Radiation Room Questions

Questions to deflect anxieties…

Patient: Is this a linear accelerator plus MRI?

Radiation Therapist: Linear accelerator plus CT scanner.

Patient: Is it new?

Radiation Therapist: Two years old.

Patient: Expensive?

Radiation Therapist: Very.

Emerging after ten minutes in the tunnel…

Patient: I heard something go round and round. 29 times.

Radiation Therapist: That was the gantry revolving around you, delivering the beam.

Patient: Same again tomorrow?

Radiation Therapist: You have 32 sessions.

________

Voice-over

 

Intimidating sounding names. Cyclotron. Synchrocylotron. Linear Accelerator or LINAC. For accelerating particles, magnetically directed to a target, in this case, a human body. The operators are the radiation therapist (放射線療法士) and the dosimetrist (線量測定士).

Whack a Walnut

A hammer and a bag of walnuts appear…

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There are subtler approaches...

Brian: It’s therapeutic.

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Brendan: It?

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Brian: Cracking a walnut open with a small hammer.

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Brendan: Like Whack a Mole?

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Brian: Better. The meat of the walnut is nutritious: Omega 3.

__________

Voice-over

Double therapy. Stress dissipated through wise whacking of the walnut. Omega 3 to restore well-being.

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