Hit Me With Your Best Shot
- Deb Dekoff
- Mar 3, 2017
- 2 min read
What is radiation like?
Well, do you see the table with the headrest? Yes? Well, I climb onto it, face down into the blue neck protector - which circles around my face.
My arms go into the lighter blue "mold" that was made, and I have to hold onto two handles. I can pretend I'm a skeleton athlete for a minute as I climb on and get into position, headfirst. Only the "ride" I get is a slight jerk as the table realigns.
PA's position me perfectly, down to the millimeter. How? Remember those tattoos? They are the marks that the laser beams line up with.
Laser beams? Yes. You can see them as fine red lines - kind of like the laser pointers you can buy at Staples.
The PA's come in and circle the tattoos - so then can better align them with the measurements given.
"Seven point three." "Nine Point three" Once in position, the table rises up and over, into the true beam of the machine.
The PA's leave the room, turning up music of my choice. And I choose Ray LeMontagne or Erick Baker - because the music is relaxing, and it's not like I can move and groove.
Then, the machine moves, swinging around to first x-ray, then radiate just what the physicists decide need zapping.
(X-rays are taken and read to make sure I'm in perfect alignment. ) More moving of the machine. A slight jerk of the table.
And I count 12 - 13 seconds per photon radiation boost. Then, a one second blast, pause, then another.
The machine moves again, swinging it's arms in a different angle, and I'm zapped for another 12-13 seconds, with two short pulses following. Photons.
EVERYTHING about radiation is about science and math. SCIENCE AND MATH.
Yeah, those of you who think science and math isn't cool - you are wrong. Science and math save lives.
I wondered if I'll have PTSD the next time I go for a massage.
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