Radiotherapy Journey

The morning of October 8th, 2005 shook my world - both literally and figuratively. A major earthquake devastated the entire region of Northern Pakistan and changed my life forever. Little did I know, when I was woken up by the sound of shattering glass and falling trees, that the scale of destruction would be so catastrophic. As the death toll continued to rise, I changed my inertia and grief into action and altruism. I decided to volunteer at one of the largest hospitals in my city. While watching doctors working tirelessly to save lives, my passion for becoming a doctor grew stronger. The satisfaction and sense of fulfillment I achieved after easing the patient's pain and making them feel better was priceless. This indeed was a defining moment in my life and gave it new direction and purpose. With a new found vigour and determination I entered medical school the same year.

I don't like the thought of people going through hard times alone. I always knew that I wanted a profession that involved caring for people, especially after my Father was diagnosed with Lung Cancer in January 2012, sadly my Father passed away in November 2014, but radiotherapy and chemotherapy improved his lifespan and quality of life, it provided a strength and hope that we as a family needed at the time of his diagnosis and its benefits overrode its side effects. I want to improve people's lives and help make a difference.

I have always been interested in the medical field. My father is a physiotherapist and my mother has a bachelorette in Microbiology and is a laboratory technologist. I have grown up having science-themed discussions around the dinner table and books lying around the house. With the experience of my parents at their respected professions, I did not have the feeling that these paths were the correct fit for me. I liked the hands on side of physiotherapy but I wanted something more technology related. I searched the medical field for a career that combined my fascination for both human science and technology in addition to being able to interact with patients. My research on Radiation Therapy instantly established a thought that this is a career

What do cancer, radiation, and technology have in common? The links between the three are quite extraordinary. Cancer is a disease that accounts for 13% of all deaths in the world (Delfino and Day 1). The disease has an impact on patients, friends and their love ones. According to WebMD, radiation is energy that travels in the form of waves through radiation therapy. Through radiation therapy, radiation is used to stop, slow or cure the growth of cancer. With technology, radiologists can treat cancer patients through radiation and special computerized imaging (WebMD).

The person who first sparked my interest in pursuing a career in medicine was my Mom. She used to tell me a story and say “you are one of my many miracles sweetie.” After being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and undergoing multiple rounds of chemo and radiation, the doctor told my Mom she would

My grandmother is a second mother to me as my parents were busy working to support our family. She has raised me to become the person I am today. I just started college when I learned that my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She went through a major surgery removing more than half of her right breast. I independently researched and studied medical vocabulary, so as to understand what the surgeons, PAs and nurses were communicating when caring for her. Recovering from surgery was difficult for my grandmother, and during this time, I encountered various medical staff trying their best to help. They often came to me and explained how her condition was to keep me and my family informed. At this moment, I began to grow my passion toward medical profession. I wanted to care for others like they had cared for my family. Thanks to these medical professionals, to this day my grandmother is healthy and cancer-free.

Radiation therapy is a type of treatment modality that administers radiation to patients with cancer. This form of treatment has many components that contribute toward ensuring the malignant tissue within the body is being adequately treated. One of the major components in radiation therapy is the use of bolus. Bolus is a material placed on the skin to help bring the radiation dose higher to the skin surface within the patient (Khan 2012). Since there are no research studies in the radiation oncology field which compare alternative bolus materials in providing maximum dose build-up, the purpose of this study is to close this informational gap by comparing the following types of bolus: Superflab, neon-green Play-Doh, orange Play-Doh, and uncooked rice.

