"Wrists bound to your ankles" - maybe your rad tech was a dominatrix ;-) My rad techs were very cool - even put a pillow under my butt when I got so bony from losing the 60+ pounds. They also had a triangular pillow for under my knees and lots of blankets because the room was kept cool because of all of the equipment.

They usually do the films weekly to double check registration and accuracy. This entails removing the secondary collimator (or applicators) or MLC if you are getting IMRT, and placing a special x-ray applicator to the LINAC head accessory slot.

Your nose, by the way, is typically the primary geographical reference point to insure proper mask alignment (along with the tatoo) and a few "Post-It" dots with crosses on them, scotch taped to the mask that they align the laser beams to). Real high tech.

You do have to take note of the plastic headrest though - it can hurt a lot if they reverse it or give you the wrong one. ALWAYS check the computer monitor to insure that your name is on the treatment plan screen. Some folks here have been "treated" for prostate cancer.

There are slight variations in how masks are done. You don't have to worry about them being radioactive - they use ionizing radiation which is a non issue when the machine is off. Older machines had a retractable device called a "beam stopper" and it could get a little "hot", but I haven't seen any machines lately that even had a beam stopper. Also radiation for H&N cancer is typically in the 6-12 MeV range and they have LINAC's that go out to 20 MeV (they can actually get some neutrons in those power ranges and the techs have to wear 2 film badges or dosimeters.

I used to invite my friends in to watch them "bolt" me in just to watch them freak out! Hey the thing saved my life. It's only 6-7 weeks - about the same as boot camp.