A Dream

It was bound to happen, sooner or later, but I had my first radiation-related dream last night. It was weird. I was sitting in a room with a bunch of women who were being treated for breast cancer. They were all in the middle of their radiation treatments, but they all had markings on their head. I started to ask about the markings, and they all looked at me as if I were crazy. They explained that their docs had included a few blasts to the brain as part of their treatment protocol, and began to question why this wasn't included in my plan. I couldn't quite wrap my head around why they would be having brain treatments, but they insisted that I ask my doctor about it. The only problem was that my doctor wasn't around so I sat down with the other radiation oncologist in the practice, Dr. Hunter, and he started drawing pictures of what the radiation field would look like and where it would enter my brain. Dr. Rosenblatt showed up somewhere later in the dream, but I can't exactly remember what happened after the meeting with Dr. Hunter.

I have no doubt that this dream relates to the fact that each day, when I'm in the radiation room, I have to look at the masks that are custom-made for brain cancer patients who are receiving radiation. They sit on a table, staring up at the ceiling, and honestly, they freak me out a little bit. Evidently, when radiation is given to the head or brain, it is absolutely essential that there is no movement, and so these mesh-like masks are created, placed over the patient's head, and bolted to the table. The nurses have mentioned how hard this is for a lot of patients. It would be hard for me, I'm sure. It makes me thankful that all I have to do is lay on the table with my arms up over my head for a few minutes each day.

Dreams are interesting, aren't they? I've never been much of a student of dreams and what they can tell us about ourselves, but I've had a lot of dreams in my day, and it seems abundantly clear to me that they are closely related to our subconscious, and that they reflect our fears, desires and passions.

Have a wonderful day, and sweet dreams!

Erin