Well baked, NOT fried!

Today's lesson is on Radiation (ray-dee-ay-shun). I went for the "for real this time" appointment with Dr. Bertoli. It was higly interesting as he took the time to really explain the whole process, including the history of where this all comes from. Now, as I LOVE history, I was completely intrigued with that portion. Not to ever miss an opportunity to educate, here are some highlights of the history of medical diagnostics.
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*c. 400 BC Disease concept introduced by Greek physician Hippocrates.
*1612 Medical Thermometer devised by Italian physician Sanctorius
*c. 1660 Light microscope developed by Dutch naturalist Antohj van Leeuwenhoek
*1810 Stethoscope invented by French physician Rene' Laennec.
*1850 - 1900 Germ theory of disease proposed by French scientist Louis Pasteur and
developed by German bacteriologist Robert Koch.
*1895 X-rays discovered by German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen. He also produced
the first x-ray picture of the body (his wife's hand) in 1895.
*1910-1912 Theory of Radioactivity published by Marie Curie and investigation of x-ray
radiation for patient therapy (e.g. treatment of cancer).
*c. 1932 Transmission electron microscope (TEM) constructed by German scientists Max
Knoll and Ernst Ruska.
*1950 Nuclear Medicine applied imaging the kidneys, heart, and skeletal system.
*1972 Computed Tomography (CT) scanning invented by British engineer Godfrey Hounsfield
of EMI Laboratories, England, and South African born physicist Allan Cormack of
Tufts University, Massachusetts.
*1984 3-Dimensional image processing using digital computers and CT or MR data, three dimensional images of bones and organs were first made.
*1985 Clinical Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning developed by scientists at the University of California.
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Wasn't that fascinating??? Susie was my wingman for the day, and she and I felt like we had been in a college class. There was also the part where we spent a great deal of time perusing through a detailed anatomy book. Which, all in all is bloody fabulous, because one cannot be TOO informed. Fun news is that they are getting a new IMRT system at UT Med, and that is state-of-the-art and extremely precise.

I've hit my "bounce" this week and that's a great thing. It's pretty much when I get to the snap where I feel like ME again.

I've put a great deal of thought into taking fear out of this process. As "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" was released at the cinema this week, I thought this quote was fitting. "Fear of a name increases fear of a thing itself."

We have cancers all, things that mutate and rebel in our systems, only we don't notice, because it eats away at the spirit, not the body. They go by different names; insecurity, love of self, love of things, not being able to let go of horrific pasts, comparison, envy, control. Odd, isn't it, that it takes an affliction of the body to better see the soul.

President Reagan's funeral was today. With his eulogy, President Bush Sr. has brought the concept of a Saviour back to the media forefront, as opposed to a nebulous idea of God. Something this country hasn't seen or embraced since 9-11.

"Wake up o sleepers"