Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Day 243 - Radiation #25 (3 more left): Radiation Therapists

The story of my life right now... but not for much longer!
Not much to report today. Regular treatment. Only three more left! The blisters are healing. They aren't as puffy or rather containing much liquid. So it's a definite improvement. The skin that tore off is healing nicely. It's not as pink and is starting to match the color of my non-radiated skin. Even Dan said that it was looking better... as well as Andrea. She put the aquafor on my skin again today. And she remembered to take the bolus off first, before the tape.

I did ask Andrea and Rebecca about what Dr. Siddiqui had said yesterday about the bolus. If the bolus was taken off, the radiation would penetrate deeper into my body, as mentioned in post Day 207. But if they took it off, the dosing would be different. They sometime take it off if the skin gets really bad. I said it's not bad and I don't want to change anything.

Fact #25: How do you become a radiation therapist? Years ago you had to be an x-ray tech or a nurse first. Then you had to go through a certification. Andrea said that she was an x-ray technician and then went through a one year program. After that she had to take a board test and then was certified. Now, it's a four year degree. Rebecca has two bachelors degrees. The first one is for public health and the second one is for radiation. It's a two year specialized program and concludes with your board test. So to be a radiation therapist it is a little harder... and more expensive. Andrea said when she did it, there was no tuition. All they needed to pay was for books and supplies. The very next year the program required students to pay. When Rebecca went through the program, she had to pay about $22k. When she asked new students just graduating, they told her it was about $40k. Holy heavens! There aren't many radiation therapist programs on the west coast. There's one at Bellevue Community College in Washington and then one at OHSU. I'll have to ask what the curriculum is like...

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