Trip Report on Sand Lake Visit

We got home from Orlando this afternoon. Sand Lake Imaging (SLI) has two offices near Orlando. The north office is in Maitland, and the south office is near Sand Lake and Turkey Lake in Orlando. Eric had CT scan and Feraheme infusion at the Turkey Lake office on Thursday. On Friday morning we headed up to their Maitland office for the MRI. It takes about 24 hours for the Feraheme to circulate through the body sufficiently. A couple of slightly suspicious nodes in the groin area required a return to the Turkey Lake SLI office Friday afternoon for biopsy. Dr. Bravo does not think there is cancer there but the nodes looked different enough to warrant a a biopsy.

Dr. Bravo had done a preliminary review of the over 1800 images by the time we met with him on Friday. They found a cluster of small cancerous nodes along the right iliac artery as well as between the inferior Vena Cava and the Aorta which are apparently the locations it is typically found, and is pretty much exactly what Dr. Myers predicted. We are hoping to get his final report along with the biopsy results on Monday.

This is actually good news because with Eric's rising PSA we know the PCa is present, but we didn't know where it was, all previous scans were negative. Finding the cancer was the reason for our visit.
It's also good news because even though Eric had previously received IMRT after surgery, the cancerous nodes that were found at Sand Lake are eligible for targeted radiation which will be done by Dr. Dattoli.

Overall it was a very productive visit. We won't know the exact treatment plan until Dr. Bravo completes his report and sends it to Dr. Dattoli who will develop the plan. Our goal has been to be aggressive in our approach to finding and treating the PCa while it is still relatively small and has not metastasized widely. Obviously achieving a cure would be ... I can't even think of a word good enough to describe it. But if we can at least knock it down hard enough to achieve a long-term remission of several years this will all be very worthwhile.

Have a great rest of the weekend.
Amy

Very great news, Amy. Sounds very, very productive in every way. Should pave the way for a great treatment plan.

david

Piy,

it seems like you have done the best possible thing you could for yourselves. What your husband has undergone, it is not part of the standard diagnostic and treatment protocol, but so logical (find the cancer and treat it) that I congratulate you on being so forward-thinking and following this path. I am of the firm opinion that Dr.Myers is one of the best specialists in the world for PC, partly because of his personal history (oncologist, PC survivor, pharmacologist). Good luck!

tarhoosier - No Eric did not have HT prior to RT or with RT.

No HT is not going to be part of the treatment plan at this point. Eric will receive radiation beam targeted with pinpoint precision to the exact nodes that exhibit cancer. Dr. Bravo explained that they will use DART (Dynamic Adaptive RadioTherapy) which is a 4D radiation system. I'm afraid that I don't really know that much about the DART process yet.
I will post more information when I receive it, but feel free to ask any questions that you have.
I am more than happy to provide any information that may be helpful.

Amy

Who is doing the radiation? Bravo? I thought he was the scans specialist. If Dattoli (or anyone) is doing the radiation then perhaps Dattoli or whomever should be calling those shots. This is confusing. Typing is a poor substitute for actual conversation, no?

From what I have read David is correct. The current trials of the USPIO scan require Myers or Dattoli to first screen patients to establish eligability for the scan. I believe that after the scans you can go anywhere for treatment, but Dattoli is the recommended choice for futher radiation.

Sorry for the confusion. David is correct, Dr. Bravo is at Sand Lake in Orlando and he is the expert at reading the scans. Dr. Dattoli is in Sarasota, FL and will develop and administer the specific treatment plan using DART. I don't know if any other doctors use this technology but we never considered another doctor based on Dr. Myer's recommendation and our own research on Dattoli.

http://www.dattoli.com/prostate-cancer-treatment-options/what-is-4d-ig-mrt/i/22

David - We were referred by Dr. Myers and I believe you are correct that only patients of Dr. Myers or Dr. Dattoli can be referred for the scans.

If anyone has any questions and would like to discuss this further by phone, please feel free to e-mail me with a phone # and I'll be happy to give you a call.

Amy

Post Edited (Piy) : 4/30/2012 3:24:01 PM (GMT-6)

jligget - Do you know yet how many rounds you will have and how long you will need to be in Sarasota for your radiation treatments? Putting Eric on HT was not mentioned to us so I didn't expect it, but perhaps Dr. Dattoli will prescribe this for him, just don't know yet.
I am surprised to see your comment regarding having another scan as it is my understanding that Dr. Bravo is the absolute pro at reading and interpreting these scans. I'll be interested to hear if any additional nodes are found that were not "caught" by Bravo. Please keep us posted.

Thanks,
Amy