No I'm not looking at your breasts.

Some people seem to think that since i'm looking inside of their body I'm automatically going to be checking them out. As much as people would believe that, we don't normally check out the breasts or other anatomy of our patients. Like anyone wants to see 100 year old boobs anyway. We all are professional, and one day we'll be in a position where we'll have any shred of modesty taken away by having to wear a hospital gown. When I'm scanning you or Xraying  you, the last thing on my mind is to look at what your irradiated lady or man parts look like. I'm actually more concerned with making you feel better, go figure. :p

Hello!

A big hello and thanks to all the people who view my blog. Seems as though I've got people from all over the world checking this out, spread the word to your friends, I'll try to keep posting daily.

Upgrade?

Well, I applied to get trained in MRI, so that would make 4 modalities I am proficient in, Radiography, Computed Tomography, Bone Densitometry, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. There's another fella who wanted to apply, but he's full time, and the position is part time. This leads me into one of the things I really DON'T like about my job. You ready for it................................POLITICS! Anytime you have a bunch of different people working together, in any field, politics will rear its ugly, malformed head. Some people bust ass and get no rewards, others whine and complain and work harder at not doing their job and get paid more than anyone. It's ridiculous. If I dragged ass and was slow and lazy and fought to get out of doing tests maybe i'd get money, but I'd also have a hard time sleeping at night. The people who suffer are the patients, plain and simple, and it's annoying beyond belief. So if i get his MRI gig, i'll be pissing off someone, but I know that the patients who I treat will get the best care I can give, and that's what's really important.

Some more info on dosage.

What is a lethal dose of radiation from a single Exposure?

Studies of the 1945 atomic bombing at Hiroshima and Nagasaki show that 100 percent of victims whose bodies were exposed to 600,000 millirems (6,000 mSv) died from radiation. About 50 percent of victims who received  450,000 millirems (4,500 mSv) of radiation also died.

(Note: Rem is a unit of ionizing radiation equal to the amount that produces the same damage to humans as one roentgen of high-voltage x-rays.  Source: MIT)

1 rem = 10 mSv  (1 Sv = 100 rem)

Background Radiation in millirems per year (mrem/yr)

• Average background radiation (US):  300
• Higher altitudes (e.g, Denver): 400

“Safe Levels” of Radiation (U.S.)

Limits above natural background radiation levels (average 300 millirems per year) and medical radiation:

• Occupation Limit: Maximum of 5,000  (the limit for a worker using radiation)
• Average Natural Background: 300

[Note: Lifetime cumulative exposure should be limited to a person's age multiplied by 1,000 millirems, e.g., a 70-year-old person, 70,000 millirems.]

Adults

• Max single dose for an adult: 3,000
• Annual total dose: 5,000

Under 18

• Max single dose for a person aged under 18 years: 300 millirems (whole body equivalent)
• Annual total exposure: 500

Fetal Exposure

• Maximum limit for fetal exposure during gestation period:  50 millirems per month above background levels

Medical

• Single Chest X-ray (the whole body equivalent): 2 millirem

Air Travel

• Coast-to-coast US round trip flight: 12 millirems

*Note:  Radiation dose of about 2,000 millisieverts (200,000 millirems) cause serious illness.

What radiation does to DNA, resulting in deformities if affected egg or sperm cells end up forming a zygote.

Some info about CT scan dosage

Here's a small bit of information about the dosage you get from CT scans.

Xray experiences

Have you ever had an Xray/CT/Ultrasound/MRI test done? How do you feel about it? Any positive or negative feedback? Lots of times patients end up being rushed through without the tech taking the time to talk and explain the exam in depth. I always try to explain what exactly I'm doing, why the doctor ordered it, and what the test will show. I also try to give a time frame as to when the results will be available and how they can go about getting them. Not everyone does this everytime, so if you've had a different experience I'd like to hear about it.

The big dose.

Now, before I rant on this post, I just wanted to take a second to say I love my job, and I value it's importance in the process of diagnosing and treating disease. That being said, I produce IONIZING RADIATION. That means the xray photons knock electrons out of your atoms and produce Ions which are free radicals that damage your DNA, leading to cell death upon replication or worse, cancer. The highest dose you'll get from me? A CT scan. Yet for some reason some doctors order CT's like they're passing out candy at a parade. It concerns me that i'm frying brains and ovaries or whatever else when other imaging modalities are available, such as ultrasound. Granted, it is very important in the case of acute cerebral hemorrhage etc, but if you've had a headache for a couple hours, I don't really think I should be irradiating your brain. Just my opinion. What do you think?

Portable vs in Dept.

What's the difference between the radiation emitted by a portable machine and the radiation emitted by a regular xray machine? Absolutely nothing. By utilizing, say, 110 kilovolts and a 12:1 grid with perpendicular centering you should get the same image regardless. It is operator error that will produce a difference. Sometimes I wish other hospital staff knew that, but alas, for another 2 years I'll be stuck at this level on the totem pole and have to just do what I'm told, one of the more frustrating aspects of this profession.

Anyone have any radiology related questions or experiences they'd like to share?

What I do.

So, most of my friends and family know that I'm a Radiographer, Radiology Technologist, X-ray Technologist, X-ray Technician, CT technician..............you get the idea. The general assumption is that I lay people on tables and push buttons. That is true in some sense, but the field of Radiology is much more in depth than just depressing some pieces of plastic connected to wires. At it's core, radiology is one of the front lines of medicine. Think about it, you go see your doctor with a lingering pain that just won't  go away. Most people have feelings of apprehension from the possibilities they discuss with their doctor, and then they are referred for imaging and/or laboratory testing. I see a number of patients through the ER, in which case people are almost always in pain or worried about their condition. That is where the most important part of my job comes in, helping people relax and explaining to them what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and when they can expect their results. I do all these things in a pleasant way, usually just shooting the breeze the entire time. A smile, my friends, can go a long way, as can people learning exactly what is going on around them. I find many of us in the medical field tend to take for granted that we know what drug is what and what test does what. The average Joe down the street who cut his finger off and the average Jane up the road who has a kidney stone don't know the inner workings of a hospital, they just know they're in a lot of pain, and they want help feeling better. A guy walking in with a kind smile and words of consolation are much more important than any amount of radiation I can produce, because at the end of the day healing starts and ends with people, not technology.

Hey fellow radiation workers, or random people, whatever.

I'm a Radiographer, which means I use lots of electricity to heat up tungsten filaments and then I blast a molybdenum rotor with electrons that are boiled of off said filament. The result? You having strangely deformed children. Not cleft palate strange. I am referring to the type of strange where limbs exist where they shouldn't. Just kidding of course, I use radiation to help diagnose and treat disease. In all kinds of people. I get to see quite a cross section of society, inside and out. So , to shed some light on what my job is like,  I'm gonna write about my experiences in the radioactive trenches.