Heads or tails

Am I glad this week is finally over. While I struggled with eating during the second round of chemo, the third round brought dry sinuses, lots of nose bleeds, and a few sleepless nights during which I attempted to sleep while in the sitting position.

Yesterday, my radiation oncologist looked at my nasopharynx using the endoscope. He said, compared the first time he looked at me, my nasopharynx has "flattened out and things look normal." Awesome!

After my doctor's appointment, the technician made my radiation mask, which I will wear each day during radiation, and CT images were taken, which is used to map the IMRT radiation treatments. I thought the mask would take longer than the five minutes required, which included taking the CT images, and the whole process was relatively painless even though I was strapped down during the process. Radiation treatments will start next Friday, will last eight weeks, and take approximately 15 - 20 minutes each weekday.

The mask turned out to be much larger than I thought it would be and looks similar to the picture below. They placed the tattoos on my mask instead of my neck, which happens for some patients. Wearing this thing, I feel like a mummy.