Whole Brain Radiation

Today is Oct. 9th.....We just got home from Seattle. Tuesday morning at about 4am Gator woke up shivering. We couldn't take his temp. at that time because he was having a panic attack because he couldn't breathe. Got him on O2 and he took a Lorazapan and a codeine sulfate and I thought he took to Tylenol. Two hours later I found them on the night stand. Next time I put them directly into his mouth! :} We were able to take his temp. at that point and it was 103.4.....Anyway he took the Tylenol and I called the oncologist in Seattle. We decided that he would be seen quicker if we just went ahead and kept an appt. in Seattle at 2:00 with the oncologist rather than wait for several hours in the urgent care in Lakewood......I know it sounds crazy but it's true! After examining Gator and doing blood tests and an x-ray, Dr. Grim decided Gator should get some IV fluids that day and that we should stay the night in Seattle so he could get them the following day also. Well, it turned out that we had to stay Weds and Thurs so he could get fluids 3 times.


Friday morning: He got his first "whole brain" radiation today". He feels pretty good....has a slight headache and feels a little shaky but thinks that could be from the virus that he has. All in all he says it wasn't too hard on him......He'll be getting 5 doses of radiation (staying in Seattle next week) and then hopefully start Chemo. on Nov. 2nd. We came home for the weekend.  I have to go do the show on my own :( at Rounders tonight so gotta go.....love to all! (Gator still has a very positive attitude even though he's pretty worried about the side affects from the radiation...)

    

It all starts with the long walk....Gator says "to the electric chair"

They made his mask the week before.  It was heated up and formed to his face so it fit REALLY tight!  Gator said he couldn't even blink!

They bolted the mask to a table so he couldn't move...

                                     

Then they left him alone in the room and zapped him with radiation...he was in the mask for about 15 minutes ..I don't think I could handle a full minute in that thing!

                                       

They watched Gator on these little monitors from another room.

We've been in Seattle since Sunday night...this is Thursday night. Gator had  the last of 5 treatments this morning. He has a slight headache, his stomach is feeling a little queasy and he feels "Wrung out"....other than that everthing went fine... they gave him the mask to take home.  He hasn't decided what to do with it yet.  Beat it to a pulp with a baseball bat....make it into a chia pet, or make a bust of himself and have me paint it!  LOL  (The next pictures are of what is through the door behind Gator, behind the blue wall)

They gave us a tour behind the wall ...the inner workings of the radiation machine!

The machine rotated full circle....