The Radiation process

We got the radiologist to give us a little extra time.The process turned out to be quite interesting. It all starts when he gets a 3D MRI. At that point he has to come up with a strategy to paint the sides of the cavity where the tumor was with radiation, changing beam shapes, directions, and intensity. He starts this with a computer program that in his case turned out to be using 10 different Xray beams, and then the computer program simulates it and gives him feed back on how well it works. He does this several times to make sure he gets the results he is looking for. He showed us some of the plots. When he is satisfied with that he goes through a test run with the machine. This is done with some kind of a water vessel that contains sensors of the areas he is trying to hit. If that proves satisfactory they start the therapy. I was impressed how much planning work was in the process. I had accused him of being in slow motion, I was wrong.

The plan is for 33 sessions.