My radiation oncologist called today to tell me that she's been working on my treatment plan and is having trouble ensuring that the radiation beams don't hit my heart. Apparently my spot is quite close to my heart, which makes giving it radiation quite tricky. I don't want to have a damaged heart and if the radiation beams don't clear the heart, I'm looking at it being damaged.
She's not giving up yet, though! She asked if I can hold my breath for 30 seconds and I said yes (I checked afterwards and I can hold my breath for at least 40 seconds). She said she'd like to redo the CT prep with me holding my breath because apparently inflating the lungs pushes the heart out of the way. It's possible that this position and technique will give her the clearance she needs to give me these treatments. Of course I said yes I'd be willing to redo the scan and prep!
She also asked me to practice holding my breath as the longer I can hold my breath, the shorter each treatment will be. If I can only hold my breath for 10 seconds then they can only apply less than 10 seconds of radiation, after which they have to wait until I'm ready again. Of course if it had to go that slowly it would be ok but it's better if they have to stop less frequently.
A couple of hours later the nurse called with my new CT scan and prep appointment. It's scheduled for Tuesday, January 31 at 7:45am (eeep that's early!). Hopefully this approach will work.
1 comment:
Holy moly that's a bit scary!! You NEED your heart, preferably undamaged. I don't think I could hold my breath all that long, so good for you! I'm sure it'll be fine, and it's really cool that they are willing to work with you in the space you can hold your breath. But still. Scary :(
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