15 down, 20 to go - Well the treatments seem to be getting easier. I guess it's because we all have the routine down. If they haven't finished preparing the room and table before my arrival I know what needs to be done, so go get the towel and lay it down on the board, go get the rubber donut for both hands to hold on too; things they now don't have to do, freeing them to do other things.

The mask fits better and better every day, I just hope they don't decide it needs tightening up. I can't move anything, but it's also not mashing deep imprints into my skin like at the beginning.

Having had this many treatments I can tell which radiation field they are on based on the position of the machine head. 5 o'clock, 4:00, 3:00, 1:30, 12:00 straight over me, 10:30, 9:00, 8:00, 7:00 and then back up to 12:00 with a table shift to get the lymphnodes between my collar blades. The lights come back on and we're done.

I suppose I'm fortunate to not have any throat burn yet, no difficulty swallowing, still have saliva though mouth dryness is also beginning to appear, the skin on each side of my neck still looks pretty much normal unlike the patient that goes before me ... poor guy he looks cooked, deep red, closer to purple, with some skin cuts/tears present at his collar line. They have had to interrupt his treatment schedule more than once, take up to a week off so I suppose he can get some relief.

I asked if I should expect that, everybody is different is all they will say and that he is getting a different treatment regimen than you. Any more would I suppose be a privacy violation. They wouldn't even tell me how far he is into his treatment regimen yet. That's okay , I'll ask him.

Still, I'd rather be in my shoes than in his.
Getting through this one day at a time.

Tony