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Saved by the bell torrent6/7/2023 Marian Richardson, the unit’s nurse manager, acknowledges that the therapy is pretty grueling. Used as an adjunct to chemotherapy or as a definitive treatment to control malignant cells, radiation therapy requires patients to lie motionless in awkward positions while red lasers pinpoint the site to be treated. Up to 140 patients a day come through the unit for treatment. (Rachel and Judy Minkove after Rachel struck the bell, 10-8-09) What’s louder, the bell or the ovation that ensues. The bell rings every day it can even be heard in the adjoining Weinberg garage. And suddenly we realized that we were witnessing a momentous rite of passage–the end-of-treatment bell. We wondered what it was, until we saw a patient strike it like a gong. On the first day we walked into radiation oncology, we soon noticed an oddly-shaped piece of steel dangling near a wall in a waiting area. Four weeks later, assuming all went well, Rachel could get on with her life. We were elated to have reached this point. Then we learned that Rachel had a complete response to treatment and the doctor suggested radiation to shrink lingering nodes and to prevent recurrence. As a mother, I had never felt so bereft, so helpless-there’s nothing worse than watching your child suffer.
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