Now, let me preface this by saying I have no probs with needles - whatsoever. If someone did - I would really hate it for them with all of the tests we have to go through. I have skinny arms - but when taking blood they can never find the vein and use my hand. I always say, "Its hard to find the vein, you might use my hand." They always reply, "I can always find the vein." Then they don't find the vein, and use the hand. It is like clockwork..LOL. Anyhow I did get a bit "alarmed" when I saw the size of this thing..LOL. He told me "Don't worry. I'm only going to put the tip in." He might as well have said, "Insert joke here."....I won't reply on the forum the joke I made next (which he got a good laugh out of) - and no the female tech wasn't in there or I wouldn't have said it.
So, he made the first dot on my left side. No biggie. Stung a bit more than normal - but bearable. Then, as he was about to do the abdominal dot he said, "This can get a little nasty." I'm thinking...I appreciate the honesty. It was painless though. So - I'm in the clear I think. Finally he goes to do "dot" my right side. That one hurt pretty good. I clinched my jaw and muttered, "Yeah...I feel that one." He just laughed and said, "Sorry." Let me say, I kind of created a relaxed mood in the testing area as I was making jokes (while laying naked on the table basically) as they were putting my testicle in the clamshell that I had better not see this on youtube, among other things (like I mentioned previously). Even the other technician, a female who seemed very serious (which is a good thing in their line of work) was cracking a smile or two. I realize they probably have to deal with a lot of very sad cases, so I wanted to make their work on me pleasant. Heck, I'll be seeing them daily for 3 weeks.
All in all though, it was no biggie at all. Met some cool new people who are going to blast me with radiation for the next three weeks - and received my first "ink"...three dots that I will wear with pride. And here I had no plans to ever get a tattoo. Showed me!
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