My grandfather is radioactive.
He had 108 radioactive seeds implanted on Monday. The proccess is known as Prostate brachytherapy and has been developed within the last 10-15 years, it is now commonly used for treating prostrate cancer. It has a high chance of success for low-grade cancers, meaning that my grandfather doesn't have to undergo radiation therapy which is ongoing (up to 5 days a week for 8 weeks) and would have meant that he would have had to travel 40 minutes to get to the nearest town offering this treatment. With the radioactive seeds, once they are implanted he doesn't have to have anything done for 6 weeks. It also means that he will be mobile after a few days of them being implanted, rather than being laid up for a long period of time.
I spoke to him today and he seemed quite cheerful, said he was taking things easy, reading Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince in between his naps. ^-^
I spoke to him today and he seemed quite cheerful, said he was taking things easy, reading Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince in between his naps. ^-^
posted by Araluena @ 6:14 pm
2 Comments:
At 12:43 am, August 09, 2005,
loner1200 said…
Dang it. When I read that entry, my first thought was "cool, useful tool for rural medicine".
I've been in med school for too long and yet too short a time. Long enough to get be conditioned into certain thought patterns, not long enough to learn to tune them, and terminology, out of my daily usage.
At 12:59 am, August 09, 2005,
Araluena said…
A large portion of your life at the moment is comprised of learning the terminology, so it is hardly surprising that it spills over into everyday life.
I've gotten used to having a certain amount of medical jargon spouted at me. My aunt was a nurse and my father was a pharmacist. Even though he has been retired for 15 years he still tends to go into random conversations about the merits (or lack thereof) of certain drugs.
Given time you many be able to separate the personal and professional aspects of your life. Besides if you become a know-it all med student, we'll soon tell you :P
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