NO WAY JOSE

This morning we went to the Oncologist for a follow up. My mom's labs looked good, weight loss, about four pounds, and the tumor seems to be already shrinking. She had her Erbitux treatment and they left out the Benadryl to try and eliminate some of the side effects that happened last week. She tolerated her treatment well and then off we went to get her first radiation treatment. Well, we walk into the treatment room, there on the table sits this mesh looking space mask. She asks"what's that for"? they tell her that this goes over her face while she's having radiation. I instantly see Panic in my mother's face. My mother is claustrophobic. Not only does this mask fit over over face, there a part of it that goes into her mouth to keep her tongue towards her palate. They start fitting it on her and I'm listening to her struggle. I walk out cause I'm crying and I tell one of the nurses that there's no way my poor mother is going to be able to tolerate this. Not two seconds after I walked out, the tech came and got me because she told them to take the freakin thing off of her face and that the whole thing was just Bull*&%. She told me there was no way she was doing this and to just forget the whole thing. Well, after she calmed down we talked to the doctor and tomorrow we are going to try again with lots of ativan on board. if that doesn't work, then they will have to make a whole other mask without the mouthpiece in it. The mouthpiece is to help keep the tongue out of the radiation beam so it can be spared from sores and alteration in taste buds. The mask is because she cannot move one millimeter. They even bolt the sucker down. I can't blame her for being freaked. Hopefully, tomorrow she'll be in la la land and it will be better.