Okay, everyone knows I am competitive. So far I have had 72GY of IMRT, 25 GY of Cyberknife, and today I had the first of 40 GY of yet another Cyberknife for a total of 137 GY or 13,700 Rad.

When I mentioned all the posts here that doctors tell patients: only one chance with radiation, you cannot re-radiate an area that has had 70 GY, blah blah blah, he just laughed and said: well it's not something a doctor should be doing for the first time so it's understandable. He has been doing basic RT/IMRT for 25 years and doing re-radiation for the last ten years. He lectures on it and the importance of avoiding necrosis.

So c'mon, I vaguely remember another poster with over 100 GY or 10,000 Rad but let's hear it from the neo-Hiroshima club
Charm

Got you beat. 70 Gy. first round IMRT. 70 Gy, second round IMRT. 50 Gy. third round Cyberknife for a total of 190 Gy or 19,000 Rad.

Sounds like a Gold Medal winner. That's why I chose the Olympic three winner model as I've been told that I have some parts of me made of bronze - or was that brass?

The race is still open ladies and gentlemen

Charm

Come on over guys I want to attach you two to some solar panels, you both must glow in the dark!

I think I MAY have a shot at the Bronze Medal here, but I have no idea how many GY's I received.

2004 - I had 32 radiation treatments to the left side (older style)

2008 - I had 30 treatments to the right side - IMRT

Can anyone calculate out my dosage?? This might be a dubious honour, but I rarely win ANYTHING and a Bronze Medal would work for me!!

Hugs

Donna

Donna

sorry: Nobody can calcuate the GY dosage just from number of TX.
For example, last time at CyberKnife because it was just mop up after surgery, I got 5 GY a treatment while this time I am getting 8 GY a shot.
But we can open a new contest for actual number of radiation TXs also which would give you a respectable 60.

Bear in mind that all my "charmed" medals are Imaginary. I've come under fire in the forum before for my propensity to "award medals" so I want to be clear that these are NOT OCF sanctioned nor endorsed.
Charm

I beg your pardon - it was 62 Treatments not 60. Believe me, I remember those extra 2!! I will ask my Dr. how many Gy I have received when next I see them.

Turns out that may be sooner than I had thought, as I have another stitch which it trying to get out of my neck. My husband offered to pull it out, but I think I'll leave that to the dr's!!

Donna

Sorry but this is not a race I want to put on my Bucket List!

Oh David...just because you might not be a medal winner - you don't want to play! Was thinking about you the other day for two reasons...1) I ordered your wife's cookbook and 2) It was snowing here!

Hugs

Donna

Donna,

You were the one that inspired me to do a Tri because of your Bucket List pursuits. I was thinking of you a lot when I was to sore to walk for 2 days after the Tri! lol

Ok...I don't know, but Kevin's card he got from his RO after tx said 60 IMRT at 125gy each for a total of 7500. He went twice a day for 30 days. I thought that was a lot...now I know it was.
Does this mean he wins the gold???
One year PET tomorrow guys. Good thoughts appreciated!!

Sorry: sounds like it's a typo by a sloppy writing RO who wrote cGY instead of GY. It should have said he had 7500 cGy , which used to be called 7500 rads, which is 75 GY.
If he really had 125 GY 60 times, he'd be dead especially with IMRT; physical fact that it's impossible to survive 7,500 GY, or 75,000 rads. Shame on the RO for not correctly giving the individual doses as 125cGy.
Another typo the RO could have made was to leave out the period: if Kevin had 1.25GY 60x, that's very probable and normal, and adds up to 75GY.

Bummer. Thought we won...Man...we never win anything....
Looked in chart notes, yup cGY. Smart guy!! Take all the fun outta things!

KATHY

Trust me, this is NOT a contest anyone wants to win. It's tumor humor but suits my mood right now.
But keep those GY scores coming. Hint: Very unlikely anyone who has not joined the recurrence club is going to be in the running.
Charm

Trust me, it's not fun being the leader. It means that I have fewer and fewer options moving forward.

I do think this is an interesting exercise. It gives us all a look at the changing face of what is an acceptable lifetime radiation dosage.

Conventional thinking not too long ago was that you could only get radiation once (70 GY) and that was it. As targeting software and methodologies have advanced, so too have additional options for those of us with recurrences.

So keep those numbers coming, I�m curious to see what others have been through.

does sitting out in the Aussie sun drinking coffee count? WITHOUT SUNSCREEN OR A HAT?

[quote=klo]does sitting out in the Aussie sun drinking coffee count? WITHOUT SUNSCREEN OR A HAT?[/quote]
Karen -- What? No "slip, slap, slop"? (Is that campaign still running? I remember it from a visit to Perth to see friends in the early '90s.)

I was at our CCC today to visit my MO, and while there I asked the RO's assistant how many GY's I had received during the two sets of radiation. Turns out my total is 124 from 62 rad tx.

So, for all those who are told that they have had their lifetime dose of radiation, point to Kelly and Charm and I. The three are probably not allowed in the same room together as the glow might disrupt satellite transmissions, but we are HERE.

