Rad Tech Week

One hundred and seventeen years ago today, on November 8, 1985, Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen discovered the x-ray. Since his discovery, a lot of advancements have been made in the field of Radiology. From diagnostic x-rays, CT scans, and MRI's to radiation therapy, we've come a long ways since his first x-ray of his wife's hand. So anyways, this week is Rad Tech week. It's a week to celebrate all the technicians who have gone through the two years of X-ray school and further. It's also a reason for us to get free food from the doctors :) 

I thought I would take this opportunity to explain a little about what I do. A lot of people, when they ask what I do, have a blank look on their face when I respond with "I'm a radiation therapist". I think probably only about forty five percent of the US population actually knows what that is. And to be honest, before I rotated through this field during X-ray school, I had no idea either. 

So what do we do? To sum it up, we treat cancer patients with high doses of radiation. The doctor (radiation oncologist) will prescribe a certain dose that is to be delivered to the patient over a certain amount of days (fractions). Depending on the type of cancer, location, extent of disease, etc. the dose and number of fractions varies. 

The average patient goes through a few steps before starting their actual treatment. They have a CT scan done for the planning stage of their treatment. Then they come back for a simulation, which is just "mapping" the plan out on their body. Then a "dry-run" or practice run is done as a second check before their first  actual treatment. That's probably super confusing and I could go more into depth about that, but I doubt you'd actually care to read it.

So anyways, once a patient starts his or her treatment, they come back everyday, Monday thru Friday, for anywhere from two to six weeks. So needless to say, we become very familiar with our patients. This is actually the reason why I chose to specialize in this particular field. The goal with this treatment is to get the patient aligned in the same exact position each and every time. With specialized positioning devices, along with a few "tattoos", we're able to achieve this. We get the patient aligned up in the same position each time they come in. Once they are aligned, we go outside the room and deliver the radiation. This is a VERY brief description of what we do. What I wanted to show you is the machine that actually delivers the radiation. It's quite the machine. 

We treat about forty patients on a machine each day- we stay super busy! But I absolutely LOVE my job! I love the people I work with, I love knowing I'm helping the patients, I love getting to know the  them, I love the atmosphere, and I especially love the fact that I'm actually getting paid for it now. So for all of you who are Rad Tech's, happy week to you!