Mystery X-Rays, Squirrely Patients & Throat-Numbing Magic

Mystery X-Rays, Squirrely Patients & Throat-Numbing Magic

🌼 Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2026

⚡ Energy: Cautiously relieved

💖 Status: Radiation ongoing, mystery solved

😍 Outlook: Grateful for throat-numbing magic

Today was my weekly meeting with my oncologist after treatment, and I’m happy to report that he was well mannered today, which meant Casey did not have to step in and defend the honor of his queen.

Whew.

But before we get to that part, let’s talk about what happened earlier during radiation.

This morning they got me all lined up on the table — arms up in the trays, head turned to the right, breathing screen dropped down in front of my face — and then everyone left the room like they normally do.

The 12-inch thick lead door sealed shut, and there I was.

Just Tina.

Lying on the table.

Practicing my breathing exercises.

Waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting some more.

Usually they start the treatment pretty quickly once the door closes, but today nothing was happening. So I’m laying there staring at the screen, breathing in and out like I’m training for the Olympic trials, already starting to feel that familiar post-radiation headache creeping in.

And the zapping hadn’t even started yet.

At one point I started wondering if I was about to hyperventilate myself right off the table before they even turned the machine on.

Finally, the door opened and someone came in and said,

“Sorry it took so long, the doctor came and had to check something he saw on the X-ray from yesterday.”

Acca-excuse me?

Then they quickly added,

“Just stay still. We just need to make an adjustment and measure a couple of things.”

Now hold on just a minute.

Because when you say something like that to a cancer patient, you can’t just toss it out there casually and expect our brains not to go straight to the worst possible conclusion.

You know exactly where my mind went.

Did he see a spot?
Did he see cancer on the X-ray?

And here I am lying on a table with my arms pinned above my head, the lead door sealed shut again, practicing my breathing like a good little Olympic trainee while my brain is busy writing an entirely different medical drama in the background.

You know… totally calm and rational thoughts while waiting to be zapped with radiation.

After my treatment I had my weekly appointment with my oncologist, so of course I asked him about what they had found on the X-ray yesterday.

And he looked at me like I had three heads.

He had no idea what I was talking about.

Excuse me again?

So he left the room to go ask.

Which immediately raised another question in my mind.

Why was it not in my chart?

Was I being punked?

Because let me tell you something about these medical charts. They keep literally everything in there:

• my maiden name
• my mother’s maiden name
• the city I was born in
• my emergency contact information
• the date of my last period

…but apparently not the important things like “another doctor saw something on your X-ray.”

I’m sure I had a look on my face.

When he came back he explained that the doctor had simply noticed that yesterday it looked like I was rotated slightly to one side during positioning and wanted to make sure I was more level today.

Okay.

That sounds rather important to me.

And also something that might be worth putting into my chart as a note.

Personally, I would word it something like this:

“Tina is a squirrely one and likes to roll. Please check that she is level on the table and not listing too far to the right.”

And these people get paid the big bucks.

Huh.

The good news from the appointment, though, is that he was able to give me a prescription for a numbing liquid gargle that I can use before eating.

Because the pain when swallowing lately has been unreal.

I tried it tonight before dinner and for the first time in days I was able to eat a bowl of soup without wincing.

That is a huge improvement.

Before this, even taking a sip of water hurt.

Now I just have to be careful that I don’t bite my cheek or bite my tongue off, because this stuff numbs anything it comes in contact with.

And being a vegetarian, I certainly do not want to accidentally turn into a meat eater.

That would be a very unfortunate side effect.

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One Badass Day at a Time