Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation to destroy cancer cells, prevent them from spreading and even shrink tumors. Oftentimes patients get this done daily, which can take a toll, making the time they're able to spend at home even more valuable. Now cancer patients in Pierre can stay local thanks to the addition of a new radiation therapy technology.
“I had my mammogram and in a short amount of time they called me back and that started the whole thing,” Avera patient Sharon Erlenbusch said.
Erlenbusch found out she had cancer last year. After surgery and chemotherapy, she was ready to start radiation.
She calls the Pierre area home, and wanted to continue her treatment locally. Unfortunately she was going to have to travel to Sioux Falls instead.
“Dr. Jones and Dr. Figura both said we can’t do it in Pierre because we don’t have the equipment, we are supposed to be getting the equipment but we don’t know when that will be and Dr. Jones said it would be awhile, so I had made up my mind that I was going to Sioux Falls,” said Erlenbusch.
Staying Local for Cancer Care
But a short time later, a phone call brought some good news.
“I got a phone call from Dr. Figura’s nurse saying they had the equipment, the technicians were trained and I would have my treatment here. That changed everything,” said Erlenbusch.
In January, Avera St. Mary’s added a new radiation therapy technology. It was previously only available in Sioux Falls.
How Newly Added Radiation Therapy Technology Works
The tech improves precision and safety for patients undergoing radiation therapy treatments and is beneficial for deep inspiration breath hold techniques used in left-sided breast cancer treatment.
"By taking a deep breath during each radiation treatment you’re able to get more distance between the breast and the heart,” said radiation oncologist, Andrew Figura, MD. “And by doing that we can get that heart dose down to a very nominal amount, it gets a little scatter radiation but it’s very small.”
3D cameras monitor the patient's positioning and if they move more than necessary, the treatment will stop.
“When the beam comes in from the medial side you take a deep breath and when the machine turns to another angle and you take another deep breath,” said Figura. “And if needed the machine would shut off if she couldn’t hold a breath for that whole time and then she would take another breath and finish the treatment.”
“They were so patient with me and I made it, we got it done,” said Erlenbusch.
Making the new technology a big win for patients in Pierre.
“That just changed everything, not to be on the road in February was the best news ever, and then you’re sleeping in your own bed and you’re doing things at home, it was wonderful, it was a blessing,” said Erlenbusch.
A generous donation from The Helmsley Charitable Trust brought radiation oncology to Pierre in 2018. Along with Pierre, Sioux Falls and Yankton Avera Cancer Institutes also offer this technology.
Learn more about radiation therapy.
