Radiation Oncology: Day 17, 18

The final two days of Rad-Onc have been wonderful. The patient who I have been following since my first week in clinic (with the large Head & Neck tumor) is now receiving treatments. I was able to go through each step of his care with the team, from initial referral and H&P, to contacting fellow physicians to review his plan, to his case presentation at our oncology team meeting, to his CT scan and radiation planning, to his mask fitting, to his simulation, and finally to his first day of treatment. It has been incredibly fulfilling to be able to follow a patient through the process of treatment; often during our third year, we take care of patients for a short while and they are lost to follow up, so we never know how effective our treatment was or how the patient is generally feeling (I love to know how my patients continue to do so this is a frustration for me). To be able to follow a patient from beginning to "middle" is very rewarding. I will be checking in with him as often as I am able to so that I may see how he responds to our treatment. With his current treatment plan, he does have up to a 50% chance of survival. I'd really like to be with him along the way to his cure.

Yesterday, I presented a lecture on chemotherapeutic agents and other modalities which enhance the effects of radiation. It was a really interesting area for me to research, and I have to say that I learned a LOT about a few chemotherapeutic drugs, especially in regards to their effects on radiation. Putting together the presentation was actually a lot of fun, but the whole presenting it and explaining it in simple terms was a bit more difficult!

The Powerpoint for My Presentation:

Chemotherapy & Radiation (2)

I have been so incredibly happy for the past 5 weeks; Maybe it has something to do with the sunshine and warmer weather, maybe it has to do with increased endorphins from working out more often, or maybe - just maybe - it's because I am working with the patients I've been made for. All I know is that I look forward to working every day and I come home from work feeling like I truly make a difference. I can't even explain how much I enjoy this...


On Tuesday, as a gift for my last full day in the clinic, the staff gave me two tickets to watch a baseball game in town. So, after we both finished work, Mike & I went downtown on Tuesday night to watch the game. After about a half hour of basking in the sunlight/relaxing/talking/watching the game, we ran into one of our friends, who invited us to his company's clubhouse for dinner and drinks. We ended up talking and meeting new people (there were several English men that Mike met, so he was happy chatting away about football and their shared English-ness all night while I mingled with new friends); All I know about the second half of the game is that we won! :)