Is the procedure I describe below standard practice? To me it seems primitive, bizarre and ludicrous? Am I wrong? I have queried it this morning - I asked to speak to a breast care nurse but was put through to a radiographer who said she could answer several questions I wanted to raise. She did, except for one.
On Friday, half way through my (post surgery) radiotherapy course, where all the standard high tech laser based instruments and equipment have been used, I had a treatment planning session.
This was to locate targets for booster treatment, I was told.
Instead of lasers being used, while I was flat on my back, arms up, seeing nothing, the radiographers and the Doctor stood round me and decided where to make felt tip marks on my breast and in my armpit to locate two target areas. At one point the Doctor pressed on a part of my breast and said “Is this where the lump was” and I said “Yes” but really had no idea if she was pressing in the right spot, I just thought she was.
Then sticky back plastic was put on these locations. I was told both the marks and the plastic might come off so a photo was taken as a backup to locate the target spots.
Why were these procedures carried out in this way without using high-tech methods i.e. lasers etc?
The radiographer failed to answer this question when I asked her, just waffled on about what they were doing without addressing my query about the method used. I will ask again for a breast care nurse.
Depending on any responses I receive to my query about this, here and elsewhere, if my concerns are justified I am prepared to make a complaint about this. Extreme fatigue experienced over the last 10 days prevented me from asking coherent questions about what was going on at the time.
Anyone else had this?