The treatments start on either Wednesday or Thursday. I spent all Tuesday afternoon and part of Wednesday at NIH. First a doctor took my medical history, then I was X-rayed, MRIed and finally CTed. The MRI is to establish a baseline for the size of my tumors with their machine (there is already a thick pile of MRIs from another facility). The X-rays and CT are for planning my irradiation. My back, side, and neck are marked up with alignment marks-done with a Sharpie felt pen and covered with tape! After my first treatment they will decide if the markings are in the right place, and then tatoo tiny x's. This coming Wednesday they will do a run through of setting me up-if it goes well they will actually do a treatment that day; otherwise they will start the next day.

They gave me a booklet about the side effects. They include effects I wouldn't have thought to ask about-e.g., irritated skin (one of the doctors predicts I won't have much irritation since they are using higher energy gamma rays than normal, and the energy deposition in the skin will be smaller).

I have a bit of back pain which is controlled mostly by a constant level of ibuprofen. But I am treating my back gingerly, letting others do any serious lifting.