Typical Treatment

Today is June 25th and treatment #21 is done. Here are some of the pictures that Josh took to show what a typical treatment looks like. He was only allowed to stay in the room until the XRays were about to be taken, but after that not much changes.

This is the front of the Florida Proton Treatment Center. It is on the campus of the Shands/UF Medical Center, but is an independent entity.

When I go into the center above, I have a bar-coded name badge that I have to swipe under a reader of some kind that enters me into the computer and tells everyone that I'm there. (On time or early, of course!!!)

When they are ready, one of the therapists comes to the waiting room and asks if I've finished drinking my water (more later). If so, they bring me here.

On the left you can barely see one of the changing rooms. (Thats where I'm allowed to don the designer gown that I wear for treatment.) On the far right, you can just see the control room where the therapists go to kick off the proton stream and wait until it is finished. The glass doors in the center of the shot are where I go in for my treatments. Just to the right and above are the status indicators. So far I've been able to resist the obvious question, "How many times have people said, "Beam Me Up, Scotty!" ". I'll let you know how that goes...

This is a generic shot of one of the body molds. Each patient has one that is made specifically for him or her. Basically it is a bean bag. We lie down in it and scrunch around, (sorry for all the technical terminology), and then they attach a vacuum machine and evacuate all of the air. The result is a very firm mold. (We used very similar things to immobilize fractures when I was a paramedic.)

The table in this shot is in the treatment position as opposed to the next shot.

Here, my body mold is on the table covered by a sheet before I jump in there. Note that this is prior to the table being moved into the treatment position.

I lie down on the table and my therapists then use the marks on my hips to line me up in the preliminary position for treatment.

I'm now on the table, in the mold, feet facing into the gantry. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see the mark on my hip and the laser lines that they use to get me into the "preliminary position".

Then they push some buttons on their magic box and the table rotates to put me into the gantry where they will do the XRays to line me up for the actual treatment position and then blast away with the protons...

Now the table rotates 180 degrees into the gantry. Right now, I'm about halfway there...

Note the "Nozzle" that I'm about to go under. It has to be in that position so that they can get me in there. Then they will move it to the correct position for whichever hip they are shooting through that day.

Woo Hoo!! Treatment position! Looks like we are treating through my right hip today. The nozzle is in position.

Note the two rectangular box-like things on the back wall of the gantry. Those are the digital XRay panels that will slide out in a second so that they can take pictures of me and my prostate right at the present moment and then adjust the table to bring me into the final treatment position. Their tolerances are 0.2mm!! Close enough for me!

The XRay panels are extended and we are ready to shoot the pictures and then make the final adjustments.

Then the panels will retract and I get my protons for the day.

I get my appointment time for the next day and off I go!

God is good!