When you arrive at the CT planning suite the radiographer will explain to you what is going to happen. The radiographer will also discuss and explain your future appointments. Your next appointment will be at least a week after your scan. Please ask if you do not understand anything.

Ladies, if there is a possibility that you might be pregnant, please inform your doctor or radiographer when you arrive as there may be a risk to your unborn child. It is also important to avoid becoming pregnant during your course of treatment.

Planning is the process of working out exactly what area of your body needs treating. It is also about finding out the best way to treat You.

We are going to do this by doing a CT (Cat) scan. Although you may have had a CT or an MRI scan recently, for technical reasons, we cannot use that scan to plan your treatment. However, your doctor will use your previous x-rays or scans as guidance when supervising the planning of your treatment.

The scan is straightforward. Most people do not need any special preparation e.g. a drink or injection. However, if you do need some preparation before the scan, the radiographer taking care of you will explain it to you. Please eat and drink normally before you attend for your scan.

The radiographer will ask you to undress depending on which part of your body is to be scanned. They will make every effort to respect your privacy.

All you have to do for the scan is lie still and breathe normally. The radiographer will draw some marks on your skin and may need to make tiny permanent marks at the end of the scan, but they will ask your permission before doing so. These marks will help us to plan your treatment accurately. If the radiographer has not made any permanent marks, it is helpful to us and saves time if, when we see you again you still have the skin marks. So, please try not to soak in the bath and preferably have a shower if you can. We will spray over the marks with a thin layer of plastic to help protect them. If the marks do fade away do not worry, it just means that it will take longer to do the next stage of the planning process.

To make the tiny permanent marks the radiographer will place a blob of ink onto your skin. Then using just the tip of a needle, they will scratch your skin so that the ink can penetrate making a small permanent mark the size of a pinhead. These permanent dots are very helpful to us and save treatment planning time. However, if you do not want the permanent marks, you will still need to have the felt tip pen skin marks. In this case, please do not soak in the bath, preferably have a shower if you can. If the marks do fade, we can replace them. However, you will have to return to the simulator to have them replaced and this will extend your appointment.

What happens after I have had the scan?

Once the scan is complete, the radiographer will give you another appointment, usually for a few days time, for the next stage of the planning process.

Meanwhile, your doctor and the radiographer will work out the exact area that needs to be treated. They will transfer the information from the scan to a specialised computer. From the scan pictures, the radiographer will produce a "treatment map." This process is complicated and can take a long time. This is why you cannot start your treatment on the same day as your scan.

What happens at my next appointment?

We will take some x-rays and measurements on a machine called a Simulator. This allows us to check your "treatment map". The radiographer will explain what is going to happen to you.

The radiographer will ask you to lie on a bed in exactly the same position as you lay when you had your CT scan. The radiographer will move the simulator around you, but it will not touch you.

When your doctor and the radiographer are confident that everything is correct, the radiographer will draw your treatment marks on your skin using a felt tip pen. There will be three marks, one on your front or back and one on each side. If you have not already had the permanent marks done, the radiographer will need to do them now, but they will ask your permission before doing so. This will allow you to wash and shower normally, without these tiny marks being lost.

Mould Room