Walking the Line
Each time I check in at BC Cancer Vancouver, they tell me to follow the blue line. I’ve always assumed that one day they’ll tell me to follow the orange one, and that this will be how I know something has gone wrong.
Today, after receiving my daily radiation dose, I followed the orange line. It appears to lead to the great outdoors, but instead, it ends at an elevator to Floor 0.
"Zero" sounds ominous—like Platform 9¾, but without the magic. I boarded it.It creaked its way down to a floor that looked exactly like the one I’d just left: same waiting room, washrooms, changing stalls, and the same unremarkable doors labeled Unit A, B, C, and D.
The presence of various doors with the sign “Staff Only” didn’t escape me. It’s the way the radiation therapist can greet me in the waiting area, and then miraculously appear in the treatment room.
A nurse asked if I was looking for something. She assured me the machines down here are "exactly the same" as the ones upstairs. It was a very professional denial.
The truth is still out there, but apparently not on the Zero floor of BCC. I’m still looking for the proton radiation machine whose existence Canada denies. BC Cancer occupies an area large enough to accommodate a full-size cyclotron. A few months ago I discovered a maintenance tunnel which connects BCC to VGH. I’ll try to trace the pipes, in which I suspect hydrogen ions are being accelerated to generate medical isotopes and curative proton beams.
Addendum 1
My anonymous source at TRIUMF wrote:
many hospitals have cyclotrons to make medical isotopes. Some of the lab research has to do with improving the targets and extraction of the isotopes you want for medicine.
Addendum 2
BC Cancer has a cyclotron!
The cyclotron and the associated radiopharmacy are located in a specialized, shielded vault area on the lower levels of the main building.
Today, after receiving my daily radiation dose, I followed the orange line. It appears to lead to the great outdoors, but instead, it ends at an elevator to Floor 0.
The presence of various doors with the sign “Staff Only” didn’t escape me. It’s the way the radiation therapist can greet me in the waiting area, and then miraculously appear in the treatment room.
A nurse asked if I was looking for something. She assured me the machines down here are "exactly the same" as the ones upstairs. It was a very professional denial.
The truth is still out there, but apparently not on the Zero floor of BCC. I’m still looking for the proton radiation machine whose existence Canada denies. BC Cancer occupies an area large enough to accommodate a full-size cyclotron. A few months ago I discovered a maintenance tunnel which connects BCC to VGH. I’ll try to trace the pipes, in which I suspect hydrogen ions are being accelerated to generate medical isotopes and curative proton beams.
Addendum 1
My anonymous source at TRIUMF wrote:
many hospitals have cyclotrons to make medical isotopes. Some of the lab research has to do with improving the targets and extraction of the isotopes you want for medicine.
BC Cancer has a cyclotron!
The cyclotron and the associated radiopharmacy are located in a specialized, shielded vault area on the lower levels of the main building.