Not that I am a COMPETITIVE person or anything, but I do believe that gives me the Bronze Medal?? LOL

Donna

Charm,
I know. I was trying to be humorous too!! Gotta keep it light to get through the worry and with the PET the next day there was stress. All is well though. The PET was clear.
I am hoping we don't ever have to be in close competition with the 3 of you, but if we do I pray we will face it with as much courage and strength as you have had.
Thanks for always being here,
Kathy

Okay
Coming around the curve, we find the front runners are

Kelly211 with 190 GY
Charm2017 with 137 GY
Pandora99 with 125 GY

Looks like Medals for all so far in the Radiation Olympics .

BUT I've decided to keep this race open a little while longer so that the infrequent posters and lurkers can still enter.
Plus this thread is serving an important purpose: encouraging posters who already have had radiation treatment to go back to their doctors and get their actual GY count. Just be sure that's its apple and oranges. If your doctor' records only has RADS, or cGY, we can convert it here for you into GY.
Radiation doses for cancer treatment are measured in a unit called a gray (Gy), which is a measure of the amount of radiation energy absorbed by 1 kilogram of human tissue.

When I was a Tax Lobbyist in the 80's I flew hundreds of thousands of miles, member of every airlines' FF club, etc. I understand that I may be entitled to some radiation credit for that. Can you convert that for me?

Does anyone think that David may have a tad bit of a competitive nature about him? My Gosh..who would want to win this contest...just sayin,

Deb

I looked it up David. A CT gives you. .0003 of a GY, a cross country airflight. 0002! Given those levels you would have needed to have flown 5000 flights to equal ONE (yes 1 ) GY.

Charm: While I am all for fairness, I would like to have an end date for the competition. I need to know whether the medal ceremony will be a red carpet event and find a dress for the ceremony - something that will look good with my bronze medal!

Donna

Hmmmmm, talk about competative nature......but I guess, given that it's already snowing way up there in Winnipeg, there's really nothing else to focus on.

Donna

Be careful what you wish for when I'm feeling the full effects of CyberKnife and Carboplatin

This contest ends ALL SOULS DAY Saturday November 2, 2012 which is the Catholic solemn feast commemorating those who have died and are now in Purgatory with a guaranteed ticket to HEAVEN. For non-Catholics, Nov 2 is the Mexican Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos For our Jewish posters, it marks the Day the Great Flood begins (2105BCE).

So unless we hear othewise;
GOLD MEDAL WINNER: KELLY211
SILVER MEDAL WINNER: CHARM2017
BRONZE MEDAL WINNER: PANDORA99 (DONNA)
HORORABLE MENTION: DAVIDCPA - HPV AWARENESS
HONORABLE MENTION: CHRISTINE - SMOKING AWARENESS

Since these medals are imaginary, the medal ceremony will be imaginary also. I am looking forward to waltzing Donna around in her sure to be stunning dress, but I will defer to Kelly211 as the golden man for the first dance. Consideration was given to a real life ceremony, but in the interest of marital harmony (mine), and transportation/venue issues, this ceremony will also be imaginary and include the Everly Brothers singing their hit song: All I have to do is Dream, Dream, Dream. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but there will be no dance card for Kelly211 and myself.

Last chance for entries; We will celebrate on November 2nd, right here at OCF forum
Charm

Gosh...David's not in it at all??? Bummer dude!! I mean...congrats!! ;o)

I've marked my calendar for the "celebration"! Do we need tickets to attend? Should we make this an imaginary black tie event? Perhaps we should move it to the �Island� where it is always sunny and the food and service are superb!

"Congrats" to the winners!!

This post, which on the surface about how much radiation people have endured, is, I believe, truly about OCF patients keeping their options open. Know that what what was true in 2004 might not be true in 2007. As a patient gather as much information as possible and be proactive with our dedicated care teams to be sure they have examined in detail ALL options.

OCF is a tremendous resource as it is up to date with the latest studies, and approved techniques. I do not want people to hear "get your affairs in order" without examining every option.

For Kelli, Chram and myself, some of the extra radiations were new procedures. Do your reearch to see if it works for you.

Okay...now about the celebration....I am good with a virtual celebration but somehow that still leaves my closet barren!! Dang...here was my chace to walk the red carpet, be interviewed by the paparazzi, and be a Star for a day!! Sadly, I am still waiting for my 5 minutes of fame!! I have never even met anyone famous!!

For the first virtual celebratory dance, I love the Dream Dream Dream song, but could I suggest we all take the floor for the 1st dance with our spouses/caregivers who have made these achivements possible.

So at the close of business on "All Souls Day" we will know the honourees. And Charm, I went to a Catholic school and went to church every DAY of my life until Grade 8. All Souls day was always that ray of hope for those of us who had misbehaved a bit - we were always confident that we weren't THAT badly behaved children that we wouldn't make it to Purgatory at least!

I truly thank you Charm for bringing this topic up. I know when I was first diagnosed people would infer that I had had my "lifetime doses of radiation" and I felt that my "plan b's" were being limited by some arbitrary number. I am glad to know the limits are changng and more lives are being saved.

