I am a Radiation Therapist.
My profession doesn’t define me, but it does say a lot about me. It tells a story about who I am.
As a retired Radiation Therapist’s daughter, I saw through my dad who I wanted to be. I saw him coming home late because a patient needed extra care. I saw him go to the clinic on Saturdays to treat plasma or patients. I saw him take call. I saw him come home stricken with grief when an especially close patient passed away. I saw him bring home gifts from patients for me and my brothers. (Like the Winnie the Pooh blanket I got from one of his patients when I was very small, and the stuffed Christmas Tree with the music box in it, which was made for me by one of his patients because I had to miss my kindergarten Christmas program because of the chicken pox.) I saw him attend funerals. I heard him talk about celebrations when patients completed treatment.
I saw how much he cared. How hard he worked. How much his career meant to him.
Radiation Therapy is in my soul. I met my husband because of Radiation Therapy. I’ve met some life changing individuals through this career, and it’s become a part of who I am.
So, if you know what a Radiation Therapist does, you may know what I mean by that. If not, please allow me to enlighten you.
Here’s what Wiki says…
Radiation therapists use advanced computer systems to operate sophisticated radiation therapy equipment such as linear accelerators. The therapist works closely with the Radiation oncologists, Medical Physicists and other members of the health care team. They effectively design and treat the course of radiation treatment, in addition to managing the patient’s well-being. Radiation Therapists primarily treat cancer although other disorders and conditions can be managed through the care of radiation therapists.
Seems simple enough, right?
Well, let me tell you what we actually do.
We cure cancer. We make our patients smile during what is sure to be one of the most trying seasons of their entire lives. We stay late and come in early. We wipe tears. We break through anger and frustration, and show support and encouragement. We communicate. We cry. We stock our rooms with necessities and answer the incessantly ringing phone. We complete continued education credits on our own dime and time in order to keep our licenses current. We know anatomy. We hold the hands of overwhelmed and unbelievably scared patients. We treat loved ones. We know how it feels to have our hearts absolutely break when someone who has known you for your entire life, doesn’t even recognize you. We know what SBRT, IGRT, HDR, KV, CBCT, MLC, and IMRT all mean. We troubleshoot problems with our machines – daily. We spend an hour before the first patient making sure the machines are working properly. We laugh at inappropriate things, because we are trying to keep from crying. We give tattoos. We call administration at nursing homes when we know our patient is not getting the care they deserve. We pour liquid lead (actually it’s a mixture of bismuth, lead, tin, and cadmium) into beam shaping blocks. We schedule patients, QA charts, and teach students. We create immobilization devices. We come in on holidays and weekends. We pray for and with patients. We worry about our patients. We are always thinking outside the box and solving problems. We know what ‘compassion fatigue’ is and recognize that it is a very real struggle. We meet patients that are now part of our lives on the regular. We care for broken down skin. We have seen cancer at it’s absolute worst. We will never be caught without a sharpie. We understand treatment plans, and fill out a crazy amount of documents every day. We hug, and high-five, and fist bump our patients. We get to know our patients families. We celebrate with our patients.
That’s what we do.
So, I want to thank my fellow RT’s – past, present, and future – for being in the trenches with me. Thank you for making this profession a part of your life and your soul. Thank you for wanting the best for our patients, and for working side by side with me. Never forget what it’s like to be on the front line.
Happy National Radiologic Technology Week to all my fellow imaging technologists, in all the modalities, including Radiation Therapy. Special shout out to my dad, Dean RT(T), and brother, Andy RT(R)(CT)(MRI) – and probably a lot of other initials that I’m forgetting, and my hubs Dave RT(T)(R), CMD. I’ll never forget my time as a Radiologic Technologist and have many fond memories of working at Gibson with all my Gibson girls.
Thanks for sharing in this part of my journey. This is who I am. I love what I do, and I can’t imagine it any other way.
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life.food.adventure & a cup of coffee… A blog about life, love, creativity, home, food, wine, step-parenting, weight loss, Jeeps, fitness, running, traveling, entertaining, fashion, being gluten-free, and… cats. Join me in embracing the chaos.
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Thank you for sharing I know what cancer can do to a person we lost our son to the c word we had lots of loving Drs nurses and other people and still in contact with a nurse and it’s been 24 years you are special and so are your parents love them
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Reblogged this on bookworm at the gym and commented:
This was beautifully written and sums up my line of work very well.
