Question re. 1940's medical procedure

["Elizabeth M. Brackett" <brackett@bright.net>]

Hello to all-

My mother was telling me about a medical procedure she had when she was 7
or 8, sometime in the mid-'40s (I guess I'm giving away her age - good
thing she's not a subscriber!) that she said she had always wondered about.
 She had a lump that was growing under her chin and, after surgical
removal, was given "therapy" which consisted of placing her under a large
piece of equipment with her head hanging back off the end of the table.
She was left alone in the room for a few minutes.  It sounds like it was
some kind of radiation therapy because the machine never touched her.  She
said the only thing she was told was that she had swollen glands (an
apocryphal story from a sister who would have been only 8 or 9 at the time)
and none of her other living relatives remember much about it.  Was
radiation used for cancer that long ago, and if not, is there something
else it would have been used for?  It wasn't her thyroid because she
doesn't take any hormone replacements for loss of thyroid function (plus
the scar seems a bit high for that).

Thanks for your help.

Liz Brackett


******************************
  Elizabeth M. Brackett, CHP 
     Sr. Health Physicist     
     MJW Corporation, Inc.       
       (330) 644-3757        
  mailto:brackett@bright.net 
******************************
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