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I spoke with my radiation therapist asking why she was reluctant to do radiation therapy on my head. She said that she was reluctant because no one would say with certainty that the tumors in the brain were a result of the lung cancer. She only wanted to zap me if I really deserved it – as she put it.
She said she is going to schedule another MRI in three weeks so she can see if the tumors are the same size or growing. At that point she’ll make a determination if I should get zapped.
I asked her how many rads she was going to hit me with. She said 3500. I responded, “3500?! Isn’t that more than the people in Hiroshima got?†She said, yes it was, but since it was over several days it would not be lethal. She said the brain can take more radiation than the rest of the body. She said if she gave my whole body that much, it would kill me.
Radiation exposure is measured in terms of how much radiation per square centimeter of skin surface. That way one can compare equal radiation amounts.
The radiation kills off the higher metabolism cells. Since the brain is not making any new cells, the radiation does not affect it very much.
I just spoke to her scheduler and I am scheduled for another MRI in about three weeks.
Posted by The Vorlon at November 7, 2005 2:06 PMWell your father had one last Fri. for a back ailment. He had a couple MRI's a few years back also.
They gave him ear plugs to lessen the noise.
Other than that it's uneventful.
I agree. MRI's are very uneventful. Just lay there and wait.
Posted by: Ted at November 7, 2005 7:32 PMTed, Take your favorite CD with you. Both of mine were 'open' MRI, but in reality were very closed. I found that listening to the music and keeping my eyes closed helped out. The good thing is they blow some nice cool air into the equipment so it doesn't get stuffy and unconfortable. I think my first one was about 45 mins, then they shot me with dye and put me back in for another half an hour. Wasn't that bad.
Posted by: reborrell at November 7, 2005 8:24 PM