And so it begins...

Well, it took a little longer than expected but Meighan finally has the implant radiation in place!  Now all she has to do is sit and wait....for 60 hours!  That's right 60. 

It was a pretty eventful day for my wife, today, but that really shouldn't come as a surprise.  She started with a CAT scan bright and early this morning to see if the implant device was properly positioned yesterday.  Well...turns out it was 5 mm too close to her bladder and her radiologist, who is very pragmatic and very practical, didn't feel comfortable leaving it there.  Sooooo...it was off to the O.R. so he could position it precisely where he needed it to be.  It was only a 10-15 minute procedure but it did require her to be placed under a light anesthesia, and it required her to be placed in the recovery room for what was supposed to be a short stay.  Well that turned into 2 hours and then she was off again to have another CAT scan.  Once they determined it was in the right place, Dr. Duckert went off to calculate the radiation dosage and after a brief stop at her old room on the 5th floor, she was finally taken to her final destination for the weekend, room 605!

Bucket O'Radiation!

At 7:00 Dr. Duckert and some guy--I can't remember his name, but he was the one handling the actual radiation--met us in front of her new room to insert the radiation.  It was a pretty surreal scene seeing this old metal bucket with a container holding radiation, and the presence of 2 Geiger Counters to detect the levels of radiation coming from the Iridium...it felt like a sci-fi movie!  The radiation being used is Iridium-192 and it was delivered in the old metal bucket shown above.  Evidently the actual Iridium looks something like pencil lead, and was inserted into the needles currently implanted into my wife's nether-regions, As it decays it emits the radiation that is letting the cancer cells have it. 

But...it is radiation and some of those little beta particles (electrons) are flying out of my wife's body at around 90% the speed of light.  So there are some precautions that must be taken...such as...

Meighan's View for the Next 60 Hours

...a giant lead screen that is between her and the neighboring room!  This is so the radiation isn't leaving her, going through the wall into the adjoining room.  In all actuality they are being overly cautious.  The lead shield is overkill and is basically in place for liability issues.  The radiation particles not much of a concern at distances greater than 10 feet away and can be stopped with a pane of glass a couple, which is exactly the distance I have to sit away from Meighan for the next 60 hours!

Well...that's about all for now.  I know there are some people planning on visiting in the next couple of days, which Meighan will greatly appreciate.  She is in room 605 in the South Tower at Methodist.  We will be in the southeast corner...look for the door with the RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS sign!

Our Welcoming Sign