The Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine    

The Dosimetrist and Me

Solid water
not ice
but a kind of polymer
shape and density
about like the body part they are preparing
to irradiate
not like the hard water they use to cool
the gigantic machines which click and whir
as they rotate around me
solid water for a hard task
making certain the gamma rays
the protons and photons do only
their job
the fine hand of their beam cuts only
so deep
delivering just the prescribed amount
of therapy
grays
abbreviated gy
to just the proper part of me
a pre-emptive strike
with minimal collateral damage
what is acceptable dependent on age
and condition of the structure housing
the disease
the severity of the problem
as the surgeon and radiation oncologist see the battleground
plot the flanking maneuver
lay the fields just so
and pass marching orders to dosimetrist and physicist
who implement the charge
not
I find myself hoping
of the light brigade

Published: July 27, 2007