Chapter
20
The next afternoon, Brian went to the hospital for his first radiation
treatment. Leighanne had wanted to go with him, but she had a meeting, so Nick
went instead.
He and Nick waited in the waiting room for about half an hour before
Brian was called back. Nick was curious, so he went with him. A nurse ushered
them into an examining room to wait for Dr. Benson to come in.
Dr. Benson arrived a few minutes later. "Hello, Brian," he
said. "How are you today?"
"I'm okay," Brian replied, forcing a smile. He was very
anxious about this new treatment, but he didn't want to show it.
"Well then, I suggest we begin. The actual radiation part of the
treatment just takes a few minutes and is completely painless. There are a few
side effects, such as fatigue, as I've mentioned before, some loss of appetite,
difficulty swallowing, sore throat. You might develop a cough, too. But those
are minimal compared to the effects of chemo. Before we can start the
radiation, we need to mark you up."
"What?" Brian asked, confused.
"We'll determine the area on your body that needs to get the
radiation, and using special marking pens, we'll actually draw lines on you so
we know where to send the radiation to. We don't want it to go to the wrong
part of your body," Dr. Benson explained. Then he had Brian take off his
shirt and lie down on the table. Nick watched in awe as a technician drew
bright blue lines on Brian's chest.
It took nearly forty five minutes to get all the lines drawn in the
right spots. After that, it was time for the actual radiation. A nurse came and
took Brian down the hall to another room. There was a sign on the door that
read Caution: X-rays in use.
"You'll have to wait outside," the nurse told Nick.
"I'll see you in a few minutes, Frack," Brian said, as the nurse
ushered him into the room.
Two minutes later, Brian came back out.
"How was it?" Nick asked.
"No big deal," Brian replied. "I just had to lie
still." Nick was relieved. Brian was feeling better too. This was going to
be a lot easier than chemo.
***
