Protection for non-irradiated areas?

SophiaMarie

When a friend had rads for esophageal cancer, they made a lead head and shoulder mask to cover all except the area on her throat that got the rads. So I asked the ro about this and he said that they don't cover anything - that since the amt of rads is so strong it would take several inches of protection to do anything. I was hoping to be at least draped with lead aprons... Do any of you have any protection during treatment- or is it just typically not done for bc?

encyclias

No protection.

Carol

SelenaWolf

The radiation is so precise to the areas that you need to have irradiated, it is not necessary to have lead draping.

snorkeler

The small dots that are marked/tattooed onto your skin during the setup session are to ensure that you are lined up in exactly the same positition each time. If you are having your left side irradiated, like I did, you can ask about gated breathing/active breathing control to help protect your heart. In this process, you take a deep breath and hold before each zap. Inhaling deeply expands your chest and leaves your heart farther away from the radiation field. Whether or not this will be beneficial to you may depend on your anatomy. I met a woman who was also getting radiation to her left side who was not doing the gated breathing, maybe because she was quite large breasted and I am quite small. There are probably other factors as well.

SophiaMarie

Would that breathing do the same for the lungs? I was told my right lung would get hit - and suffer some damage as a result.

BrooksideVT

I asked about shielding my thyroid.  The head technician explained that, as has already been said, the rads are so powerful that there is virtually no scatter, that they would just blast through a normal lead shield, and, also, that the little bit of lead might affect the particles, transforming them into another type that could scatter.  Do please talk to your head tech or your RO, but it seems shielding does more harm than good.

wenweb

I had no protection either.  Yes, we have to be made aware of any and all possible complications etc,etc, but the technicians know what they are doing (we hope!!).  You wouldn't want to take an aspirin if you read all of the possible side effects.  Sophia, if you can, try and let this part go.  The odds are with you, and I'm sure you have enough other things to worry about.    Best wishes

SophiaMarie

I'm not overly worried about this, just wondered it it were standard procedure. Thx!

snorkeler

I'm not sure if active breathing control will also help to protect the lungs. I have heard that some radiation facilities offer therapy while lying face down instead of face up. I imagine this would more effectively isolate the area being irradiated and protect the the rest of the body.

exbrnxgrl

Sophia,

There are different protocols for radiation to different parts of the body. Radiation to the head and neck often involves a mask. My sister had rads to a tumor at the back of her head/throat but she said the mask was for positioning and to keep her head absolutely still during the tx. If I'm not mistaken, the whole contraption was kind of locked down to the rads table to prevent movement. As others have said, current rads techniques create very little scatter.

Caryn

SophiaMarie

Thx for the reassurance! I remember the radiologist talking about scatter and I thought he was saying that the scatter was so strong you'd need several inches of protection to do any good - I must've misheard him!