Preparing for your first radiation treatment for cancer can be stress inducing.
There is fear of the cancer itself.
Fear of the unknown and unwanted side effects.
And fear of putting your life in the hands of strangers.
On top of all of that, treatment machines can look daunting.
Treatment rooms can look sterile.
And any hospital or medical setting can make you nervous.
That’s why the experts at the CyberKnife Center of Miami – the only state-of-the art, free-standing radiation treatment center in South Florida – want you to understand how to prepare for CyberKnife radiation treatments. They want to know exactly what will happen before, during and after to help alleviate any fears you may have, and that includes your family members.
Here is what Happens: The CyberKnife machine pinpoints radiation directly to the tumor with technology known as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). It can be used to treat patients with prostate, lung, brain, spine, lymph nodes, liver, pancreas, and kidney cancers. It can also be an alternative to surgery, or it can also be used for patients where surgery may not be an option.
CyberKnife Miami believes knowing what to expect during treatments and how to get ready are the start of a calm, positive and nurturing treatment experience. If your mind is calm, so is your body, which can help with treatment, anxiety and keeping stress hormones at bay.
Preparing for Treatment with CyberKnife: A Step-By-Step Guide
Before your treatment, you will meet our team. That is first and foremost – making you comfortable — so that when you come in for treatments, you will know our names, our faces and that we care. We will also take the time to get to know you.
Part of getting to know you – and the cancer we are treating – will be having you undergo scans so we can determine the exact shape, size, and location of your tumor. We will also make sure you understand your unique treatment plan and exactly what is going to happen during treatment.
At times we will fit you with what is called a personal body cradle if needed. According to Accuray, the maker of CyberKnife, it’s designed just for you to keep your body in the same position during each treatment. Then if needed we will also fit you for a special vest that makes sure the CyberKnife robot is synchronized with your natural breathing rhythm.
And just so you can see what treatment looks like for yourself, here’s a video detailing what you can expect during treatment.
Keep in mind, this video shows a step-by-step plan for liver or pancreatic cancer. Treatment can vary with other cancers. But the robotic arm will only move around you. It will not touch you.
Preparing for Treatment with CyberKnife: Day of Treatment
- On treatment days, you generally have no restrictions on eating, though you want to stick with light meals.
- You will also want to try to be well rested, which we know can be easier said than done.
- You will want to dress comfortably in loose clothing and take off your jewelry. It is best to leave it at home.
- CyberKnife treatment is painless. While most people can drive themselves back home or to work after treatment, it is a good idea to have someone with you to drive just in case you do not feel up to it.
Preparing for Treatment with CyberKnife: After Your Treatment
After treatment, you can likely resume all your normal activities. And while side effects are most often minimum, you may experience some. If you do, call us right away. We are here to help and can recommend medications that can minimize and/or eliminate any side effects.
Preparing for Treatment with CyberKnife: The Technology
The CyberKnife uses a robotic radiation system along with real-time image guidance to move and bend around a patient “to deliver radiation doses from potentially hundreds of unique beam angles, significantly expanding the possible positions to concentrate radiation to the tumor while minimizing the dose to surrounding healthy tissue,” according to Accuray.
With CyberKnife, treatment most often lasts less than 10 days instead of weeks or months with other forms of radiation.
Here are other advantages of CyberKnife:
- It is noninvasive.
- There are no risks of infection or long periods of downtime like there are with surgery.
- Treatments are outpatient and last 30 to 60 minutes.
- Patients can be treated repeatedly with CyberKnife. That means if a tumor returns, a patient can be treated again.
- Plus, patients have a better quality of life while undergoing treatment.
The Experts at CyberKnife Miami
CyberKnife therapy has been used to treat thousands of patients worldwide, and right here in Miami and throughout South Florida.
If you would like to find out more about treatment with CyberKnife, call us at 305-279-2900 or go to our website now for more information www.cyberknifemiami.com.