I've Been Tatooed!

I picked up the dental trays today. These are basically mouthguards but really thin. Dr Scavuzzo made two sets. One set for at home for flouride treatments and the other set for during radiation treatments. The home set has more room in them for the flouride. Dr Scavuzzo and I spoke at length about the affect the radiation treatments are going to have on my teeth. The lack of action from the salivary glands is going to cause havok on my teeth and I'll have to be drinking a lot of water and rinsing my mouth out frequently to make up for the lack of salivation.

I was also fitted for the radiation mask today. The purpose of the mask is to hold my head in the same position for each treatment and to help the nurse position the radiation machine. The fitting process was a little like being waterboarded. The mask is made of plastic and is heated prior to placing it on my face. It was very hot and felt like a sheet of plastic was placed over my face. My reaction was that I couldn't breath! But the mask is a mesh so there was plenty of openings to breath through. Unfortunately, the first mask didn't mold to my face right so a second one had to be made. The second time was easier. With the mask on I cannot open my eyes and have to breath through my nose. I hope I don't catch a cold as that could make using the mask rather difficult.

As the mask was drying the nurse put a dot tatoo on my chest. I think they use that and the mask to position me on the table.

After the mask was complete they injected me with an iodine solution and ran me through the CT scanner. I've had the iodine before so I knew to expect the nasty tasted in my mouth and the feeling like you've peed your pants. But this time my stomach reacted badly. While I was going through the CT scanner I felt like I was going to hurl. That would have been rather incovenient at that time since I still had the mask on and would have been vomiting through the mesh. The 16 ounces of Gatorode I had downed before the appointment could have had something to do with my stomach's reaction. If I have to do that again - they said I shouldn't have to - I'll be sure to drink only water.

The (outpatient) hospital visit to install the feeding tube is scheduled for next Thursday.

My neighbor Karl sent over a chicken that he smoked today. It was great! Very tasty. Sean had thirds.