Radiation 2.0 (or, Friggin' Odin)

I just got back from my second radiation treatment and it went as smoothly as they promised. I was in and out in 15 minutes, and round trip from home and back was 45 minutes total.

I didn't get zapped by Odin today. When I arrived the nurse told me, "Odin is sleeping and we can't wake him up, so we'll be using Frigg today". Now as you know, I was kind of worried about getting one of the female machines, but Frigg turned out to be just fine (the machine is identical to Odin). For those of you who don't know, Frigg is Norse Goddess. And not just any goddess, she is Odin's wife and, according to Wikipedia, "the only one other than Odin who is permitted to sit on his high seat Hlidskjalf and look out over the universe". So, as you can see, I really had nothing to worry about.

However, the fact that they couldn't "wake Odin up" might be cause for concern. The nurse explained yesterday that Odin and Frigg are brand new machines and still have a few hiccups. As long as a "hiccup" doesn't mean I get a quadruple dose of radiation, I guess it's okay with me. I'll just have to have faith that they implement enough safety mechanisms in these machines so that they can only "hiccup" and can't actually puke all over the place.

I remembered to bring the camera today, and the nurse was nice enough to take some picture while I was on the board.

This is the "control room" for Frigg. Yesterday I was talking to my Mom, and she mentioned how it must be depressing to be a radiologist, because they are always stuck in a dark basement somewhere. As you can see, that isn't the case here. This part of the hospital has been totally renovated and is very light and open. There are sun umbrellas all over the place.


This is Frigg. She looks exactly like Odin.


The big round thing above me is the "arm", that extends and rotates around me, shooting from underneath, the side and the top.


The nurse took this one from the control room. That's me on the monitor, about to get zapped.