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Therapy
When you arrive for treatment you may need to change into a gown supplied in one of our changing rooms. We suggest that you wear clothing that is easy to take off and put on again. In the treatment room, radiation therapists will position you on the treatment table and use the tattoo marks on your skin to localize the areas to be treated. It is important to lie still. The treatment machine will not touch you during treatment. You may be in the treatment room between 10 to 20 minutes depending on the complexity of your treatment. You will be treated with radiation for only a portion of that time. You will not see or feel the radiation. Every effort will be made to make you comfortable during treatment.
During your course of treatment, your radiation oncologist will watch over your progress and will meet with you at least once a week to check your tolerance and response to treatment. Often, it is not possible to assess the response of your cancer during the course of treatment. Once a week we will do a blood test to check your blood counts.
It is important to get adequate rest and to obtain an adequate intake of calories and protein during your treatments. Special diet and activity instructions will be given to you as necessary.
Continue taking all medications prescribed by your other physicians unless told otherwise.
If you should experience a change in symptoms, please let your therapist or one of the nurses know so that we can evaluate the change.
It is important to realize that no two patients are exactly alike and no two diseases are the same. Patients can respond different to exactly the same treatment. The radiation oncologist will consider the knowledge gained from the simulation, your unique medical history, and information from our radiation physicist and dosimetrist when making plans for your radiation treatments. Our goal is to keep you fully informed at all times. Never be hesitant to ask us questions.
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