We were surprised at how many doctors and nurses were there around Hajime. Until now, they had never done the radiation on a patient that remained seated in a wheelchair. The patient usually is laid down. I think that's why so many doctors were there.
They marked where they were going to radiate and adjusted the angles...but the headmaster which supports Hajime's neck was in the way, so they made adjustments by placing a towel in between his chin and the headmaster.
They wrapped tape around his head to hold it steady, but it seemed that it hurt when it was pulled, so when they radiated his right cheek, they removed the tape.
Hajime's position was too low, so the doctors brought in a board, placed him, wheelchair and all, on top of it, and made the necessary adjustments.
This preparation took a long time. I felt bad for Hajime because it looked like it was tough on him. But he hung in there until the end.
Now, everything was set and it was time for the radiation.
Everyone left the room. We could see Hajime on the monitor, and everyone watched it to make sure he was OK.
But the safety sensor kept activating so we couldn't start for a while. This radiation treatment is normally done with the patient lying on his side on a bed, but since Hajime was not on the bed, they had to move him to the outermost side. Because of that, the sensor detect that and not allowing to start.
They finally unlocked it and then they were able to beam the radiation on his cheeks.
They did two minutes on each side. Finally everything was over, at almost five o'clock.
We had put Hajime in the wheelchair at 1:00, and we got home close to 6:00.
He made it through quite a long day.
He was tired, but he wanted to see Mark, so Mark came over.
It was a very, very long day and the only thing we felt was sadness.
(translated by MS)
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