Shaved and Inked

Sometimes events can make our individual problems seem pretty small. That was the case Wednesday at home here in Ottawa. A very sad, strange day. Not much I can say apart from thanks, to our first responders, and to our men and women in the armed forces. I know my colleagues, both current and former, were hard at work for Canadians, and I can honestly say I never missed being at work quite as much as did that day.

While my wife and kids were in lockdown in various parts of the city, I was at the hospital meeting with the radiation oncologist and getting fitted for my radiation shielding (the lungs absorb more radiation than the rest of your body, so they give you shields to even it out).

How many tattoos do you have? Because I now have four. For some reason when Brooke told me that morning that "they will tattoo you," I didn't think that literally meant I would receive tattoos. Then when the technician said he would tattoo me, I again doubted how literal he was being. Only when the student pulled out a needle and ink and said he was going to do my tattoos did it dawn on me that something permanent was about to happen here (yeah, that's the job they give to the student). They shaved a giant rectangle out of my chest (I've since shorn the rest), marked giant crosses all over my body, and inked four dots on my chest and back. Not very visible, but a permanent reminder of my nuking. Apparently this is how they note where all my organs are. Because, of course, why use just a permanent marker when you can just tattoo someone.

The radiation doc put my mind somewhat at ease regarding the side effects of the radiation. Some will be worse than expected, but some not as bad. It's not quite the dose one would get for, say, breast cancer. It's about one-fifth of that. The significant side effects come from the fact that they're irradiating my entire body rather than just one location. So, maybe no burning, but lots of internal irritation. 

He did nothing to alleviate my concerns regarding the long-term side effects, though. I always knew I'd have to be more conscious of cardiovascular and pulmonary health in the long term because of what the radiation does to heart and lungs. And I knew that cataracts are a near certainty now, though far down the road. I wasn't quite prepared to hear that my brain will take some scarring as well. While I'm told there are no short-term issues with that, apparently my memory will start to go "a little bit sooner" than it would have otherwise. 

Whuh???

"You know how old people sometimes forget stuff easily? Well, that'll just happen a year or two earlier. No big deal." 

Yes. Big deal.

Not that I have much of a choice in the matter, I guess. The docs like to remind me of that.

Please, when I forget your birthdays 30 years from now, forgive me.

I still have no excuse for forgetting your birthdays this year, though.