Download Patient Guide
We want to ensure that you receive the highest level of healthcare. This means keeping you educated and informed about what is involved in the different stages of your treatment process. If you have any questions or concerns, please speak with your doctor.
Understanding Radiation
Radiation is the transfer of energy from one place to another. Radiation is all around us. For instance, light, radio waves and microwaves are all forms of radiation. Radiotherapy uses a type of ionising radiation that transfers enough energy to damage harmful cells in the human body.
These are the FIVE STEPS you will go through when you come to Health City for Radiotherapy Treatment.
Step 1: CONSULTATION
-
Your consultation includes an evaluation, counselling about the disease and further management, and a detailed radiotherapy plan. This includes the site, technique and duration of radiation to be administered.
Step 2: PRE-PLANNING
-
A special mask or mould is made for you and will only be used by you throughout your treatment journey. This mask will increase the accuracy of radiation delivery, and a Computerised Tomography/Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CT/MRI) is done to visualise the cancer. You will be able to see through most types of masks or moulds, as they usually have lots of small holes.
Step 3: TREATMENT PLANNING
-
The radiation oncologist defines the tumour sites and surrounding normal structures on specialised computerised planning systems capable of doing complex radiation delivery plans. After this, a plan will be made for your treatment delivery.
Step 4: TREATMENT
-
When you arrive at the Radiation Therapy Unit, you will check in at the nurses’ station.
-
The nurse will take your vitals and advise timing of bladder protocol and medication protocol if needed. If this is your first fraction, you will meet with the oncologist.
-
After this, the nurse will take you to a changing room to change into a patient gown if needed.
-
The radiation technician will then accompany you to the Radiation Therapy treatment room and assist you onto the couch.
-
While on the couch, the radiation technician and nurse will place your mould on you, making sure it’s correctly positioned.
-
Once you are in a comfortable position, the technician and nurse will leave the treatment room while the radiation is administered. You should lie still during treatment. You will be monitored from an adjacent room, and they will be able to speak to you during treatment to make sure you’re okay. They will tell you how to alert them if there is any problem. The treatment machine may move around you during the treatment delivery. This can be a little noisy, but it’s just the movement of the machine as it gives you treatment from different directions.
-
Your treatment will last for approximately 20 minutes, so you do not have to be on your own for long. At the end of your treatment session, you will be assisted off the radiation treatment couch and taken back to the lobby or to change out of your gown.
-
We will ask you to sit for a few minutes once treatment is finished. After this, you’ll be able to leave the facility.
-
During your treatment, you will normally see your oncologist on a weekly basis so that they can also check radiation toxicity and treatment parameters.
Step 5: END OF TREATMENT
-
After your course of treatment is finished, you will normally have several follow-up appointments with your radiation oncologist, who will review how the treatment went. This will involve reviewing further blood tests, CT scans, MRI or other investigations.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, external radiation does not hurt. You cannot feel, see or smell the radiation while administered.
Radiotherapy can cause some unwanted side effects. You may have some skin changes when radiation enters your skin, but you shouldn’t experience anything worrying. Your radiation oncologist will explain any possible side effects before your treatment begins.
Radiation therapy does not make you radioactive. The radiation is only produced by the machines and is inactive after your treatment.
Shrinking or dying of the tumours can’t be seen during treatment but will be reviewed with tests after you finish treatment.
Some persons fall asleep during radiotherapy but it depends on the type of tumour being treated. If you have anxiety, you can ask your doctor for some medication to assist you during your treatment sessions.
