Treatment

The number of treatments varies. Radiation therapy is usually given five days per week (Monday through Friday). Treatments generally last from two to eight weeks depending on the total dose prescribed.

Daily treatment appointments generally take between 15-20 minutes. However, your first treatment appointment may take as long as 45 minutes.

Your daily appointment time will be established at the time of your first treatment.

Unless there is a change in your schedule this will be your treatment time for your entire course of treatment. If you need to change your appointment time for any reason, please let the radiation therapist know. We will do our best to accommodate your scheduling needs. If you are unable to make your scheduled appointment on time, please call us.

We expect to be able to complete your treatment at the schedule time. However, on occasion we may experience a treatment delay. On very rare occasions, treatments may also need to be cancelled. In the event that your treatment will be delayed or cancelled, we will do our best to inform you ahead of time. Please make sure we have accurate phone numbers where you can be reached.

On your first day of treatment you will be greeted by one of our patient care coordinators and escorted to our patient-only waiting area. Depending on the area treated you may be asked to change into a gown and/or scrub pants. Any jewelry that may be in the treatment area will also need to be removed daily for treatment.

From our patient waiting area you will be escorted by the Radiation Therapist to the treatment room. Everyday before treatment you will be asked to provide us with your full name and birth date. This procedure is one of many quality assurance checks that will be performed daily before you are treated. Once in the treatment room, you will be asked to lie down on the treatment couch. Any immobilization devices created during your simulation appointment will be used to assist you in holding still. Using lasers and any marks that you may have on your body, the radiation therapists will carefully align you with the treatment machine. The radiation therapists will exit the room and, depending on your treatment plan, perform a number imaging studies to ensure that you are positioned correctly. While the therapists are out of the room you will be under constant observation with the use of video cameras and an intercom system.

Once we have verified that you are positioned perfectly the radiation therapist will deliver your radiation treatment.

The treatment itself is painless and only lasts a few minutes. The machine will make a humming or buzzing noise while the treatment is being delivered.

You will see one of our radiation oncologists weekly during your course of treatments. We refer to this weekly visit as your “Check Day.” This is a good time to ask questions about your treatments and address any side effects you may be experiencing. If you have questions or concerns between your weekly checks please inform the radiation therapist and we will make sure your concerns are addressed in a timely manner.

While undergoing treatment we encourage you to make our staff aware of any questions or issues you may have. Our clinic hours are Monday-Friday from 8:00am until 5:00pm. We also have a physician on call 24 hours per day, 7 days a week to address emergencies.