Radiation

Had my appointment yesterday afternoon to get mapped out for radiation; pretty interesting stuff. They essentially put me in a CT Scan like device to get imagery and then use those images, as well as some markings they made, to map the treatment area on the computer. They put a mask on me, which is exactly like what you see here; the idea of the mask is to keep my head still while I receive treatments and also to pull my head slightly back so they can get at the area around the neck. They are trying as much as possible to keep away from the salivary glands and some other areas, because the adverse reaction from radiation in those areas is a little more severe.
I will begin radiation next Wednesday, 9/12, and am scheduled for 15 visits, which has me done on October 2nd, 2007. In the process of being there they gave me some permanent markings, tattoos, essentially...they're small dots on my chest area. Now that I'm bald and have some tats I figure it's time to buck-up and get a Harley to go along with the look.
All else is well, looking forward to starting/finishing radiation and happy to be so close to the end. All the best and enjoy your weekends - Gary