“I have four kids and I was able to go to my daughter’s college graduation, my older son’s wedding, and see my granddaughter being born.”
When 47-year-old Sunita Chinapana started feeling bloated she passed it off as just getting older. “I had pain on both sides of my body and I actually looked pregnant, but I thought ‘I’m just going through the change of life,’ so I didn’t think much of it. Then I noticed problems lifting my leg.”
A series of medical tests revealed Sunita had ovarian cancer that had spread to her diaphragm and behind her liver. She underwent surgery, removing two tumors that together weighed almost 11 pounds, followed by chemotherapy.
Turns out, Sunita was allergic to chemo drugs, which caused so much pain she couldn’t walk. Her doctor recommended going to Boston and enrolling in a clinical trial using an experimental cancer drug designed to prevent and destroy tumors.
In the meantime, a friend of Sunita’s saw a medical story on a Miami TV news station about the CyberKnife Center of Miami and how the cancer experts there greatly helped another ovarian cancer patient whose tumors had spread.
The CyberKnife is robotic radiation technology. The device delivers high doses of radiation with pinpoint accuracy directly to the tumor leaving surrounding tissue unharmed. The tumors are zapped and shrivel up while you get on with life.
“My friend insisted I go to the CyberKnife Center of Miami, so I did.”
Dr. James Schwade, CyberKnife Miami’s Medical Director says, “The CyberKnife is not a knife at all. It’s a powerful radiation beam that targets and destroys tumors. They gradually dissolve over time. There is no cutting and if tumors come back usually we can treat them again.”
A radiation oncologist at CyberKnife Miami treated three out of seven of Sunita’s tumors.
Sunita says, “I was very confused. I didn’t know what to do so I went back to three of my doctors for a second opinion and they all said CyberKnife would not work for me. Desperate to try anything, I went to Boston for treatment.”
Turns out the experimental drug didn’t work so Sunita quickly went back to the CyberKnife Center of Miami.
Her three tumors that were treated before with CyberKnife therapy were gone. Four others that had developed were then treated and 5 weeks later, they were gone too.
Sunita says, “If I had listened to my original doctors and not gone back to CyberKnife Miami, I don’t think I’d be alive today. I am so excited about my success story that I want to tell the world about CyberKnife technology because I don’t think many doctors and patients are informed about it. My family also jumped on the band wagon, telling everyone we know about The CyberKnife Center of Miami.”
Dr. Schwade says, “CyberKnife radiosurgery is extremely well tolerated and doesn’t have the toxicity of chemotherapy. It’s another tool that is helping us control cancer much like you would diabetes or other chronic diseases. We can help people live longer and yet maintain a good quality of life.”
Sunita says, “I was so comfortable I’d fall asleep during my treatment. They had to wake me up and say it’s time to go home. I had no pain, no side effects, nothing.”
“The whole CyberKnife Miami experience is awesome. From the time you check in, to meeting with the doctors, helping you with your insurance, it’s a walk in the park.”
“I have four kids and I was able to go to my daughter’s college graduation, my older son’s wedding, and see my granddaughter being born. Thanks to the CyberKnife Center of Miami, I look forward to more major milestones in my life.”