Dr. Bruce Banner...

Dr. Bruce Banner was the Incredible Hulk in case you didn't know; not that I'm being glib about it but every time I think about radiotherapy I can't help but think of the the opening sequence of The Incredible Hulk TV series from the late 70s. The consultant told me I was showing my age but it made light of the situation at any rate.

Next Tuesday (16th) I will have a radiation test dose, this will allow the medical team to extrapolate and determine what dosage they need to apply during the transplant procedure - the key thing of concern are the lungs and not "over-cooking" them, things like the brain and heart are apparently very resilient to radiation and the risk there isn't so bad.

The test dose will also get me used to the procedure - the radiation is only applied for 20 minutes or so but the set-up takes a long time as I need to be positioned "just right" within a perspex box before the dose is administered, the reason for the box is that it helps disperse the radiation more evenly apparently over the body.

Because of my age and they think I can take it, my proper treatment will be in 5 doses (as opposed to 7 or 8), the point of the radiotherapy isn't so much to kill remaining cancer cells (although that may happen but the chemo is meant to take care of that) but more to "sterilise" the bone marrow to reduce transplant rejection (Graft versus Host Disease).

Although the procedure is painless, side-effects will be tiredness, sensitive skin (not as bad as sunburn but more like 'sunblush'), nausea/vomiting, diarrhoea, sore mouth (ulcers and dried up salivary glands) and hair loss (I've been guaranteed that I will lose my hair with this...)

Turning green and getting really tall and muscular when I'm angry isn't on the list of side effects.