Several different types of radiation are used to treat children with solid tumors. A large machine called a linear accelerator directs x-rays to the precise portion of the body needing treatment. Radiation is usually given every day for a specific number of days, excluding weekends. This is called standard or conventional fractionation. Radiation given more than once a day is called accelerated fractionation, or hyperfractionation.
Accelerated fractionation uses smaller amounts of radiation for each treatment.
Children do not become radioactive from these treatments. In total, he had ten days of external radiation to destroy cancerous lesions in his skull. He never required sedation and was always cooperative. I'm convinced that it was partly because of his personality, and partly because of how the staff treated him. Every day that he received radiation, his favorite stuffed toy, Mr. Bear, was radiated, too.