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Bay Med Gets New Radiation Treatment
09/09/09 - 05:18 PM
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With 1 in every 3 people diagnosed with cancer, it seems like everyone knows someone or is personally effected by it.  New treatments are helping cancer patients get back to their everyday lives.

Bay Medical Center is the first hospital in the panhandle to get a new way of giving the treatment.  It takes less time, is more accurate, and spares the healthy tissue around the tumor.  Patients like the changes.

Steve Merritt was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2005.  He had his prostate removed but 6 months ago, but the cancer came back.

“It’s not only devastating to you; it’s devastating to your family,” Merrit said.

Now he is undergoing a new type of radiation therapy.  It’s not the radiation that’s different; it’s the way it’s done.  It’s called Rapid Arc Technology.

What used to take 20 minutes, now only takes 2.  Merritt is able to come get his treatment on his lunch break.

“I’m in and out of here… I can come down get the treatment and get back to work and not lose any productive time,” he said.

“We have an on board imager or CT scanner attached to the machine takes CT scan of the precise location, size, shape, of the tumor before each treatment is given,” said Dr. Hasan Murshed, an oncologist at Bay Medical.

The computer images allow for the patient on the table to line up with the real time location of the tumor so the results are within millimeters of accuracy.

One of the advantages of Rapid Arc treatment is that patients have less side effects from the radiation because it is more precise.

“We used to routinely see patients like him with rectal bleeding, bladder bleeding… Rectal pain, bladder pain,” said Dr. Murshed.

But now…

“I haven’t had any negative side effects that amount to anything, except for a little bit of exhaustion which may have something to do with the fact I’m 57 years old,” Merritt said.

Merrit was able to go right back to work once the procedure was finished.  He has 3 more treatments to undergo.