I finished my last round of “Radiosurgery” on Monday. This is my third time getting some form of radiation treatment for my cancer. The science I’m exposed to (in the worst possible way) just gets better and better. Regular radiation treatment is nice because you get to meet more people in the waiting room and more technicians over the longer schedule of treatment days (no photos). Cyberknife is totally cool for 5 days, with the giant robotic arm that swivels around you for 45 minutes or so (mileage may vary). But I’m most pleased with the photo from this last of 3 treatments of the Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) I received at Duke Cancer Center. The technicians for both the Cyberknife (at the Lineberger Cancer Center) and the SRS (at the Duke Cancer Center were great and helpful in letting me set up my camera for each shoot. I also can’t say enough about the great Radiology Oncologist at both of these cancer centers.
The treatment is really quite painless. I did have a little discomfort after the first treatment, but then started on steroids the next morning. After that I’ve had very little discomfort. The success or failure of the treatment will take some time – a few weeks or months. But I do feel the image I captured in the photo was a success. My thanks to Zernike Au of the Zero Image company for the beautiful and technically fine pinhole camera that I used for this photograph.
“SRS”, pinhole photograph (click for larger image)