Under Pressure...

Ring...ring..."What time is it?!" *groggy* *No answer* He rubs his eyes wearily and they clear up for him to read the clock on his blackberry...6:14AM!!!

He scrambles frantically to get ready in the next 15 minutes. Luckily, he had packed up the night before and ws able to get out in decent time...he anticipated. Unfortunately he forgot two things and had to run back making him later than he had hoped.

He finally makes it onto the freeway and he beheld the lovely morning traffic. He arrives at 7:20AM...20 minutes late for the actual time of his MRI. The sign read "Arriving 15 minutes late to your appointment may cause you to reschedule your appointment. I didn't get into my MRI until 8AM or so. They performed multiple scans and he heads down to the next part of the procedure at 9AM.
They prep and begin the procedure to place the headset on. 9:30AM...The doctor markes the spot with a red sharpie; two on the front, two on the back. The doctor begins with several pokes and injections of novacaine, short term anesthetic. Then they begin injecting the spots again with lidocaine, which puff up to accomodate the pins they screw into his head. "You'll feel a little pressure." A little?! He thinks to himself, "They obviously haven't had one of these headsets on!" He winces as the right pin is screwed in, "Can you still feel that?" "Yes," he mutters under the pain. The doctor gives him a second shot of lidocaine. They bring him some vicodine for the pain as it may persist as the anesthetics wear off.

He is then brought out for a CT Scan with the headset on so they can accurately pinpoint the location of the remnant tumor. The scan took mere minutes to perform. Then the wait comes.

He sits in the exam room with his parents for the greater part of the day awaiting the doctors and physicists examine the MRI and CT's plotting out their plan of action for the radiation. He has some breakfast as he wasn't allowed to eat past midnight. He is famished. The pancake, eggs and bacon were quite appeasing to his empty stomach.

As the day presses on, the headset gets heavy along with his patience and eye lids. He lays down on the gurney for some shut eye until 2PM.

3PM comes and they take him into the Novalis room. The huge machine has a revolving arm and exam table. The screw him into the table and fit a plastic box over his head to preciously aim the machine at the tumor. A minute at a time they administer the radiation, adjusting him ever so slightly as the arm made several passes. One mythos the therapists stated was that he would not see anything; although he did, when his eyes were closed, he could see little dots of white light.as the machine passed over his eyes. 20 minutes later he was done. It was over.

The headset was removed and he was wheeled back to his parent's car for the ride home. In 6 months they would give him another MRI to make sure the tumor shrank and has not regrown. Only possible side effect is 6 weeks to 6 months down the line, possible swelling of the brain. Other than that...this battle, this journey has come to an end...for now.

fI