I just read through all of these posts and didn't see any mention of having your wrists bound to your ankles while in the mask and receiving treatments, which is what they do to my husband. Is that standard?

His treatments last about 15 minutes, and they have done new CT scans twice already, necessitating the day after the scans are done to be on the table for what seems an interminably long time while they do "films." The first time that lasted an hour. Tomorrow they will be doing films again. I hope it doesn't last that long again. He will be taking valium tomorrow but wasn't given the opportunity the last time because they didn't tell him ahead of time what would be taking place. I tell him to meditate but I don't think he does. He is too afraid of getting sick or coughing while in the mask. "Brave" is an understatement when it comes to all who go through this treatment. I finally actually saw my husband on the table the other day for the first time while he was in the mask, right after he had a new one made. I was very nervous to even see him in it!

Yes, my wrists were bound also during treatment. I was fearful of it until the tech showed me that all I had to do was pull my knees up and I was free.

"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.

How do you know all that technical info?! So are you saying that my husband having his wrists bound to his ankles is not typical? Anyone else besides Minnie have this done? He asked them if it was necessary, and they said it was, to make sure he didn't shift. Maybe it is because he is getting XRT and not IMRT?
I think he could handle it a lot better if it weren't for that.

Good lord, having my wrists bound to my ankles would have *really* freaked me out. They gave me a foam (somehwat squishy foam) "donut" to hold on my belly, one hand gripping each side of it and that's how they kept my hands in one place. OK, now I'm NOT annoyed with my RO but glad I had that instead of binding my wrists--it's interesting how much these things seem to differ from place to place.

If I remember correctly, and it's been almost three years, it was explained to me that my feet pulling my arms downward pulled my clavicle out of the "line of fire" of the radition. I had two wrist bracelets that were hooked together by a piece of soft material. The bracelets were put on my wrists then the material was looped under my feet, my feet pulling it taut. I was never "restrained" as I could EASILY pull my knees up and release my hands.

Oh I see. That makes it not sound so bad.Now I'm wondering if it's something they should have done. I do recall the radiation techs fiddling around with my shoulders quite a bit each time they positioned me.

Now that I'm recalling the details more, I remember that they had these little plastic thingies that fit into the sides of the radaition table and could be locked in place and they'd push them down on my shoulders to hold them in that same position--that plus positioning my hands on the donut must have served the same purpose.

Yes, I do remember now that you mention it Minniea, being told at some point that they did that (bound his wrists to ankles) in order to pull his shoulders down so as to avoid the radiation. I don't think it is something he can release himself from though, although I don't want to bring it up to him by asking, since he has "accepted" it the way it is, and if it can't be changed, I don't want him to think about it any more than he has to. It still seems like there should be a better way, such as what you describe Nelie.
Michele