As I reached high school, reality hit me. I was destined to be in the medical world, but I wanted to participate as soon as possible. I wanted to start caring for patients within the next few years, but that would not be possible until

“Imagine being locked in your own body. Imagine not being able to speak, walk on your own, see, or even swallow your own food; while having complete cognitive abilities and independent thought. Imagine waking up every morning and experiencing the sensation of losing the use of another finger, toe, or limb at a pace that shuts down your entire body within weeks. You are trapped, without hope or without a lifeline to the world around you. Now imagine you are just 6 years old,” (“The Cure Starts Now”). In January of 2007, life for a young girl and her family was about to change forever. Four-year-old Grace Ekis was undoubtedly diagnosed with an extremely rare and unfortunately incurable brain tumor called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, or

Radiotherapy works in two different ways; external radiotherapy, and internal radiotherapy. In external radiotherapy, the source of the radiation comes from the outside of the body and is targeted at the cancer. This is performed by a machine that directs radiation towards the cancer tumor and the tissue which surrounds the area. External radiotherapy can be used to treat larger areas of the body and is usually given daily over a number of weeks. By using external radiotherapy, the patient will not be radioactive and will be able to safely interact with other people.

In contrast, internal radiation therapy uses a radioactive material that is is placed inside the tumor. Internal radiotherapy can be performed in several ways. Brachytherapy is a type of internal radiation treatment in which a solid radioactive source in placed in the tumor. This involves the patient staying in hospital for a few days or until the radioactive source has been removed from their body. Another form of internal radiotherapy is radionuclide, which uses a liquid source of radiation. This can either be taken through the patient's mouth or by an injection placed into a vein. For radionuclide, the patient would need to stay in hospital until the radioactivity has left the body. Internal radiation therapy allows a higher dosage of radiation

beam is red at the target site depending on the phase or displacement windows chosen

Radiation therapy is the treatment of disease using x-rays or similar forms of radiation. The most common use of radiation therapy is to kill cancer cells. The way it works is by using high energy radiation to shrink the cancer cells. X-rays, gamma rays, and charged particles can be used to kill the cancer cells. This type of radiation therapy is called external beam radiation therapy and is given with a machine called a linear accelerator. Another form of radiation therapy is internal radiation therapy. This method works by placing radioactive material near the cancer cells. A third method is called systemic radiation therapy. Doctors put a radioactive substance into a person’s bloodstream to kill cancer cells. The way radiation therapy works

here are a few treatment options for Gene’s situation, but the first option we suggested (which is one of the standard methods) would be to surgically remove the pancreas and follow it with chemo-radiation therapy, also known as adjuvant therapy. Although there are a few surgical options, the best case for Gene would be to undergo a whipple procedure. According to Radiology Assistant, “patients with a pancreatic head tumor, typically dilatation of the common bile duct and pancreatic duct (double duct sign) is seen, which is very suggestive for a mass in the pancreatic head, even in the absence of a visible mass” (Karlson, 1999). This is exactly what was found in Genes MRI; therefore we concluded that the whipple, which involves the removal of the head of the pancreas, would be necessary. This procedure allows some of the pancreas to be salvaged, that way he is still able to produce a small amount of digestive juices and insulin. Even though we are not removing the entire pancreas, Gene might still have problems digesting and absorbing nutrients, so it is best if he takes medicine that might replace his pancreatic enzymes. He will need an enzyme supplement that contains

In 2007, it is predicted that almost 1.5 million people will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States (Pickle et al., 2007). More than half of these cancer patients will undergo the use of radiation as a means for treating cancer at some point during the course of their disease (Perez and Brady, 1998). Cancer, a disease caused by an uncontrollable growth of abnormal cells, affects millions of people around the world. Radiotherapy is one of the well known various methods used to treat cancer, where high powered rays are aimed directly at the tumor from the outside of the body as external radiation or an instrument is surgically placed inside the body producing a result of internal radiation. Radiation is delivered to the cancerous regions of the body to damage and destroy the cells in that area, terminating the rapid growth and division of the cells. Radiation therapy has been used by medicine as a treatment for cancer from the beginning of the twentieth century, with its earliest beginnings coming from the discovery of x-rays in 1895 by Wilhelm Röntgen. With the advancements in physics and computer programming, radiation had greatly evolved towards the end of the twentieth century and made the radiation treatment more effective. Radiation therapy is a curative treatment approach for cancer because it is successful in killing cancerous tumor cells and stop them from regenerating.