This is my brain on radiation

I drove two hours to The Big City on Tuesday for my pre-surgery appointment. The surgeon's office had told me that it would be some pictures and X-Rays. They hadn't mentioned how involved and uncomfortable it would be.

Paddles pulling my cheeks away from my face to show all of my teeth in pictures, X-ray torture devices that involved wooden pegs being clamped into your ears and your head being stuck into a vice, biting on weird things and struggling to stay still while devices whirl around your head. In case you're looking for examples.

I really shouldn't complain, because I'm sure the discomfort of the pre-op pictures and X-rays has nothing on what I'm going to go through with this surgery and recovery.

Good times. Oh well, at least I got to go to Lush. And have lunch with a good friend of mine. Also on the plus side, I got to see what the inside of my head looks like:

See? It's not empty after all.

They also made me bite down on this plastic thing while an X-Ray machine circled my head. That gave us this nifty shot:

They told me I have a small mouth....
The first time I've ever heard that one!

And, in my final discovery of the day, I learned that Microsoft Word is a great backdrop for viewing and photographing X-Rays. (If you look closely at the one of my skull, you can see the blue MS Taskbar at the bottom.)