I have just completed 40 treatments on the latest Varian Novalis Triology Rapid-Arc machine.
Step one, you are carefully positioned on the treatment table using laser beams and tattoos placed on your abdomen. The machine then makes a CAT scan pass around you, the entire gantry rotating..The table you are lying on then makes tiny adjustments to compensate for the day to day changes in organ positions. The gantry swings into it's beginning position, in my case below the table, you hear a dull thump as the accelerator and it's cooling system start and the gantry begins a slow rotation around you. In my case, it stopped for a moment on the far (left) side then it began it's second pass over your body, the 'leaves' that focus and direct the beam in a slightly different position.
My last 7 treatments were called "Boost" where the beam was tightly focused on my prostate bed. The first 33 treatments covered a broader area..During those 7 "boost" treatments, a radiologist was always present in the control room..The regular therapists saying "When the beam is this tight, it's above our pay-grade.."
Patients are scheduled 1/2 hour apart. Each treatment takes about
15 minutes total time in treatment room. In Denver, there is a surplus of Linac's and there is nobody waiting on line to use them..
With the Varian RapidArc system, the dose to the targeted area can be achieved while reducing the 'whole body" dose by almost 2/3 over older IMRT equipment. The moving gantry eliminates any "suntan" skin burns common with the stop and go machines..
Side-effects: I noticed none until about
half way through. Then urinary frequency and urgency started to increase..No bowel symptoms at all..No fatigue..By the end I needed to pee every 1.5 to 2 hours. No pain or burning, just more frequent urges..Now, 5 days post treatment, I'm back to 2-3 hours between urges..That's it.....R-doc said "See you in May.."
Post Edited (Fairwind) : 2/17/2011 9:57:54 PM (GMT-7)