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Patient Stories
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| Clare & Grace Suomi |
By Kim Irwin -- Grace Suomi was five and had just finished the year at Curtis School in Los Angeles when she started exhibiting strange symptoms. They started with terrible nightmares that caused the child to thrash and scream in her sleep.
Her mother, Clare Suomi, attributed the bad dreams to anxiety, as Grace was scheduled to start camp soon. Then her right jaw started hurting, her appetite disappeared and her personality seemed somehow off. Since the family was headed out on a three-week vacation the following week, Suomi decided Grace needed to see her doctor. The pediatrician diagnosed a sinus infection and during a physical exam found swelling on the right side of Grace’s face above her cheek bone. The swelling wasn’t painful to the touch, but the doctor recommended that Suomi take Grace to an ear, nose and throat specialist, who found nothing that merited postponing the family vacation.
Story on cancer.ucla.edu » | More Radiation Oncology News »
High Dose Rate Brachytherapy at UCLA Gets Patients Back to Normal Living More Quickly
Nearly half of all cancer patients receive radiation therapy to treat their cancer or relieve symptoms. Radiation therapy kills cancer cells by destroying their DNA, but it may also affect normal cells and adjacent organs in the process. The goal of brachytherapy, or internal radiation therapy, is to precisely target the radiation exposure to the tumor where it is needed and avoid surrounding healthy tissues by placing radioactive sources directly on or inside cancer tissues.Webcast Video: High Dose Rate Brachytherapy »
Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT)
March 2010
Terri is an active, youthful, 59-year-old woman who came to UCLA radiation oncology with a large liver tumor. After six months of chemotherapy, the tumor was very large, and she had been turned down for surgery and ablasion. This was Terri's fourth time with cancer, and she had had traditional radiation two times before she met with Dr. Percy Lee. With her previous radiation treatments, she was very tired and it took a while to return to normal. Dr. Percy Lee treated her with Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT), and Terri said it was "like a miracle". She said her cancer is now gone completely and she is "totally cancer free". Not only did the treatment work, but also Terri was playing Tennis a few days afterwards! She did very well and did not experience fatigue, nausea or vomiting. When asked about her time with UCLA Radiation Oncology, Terri said "God's grace sent her to Dr. Lee", and she had a "wonderful experience with all of the doctors. It was so personal, very comfortable, and Dr. Lee even called personally a couple times."
Terri was treated by Dr. Percy Lee and her pre and post pet ct scan demonstrating a dramatic response to a single liver lesion 8 x 6 x 5 cm treated with SBRT (60 Gy in 5 sessions - 12 Gy per session), planned jointly and expertly by Drs. Lee, Tenn, and Agazaryan, is shown below.
| Before Treatment | After Treatment |
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Beverly's Tumor is Very Close to Her Spine and Heart
The new Novalis TX system provides more accurate, concentrated doses of radiation, allowing patients to be treated in fewer visits and suffer from fewer side effects. UCLA doctors can zero in on primary and smaller metastatic tumors without harming normal tissue.
