Radiation - my experience
Hi Everyone, I finished 25 sessions of radiation on the 3rd Jan 2019 and thought I would write about my experience of the whole process. It will be a long post, so get a cup of tea ready :) ...
Forum Discussion
For what it's worth, I'll add my bit...
I went public due to being financially challenged during the previous year. Public for me meant the new Royal Adelaide Hospital and my surgeon said that it was state of the art. I had a bad day with them "losing" me when I went for the measure up appointment but it got sorted in the end.
I never had any issues with the rad appointments. They were scheduled for approximately the best time for me and the couple that weren't, were changed. Car parking was simple and free. Waiting was minimal unless I had to see the nurse or registrar and that wasn't too bad. I had to request Mepitel (wouldn't have known about it if I didn't ask) but there was no issue about having it. For each dose, I was directed to a change room where I put on the gown provided, put my clothes in a carry basket and took it with me to the rad room. A few minutes placing me on the bed correctly and all but a couple of times, the gown was draped back over me when they were finished (apologies were made for the times they couldn't do that - I don't remember why it was but something to do with being able to see what was happening). I got to look at a beautiful lighted ceiling if I wanted to. My only complaint was that they shouldn't play boppy music in the background if they wanted me to stay still. I had male as well as female techs but I never felt that it was anything less than professional. My final consult was a few weeks after rads had finished and that was with the Prof who was my actual rad onc. However, the Registrar was very open and informative with the questions I had. For this treatment, I paid the sum total of $0.00.
I went public due to being financially challenged during the previous year. Public for me meant the new Royal Adelaide Hospital and my surgeon said that it was state of the art. I had a bad day with them "losing" me when I went for the measure up appointment but it got sorted in the end.
I never had any issues with the rad appointments. They were scheduled for approximately the best time for me and the couple that weren't, were changed. Car parking was simple and free. Waiting was minimal unless I had to see the nurse or registrar and that wasn't too bad. I had to request Mepitel (wouldn't have known about it if I didn't ask) but there was no issue about having it. For each dose, I was directed to a change room where I put on the gown provided, put my clothes in a carry basket and took it with me to the rad room. A few minutes placing me on the bed correctly and all but a couple of times, the gown was draped back over me when they were finished (apologies were made for the times they couldn't do that - I don't remember why it was but something to do with being able to see what was happening). I got to look at a beautiful lighted ceiling if I wanted to. My only complaint was that they shouldn't play boppy music in the background if they wanted me to stay still. I had male as well as female techs but I never felt that it was anything less than professional. My final consult was a few weeks after rads had finished and that was with the Prof who was my actual rad onc. However, the Registrar was very open and informative with the questions I had. For this treatment, I paid the sum total of $0.00.