"A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought to derive benefit from his illnesses." -- Hippocrates
There is nothing like scaring yourself witless before you've had your first cup of coffee. I made the grand mistake of reading the news while waiting for the water to boil. In today's New York Times, there is a horrifying article on radiation poisoning, a subject of which I have more than a little familiarity.
The title reads "The Radiation Boom: Radiation Offers New Cures, and Ways to Do Harm." The use of radiation in the treatment of cancer isn't new, but the method of delivery is. The new generators are extremely powerful. Without proper use, they can burn a hole right into you. Humans are humans, so mistakes are bound to happen, but for some reason (probably money says the cynical me) nothing is being done to regulate these monsters of healthcare. We have inspectors for elevators, commercial kitchens, school buses etc., but no one is regularly inspecting these machines for malfunction.
My own experience is not atypical. Radiation treatment has its side effects. In my case, they've included a second round with cancer as a direct result of radiation exposure, scoliosis, dead nerve endings throughout most of my abdomen, and an inability to conceive and that's just for starters. Scratch the conception bit, I was told if I did happen to conceive, the fetus would most likely be miscarried. If it did survive and come to term, I would have a child that would die within a year. Just to make sure I got the point, my specialist at the time told me I was likely to face a child that would be born with three legs, no hands or some other major complication. What a nice visual image for a 15 year old, don't you agree?
But I'm lucky. I'm lucky to be alive and I'm lucky that my treatments were in 1974. I didn't face the risk today's cancer patients do. I'm not saying radiation should be eliminated from the doctor's medical kit, but I do advocate for regulation. In the meantime I think we patients would do best by asking questions about the machinery being used on us. Is the filter in place? How's the computer working? One small question may annoy the technician, but it may also cause a life changing double check.
The above piece, The Curing Ritual, was part of a triptych now in private collections. The base cloth is embedded with a cyanotype image that was then heavily embroidered and beaded. It dates from 1993, a few months after my thyroid was removed due to cancer caused by radiation poisoning from the first cancer's treatments.