Hugs

Donna

I'm having my Tux cleaned just for the event.

I almost missed DavidCPA awarding himself honorable mention thru his administrator's edit powers. I love the hubris of the Official Olympic Committee's web page:
[quote]The International Olympic Committee is the supreme authority of the Olympic Movement.[/quote] so I am exercising similar authority to conform the GY Olympics to the regular Olympics: a Men's competition and a Women's competition
While Kelly211 still has the gold, and I the Silver in the Men's, the Bronze is wide open.
This of course means that Pandora (Donna) now is the leading contender for the Gold in the Women's division.
So the contest is still open. Women go for the Silver * Bronze. Men, the Bronze is open
Again, since for all practical purposes you need to have had a recurrence to have a winning chance., I will exercise that supreme authority to validate DavidCPA's unilateral action and create a special category in the Men's category : Honorable Mention for HPV awareness as well as add one for the Women's : Honorable Mention for Christine for Smoking Awareness.
So come on: we need new nominations to fill the gaps
Charm

Charm's Radiation Olympics competition closes on November 2nd ...so I am bringing this back to the top so all can review their stats and enter if applicable

Donna

Like they say on TV
You can't win if you don't play
Today is the last chance to enter

Right now the field looks like this
MEN'S DIVISION
GOLD MEDAL WINNER: KELLY211 - 190 GY
SILVER MEDAL WINNER: CHARM2017 137 GY
BRONZE MEDAL WINNER: KEVIN 75 GY
HONORABLE MENTION: DAVIDCPA - HPV AWARENESS
WOMEN'S DIVISION
GOLD MEDAL WINNER PANDORA99 (DONNA) 124 GY
SILVER MEDAL WINNER NO ENTRIES
BRONZE MEDAL WINNER NO ENTRIES
HONORABLE MENTION: CHRISTINE - SMOKING AWARENESS

AGAIN, I AM NOT SCOURING THE SIGNATURE LINES TO CHECK ANY OCF MEMBER. YOU MUST ENTER TO WIN
FINAL RESULTS TOMORROW
CHARM

HONORABLE MENTION: CHRISTINE - SMOKING AWARENESS

It seems a shame to let Pandora be the only woman in the competition, and I�m sure other women have had at least the same dose as me if not more, but as Charm said �You can't win if you don't play�.

So I�ll thru my �mask� into the ring � 66 GY after 33 treatments! And I sure hope that number doesn�t go any higher!

Okay. The GY Olympics have closed.
Final awards

MEN'S DIVISION
GOLD MEDAL WINNER: KELLY211 - 190 GY
SILVER MEDAL WINNER: CHARM2017 137 GY
BRONZE MEDAL WINNER: KEVIN 75 GY
HONORABLE MENTION: DAVIDCPA - HPV AWARENESS
WOMEN'S DIVISION
GOLD MEDAL WINNER PANDORA99 (DONNA) 124 GY
SILVER MEDAL WINNER Susan2992 66 GY
BRONZE MEDAL WINNER NO ENTRIES
HONORABLE MENTION: CHRISTINE - SMOKING AWARENESS

Thanks to all who played in the game.
Charm

Thank you very much for the Honorable Mention, Charm!!!

I try my best to help people understand the dangers of smoking. I just recently spoke to a group of high school student leaders who work in their schools to promote change. Amazing that these teenagers have changed their school's policies about allowing workers to smoke while on school grounds and making the penalties for students caught with tobacco tougher. I have a health fair coming up soon at a local university. Since that will be an older crowd, I will get to educate them alot more. they are going to hear all about not just anti-smoking but about HPV and the Guardisil shot too.


PS.... I could be a bronze winner at 35 radiation treatments. Sorry but I dont remember the GYs. Im certain there are others who are up there too.

You all get GOLD medals in my book!

Love the black humor of this competition, even though I wouldn't even have made the practice squad, let alone the quarter finals.

I would have gotten bronze..135 Gy. I always miss the prize lol.

Paul

As a government lawyer, I excelled at finding "loopholes" to make sure Justice was done. A little known fact (okay, little did I know it) is the the IOC (International Olympic Committee ) does award two bronze medals in the competitions of Boxing, Judo, Taekwondo, and Wrestling. So the precedent is set and approved .
By the powers vested in me, by me, I hereby declare that Paul B is awarded a BRONZE MEDAL in the Charm GY Olympics

Disclaimer: The Charm GY Olympic Medals are purely imaginary, and not endorsed or approved by either OCF or the IOC. They have no monetary value and accordingly no tax liability.

Charm

Lol. Thanks Charm! I'll wear it proudly.

"Congrats" Paul, and welcome to the Charm GY Olympics winners circle! I don't think any of us wanted to "win" this prize, but since we all reluctantly joined this club, we might as well have some fun with it! Charm, I'm really glad to hear there won't be any tax liability for winning I think we've paid the price in many ways and certainly don't need to pay the tax man on top of it!

Coming in last is ideal in this case lol.