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Beautifully written! Usually when I see “what a radiation therapist does…” I am arguing with the author. I agree with you 100%. I love my job, complicated as it is some days, and I love to hear others loving theirs, too.
Thank you so much!
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Thank you Denise! It definitely came from the heart… and I’m proud to be on the RT team with you!
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Thanks for sharing.
Totally describes our work in a nutshell.
Being part of the radiation therapy team is of great satisfaction.
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Thank you Elaine!
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Lovely words to describe our profession/life! I have remembered so many moments during my read.
Kind regards from Portugal!
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Thank you so much! I love that my perspective is really resonating with our whole Radiation profession. Thank you taking the time to read and respond
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Very well said, I’m retired and still have former patients come up to me and say I helped them thru the hardest thing they ever did! Always humbled me and makes me know caring and love of my career helped them!
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Thank you Mary and it’s amazing how much we affect our patient’s lives! Thanks for taking a moment to share… we are blessed to be a part of the RT community… and I am so humbled to be a part of it!
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Lovely narration…..right from your soul…..keep up the journey….you’ll achieve a lot…even sky is not the limit for you…God bless you…
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Blessings to you as well and thank you so much for the kind words 😍
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You’ve hit the nail on the head. I’m printing your post out, putting it on our wall here in the department.
Some days are challenging.., I’m hoping this will be a beacon for myself and the Rad staff here
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That’s quite an honor! Thank you for the kind words and for taking the time to read it! Many blessings ❤️
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Your profession is very rewarded often times it’s difficult to put it in words and we hide behind other professions. Thanks for explaining it so clearly. I share it and will continue to share this every year! Thx Heidi!!
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Thank YOU! It’s very near and dear to my heart and I love how it has touched so many therapists and others in our profession. Thank you again!
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I will be starting radiation therapy soon in Halifax for breast cancer. Thank you for all you do.
Donna
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Wonderful! I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do! You will find it to be so rewarding, and good luck with your training 😀
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Elaine, very well said, because I feel and live those thoughts daily! I am truly blessed to be in this field and I love my work! Awesome words, all rad therapists should read this!
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Thank you for the kind words Craig! I’ve been overwhelmed with the response from my fellow RT’s around the world. We truly are blessed to do this work and I love this community!
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Hi. Thankyou for your information. I found it touching and very moving. I admire you. My eldest granddaughter is in the same profession. I am extremely proud of her. I admire her determination and only really realised how much she loved her position when another family member became ill about 1 year ago. He found himself in her department and actually being treated by her and the team she works with. Thank you for being there. X
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Thank you for such kind words and for sharing Christine! Your granddaughter and I are blessed to have such a rewarding and amazing career… helping people is our heart’s desire and I’m honored to have her as a fellow therapist ❤️ many blessings to you!
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This is so beautifully written. I’ve not had to have radiation treatment as I went straight to immunotherapy but the incredible staff I have dealt with are all so caring. Thank you for your amazing work. Will follow your blog with great interest.
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Thank you so much for your kind words… and I’m so glad that you’ve had a caring experience as you go through this journey. I believe that as a whole, the oncology profession have such amazing and empathetic hearts the world around. Many hugs and blessings to you! ❤️
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A beautiful piece of prose Heidi Nicole! Spot-on 😉 Thank you for kindly sharing.
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Thank you for the kind words Martin… I’ve never been more proud to be in the RT community. ❤️
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Thankyou so much for explaining your job so simply that we can all understand it, thankyou so much to everybody who does your job especially in these difficult times and especially thankyou to everyone all over the world doing this job right now, my daughter and her team in Holland and 2 very special people to us doing this fantastic job in cottingham, THANKYOU to you all xxxxxx
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Thank you Sam! I will keep your daughter and her team in my thoughts & prayers. Thank you for your support and I hope and your loved ones are safe and healthy!
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When I describe my job in the simplest terms, “I treat cancer patients with doses of radiation” everyone always says the same thing: That sounds like a depressing job. They don’t know how much joy therapists and patients bring each other, how thankful patients are to be doing something about their disease, or how much therapists and patients respect each other for showing up everyday. I love my job! I find so much happiness in it.
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