Keeping up with the Markers
I stopped by the school a couple weeks ago and snagged a couple pieces of old exposed x-ray film from the lab. I cut them to about the same width and twice the length of my ID badge and poked a hole so I could attach it to my badge holder. This works really well for holding my markers and keeping the sticky tape mess off of my name badge holder. So far, this is working pretty well. My two markers with the copper backing are on the back side of this film.
I'm getting some time in the hospital in the morning. I get a 4-hour shift from 7-11, and I'll get to work that short shift again on Saturday and Sunday over the Thanksgiving weekend. I'm looking forward to this. I'll get to check out the new digital portable units the hospital purchased after my last clinical rotation...
Scrubs again
I'm still sorta settling in to this concept of being a working tech. The Landau scrubs are working out rather well, and even though they are expensive comparatively, I like them. They are well made and comfortable. I went to search for some undershirts to wear under my scrub shirts last week. I bought some simple t-shirts that I thought would work well, but the sleeves on those were longer than my scrub sleeves and that just didn't work for me. I went to look for a couple other options and found some sleeveless tshirts that should work a lot better. I wanted a crew neck tshirt, so the regular tank tops weren't gonna fit the bill. This time of year, its cool enough outside in the mornings that I need something extra to stay warm, but not cool enough that I want to wear a jacket. I also just think the scrubs look nicer with a t-shirt of some sort on underneath. I also purchased a Starter brand long-sleeved undershirt type garment that I might try out as well. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do for cold weather yet. It's not cold inside our facility so I'll have to find that balance...
Wrapping up my first week
I can't begin to describe how great this week has been for me. My new part-time job has been closer to full-time for my first week back in the saddle. I worked a half day on Monday and then full days on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I was really worried about how rusty I might be after being out of the radiology department for over five months, but it's all coming back to me nicely. I have been keeping notes on some specific things where I need a little refresher, and I plan to do some reading and studying a little over the weekend. I haven't really seen much of a variety of exams this week though. It seems like everyone with a cough is getting chest x-rays this week, and I have probably done 20 of those, if not more. I have had a couple Upper GIs, a couple Small Bowels, and I think there is a BE on the schedule for Friday morning.
I finally got fed up with my el-cheap-o lead markers that I have been using throughout clinicals in school. They aren't really that cheap though. They are about $13 per set, which is the same price as the aluminum-backed marker set I just ordered. I got a standard pair and a second pair with copper backing for higher kVp applications.
This marker set was $26.30 from http://www.thomascorp.com (T-Model). Hopefully they will arrive in the next week or 10 days. One of my fellow techs uses these markers, and I did some experiments with them today. His markers without the copper backing held up as well as mine with the copper backing. My markers without the copper backing will simply not hold up on chest or shoulder x-rays unless I place them in the shadow of the anatomy somewhere. Using them during cross-table shots during a BE is just pointless. Hopefully these new markers will take care of business... Remind me to post an update on that... The problem markers are the ones I was told to buy as a student. We were asked to buy two sets so we would have a backup in the event of losing one, which makes sense. What makes sense NOW is to buy the two sets in the photo above since they are the same price as the ones I don't like anymore...
One of the other fun aspects of my job is that I'm working with students. When I was a student, I always told myself that if I got the chance to work with students, I would be helpful to them. I had certain techs who were not helpful to me as a student, and I simply don't want a student to EVER to back to school and complain about me the same way I heard my fellow students (and myself occasionally) complain about techs in the field. One of the students I worked with today was experiencing her very first day of clinical. She has a few fears that I'm going to attempt to relieve while I'm working with her. I'm also going to help her get her required comps for this semester completed... It should be fun :)
Lead X-Ray Markers
As a student, I was required to purchase two sets of the markers you see above. We were required to buy two rights and two lefts so we would have extras in case we lost one. As I progressed in my program, I ordered two more sets. I wanted a pair of the markers with the copper backing, but I couldn't find them as an individual pair and had to purchase another set of 4 markers to get them, so I ended up with a total of four pairs of markers. These are the only markers I have used so far, but as you can see, I haven't lost one yet... These markers cost approximately $13 per pair or $25 for the double pair with the copper backed pair included. If you are a student and getting ready to purchase your first set of markers, I would recommend getting the double pair with one set including the copper backing unless your instructor requires something different. The copper backing helps keep the markers visible on some exams where they like to get burned out due to a high kVp or high MAS technique. Exams like chest and shoulder x-rays and some others like cross-table images in a barium enema series tend to burn out a marker rather quickly.
These markers are rather basic, but they work as well as any for the most part. I'm thinking about experimenting with some different types of markers in the near future...
These markers are just like my existing sets except they have an aluminum backing rather than the white 'carbonite' backing. I don't know the details on 'carbonite' but I'm just assuming that it's a light weight material that is radiolucent in nature. The aluminum backing on these markers might provide some additional help when trying to avoid a marker burnout. This set of four is about the same price as the original set of four mentioned earlier.
This set has the positioner beads to show which direction is up/down in the x-ray. The lead beads fall to the bottom of the circle to give a visual reference as to which way is up/down in the image regardless of how the marker is placed. I haven't found this set with the option of a copper backing, but this pair costs about $23, so they are a bit more expensive than the others. I'm not sure if I will try these or not because I developed a habit of orienting my markers so that the letters are in the correct orientation to describe up and down in the image when a patient was in an erect or a decub position. I know that habit won't translate through to a radiologist who might be reading the images, but I know for my own purposes. I usually annotate the image with an arrow and associated text to indicate anything that might not be obvious.
I don't know where the best place to buy markers might be. I have been buying mine from ThomasCorp but there might be other places that are good also. If you know of a great place to buy markers, please let me know!
