|
|
|
|
WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE, DURING & AFTER TREATMENT?
Before you can begin treatment, your doctors must first run tests to determine what type of cancer you have and if it has spread to other parts of the body. Once the diagnosis has been made, you will probably talk with your primary care physician along with several oncology specialists, such as a surgeon, a medical oncologist and a radiation oncologist, to discuss your treatment choices. Often, these specialists will work together to help recommend the best treatment for you.
In some cases, your cancer will need to be attacked by using more than one type of treatment. For example, if your have breast cancer, you might have surgery to remove the tumor (by a surgeon), then have radiation therapy to destroy any remaining cancer cells in or near your breast (by a radiation oncologist). You also might receive chemotherapy (by a medical oncologist) to destroy any remaining cancer cells that have traveled to other parts of the body.
Before Treatment
Consultation With a Radiation Oncologist |
If
you are considering radiation therapy, you must first schedule a visit
with a radiation oncologist to see if radiation therapy is right for
you. During your initial visit, the doctor will evaluate your need for
radiation therapy and its likely results. This includes reviewing your
current medical problems, past medical history, past surgical history,
family history, medications, allergies and lifestyle. The doctor will
also perform a physical examination to assess the extent of your disease
and judge your general physical condition. Depending on where your
radiation oncologist practices, you may also be seen by a medical
student, a resident (radiation oncologist in training).
After
reviewing your medical tests, including CT scans, MR scans and positron
emission tomography scans (PET scans), and completing a thorough
examination, your radiation oncologist will fully discuss with you the
potential benefits and risks of radiation therapy and answer your
questions. For a list of questions that you may want to ask, please
see the section What Questions Should I Ask My Doctor? |
|
Simulation and Treatment Planning |
To be
most effective, radiation therapy must be aimed precisely at the same
target or targets each and every time treatment is given. The process of
measuring your anatomy and marking your skin to help your team direct
the beams of radiation safely and exactly to their intended locations is
called simulation.
During simulation, your radiation oncologist and radiation therapist will
place you on the CT- simulation machine in the exact position you will be in
during the actual treatment. Your radiation therapist, under your
doctor’s supervision, then marks the area to be treated directly on your
skin or on immobilization devices.
Immobilization devices are molds, casts, headrests or other devices that
are constructed and placed on a certain part of your body to help you
remain in the same position during the entire treatment. The radiation
therapist marks your skin and/or the immobilization devices either with
a bright, temporary paint or a set of small permanent tattoos.
Your
radiation oncologist may request that special blocks or shields be made
for you. These blocks or shields are put in the external beam therapy
machine before each of your treatments and are used to shape the
radiation to your tumor and keep the x-rays from hitting normal tissue.
Our treatment machine has built-in blocks or shutters called
multi-leaf collimators, which also help shape the radiation.
Although simulation is typically only one session, your physician may
schedule more than one session depending on the type of cancer you have
and the type of radiation therapy that is being used.
Once
you have finished with the simulation, your radiation oncologist and
other members of the treatment team review the information they obtained
during simulation along with your previous medical tests to develop a
treatment plan. A sophisticated
treatment-planning computer software is used to help design the best
possible treatment plan. After reviewing all of this
information, your doctor writes a prescription that outlines the exact
course of your radiation therapy treatment. |
During
Treatment
|
External Beam Radiation Therapy Treatments |
When
you undergo external beam radiation therapy treatment, each session is
painless, like getting an X-ray. The radiation is directed to your tumor
from a machine located outside of your body. One of the benefits of
radiation therapy is that it is usually given as a series of outpatient
treatments and you may not need to miss work or experience the type of
recuperation period that can follow other treatment.
Treatments are usually scheduled five days a week, every day except
Saturday and Sunday, and continue for three to 10 weeks. Some patients
receive hyper fractionated radiation therapy, in which radiation treatments
are given more than once a day. Other times, only one or a few
treatments are required, such as for the treatment of cancer that has
spread to the bone. This is called hypo fractionated radiation therapy.
The number of radiation treatments you will need depends on the size,
location and type of cancer you have, your general health and other
medical treatments you may be receiving.
The
radiation therapist will administer your external beam treatment
following your radiation oncologist’s instructions. It will take about
five to 15 minutes for you to be positioned for treatment and for the
equipment to be set up. If an immobilization device was made during
simulation, it will be used during every treatment to make sure that you
are in the exact same position every day.
Sometimes a course of treatment is interrupted for a day or more. This
may happen if you develop side effects that require a break in
treatment. These missed treatments may be made up by adding treatments
at the end. Try to arrive on time and not miss any of your appointments.
Your
radiation oncologist monitors your daily treatment and may alter your
radiation dose based on these observations. Also, your doctor may order
blood tests, X-ray examinations and other tests to see how your body is
responding to treatment. If the tumor shrinks, another simulation may be
done. This allows your radiation oncologist to change the treatment to
destroy the rest of the tumor and spare even more normal tissue. |
|
Weekly Status Checks |
During radiation therapy, your radiation oncologist and nurse will see
you regularly to follow your progress, evaluate whether you are having
any side effects, recommend treatments for those side effects (such as
medication) and address any concerns you may have. As treatment
progresses, your doctor may make changes in the schedule or treatment
plan depending on your response or reaction to the therapy.
Your
radiation therapy team may gather on a regular basis with other
healthcare professionals to review your case to ensure your treatment is
proceeding as planned. During this session, all the members of the team
discuss your progress as well as any concerns. |
After Treatment
Follow Up
After
treatment is completed, follow-up appointments will be scheduled so that your
radiation oncologist can make sure your recovery is proceeding normally and can
continue to monitor your health status. Your radiation oncologist may also order
additional diagnostic tests. Reports on your treatment can be sent to your
other physicians.
As time goes
on, the frequency of your visits will decrease. However, you should know that
your radiation oncology team will always be available should you need to speak
to someone about your treatment.
radiation oncology > faq's about radiation > what happens before, during & after treatment? | |
|
|
|
|
back to top