General 4 — ROPAH

Radiation Therapy
Guide for New Patients

Radiation Treatment

When you have radiation therapy at our centre you can expect to receive comprehensive care in a comfortable and friendly environment. To help us provide this service there are a few steps we would like you to follow.

Arriving for Your Treatment

On arrival, please check in at our Radiation Oncology reception desk located on Ground Floor (Zone E/F) in the main hospital building. The Receptionist will register your attendance and direct you to a designated waiting room.

The Receptionist will also issue your treatment and allied health appointment times, please check that these times are suitable and do not conflict with any other appointments you may have.

If you have a nuclear medicine appointment scheduled for a PET or Bone scan please tell the Receptionist as your radiation treatment time may need to be altered after this scan.

Please follow any pre-treatment instructions provided at your CT planning session. These may relate to bladder/ bowel preparation or medications that you need to take prior to treatment.

To help us avoid treatment delays please arrive at your scheduled appointment time or call us at the earliest opportunity if you are running late.

Radiation treatment provided by the Radiation
Oncology Princess Alexandra Hospital (Ipswich Road
and Raymond Terrace Campuses) is bulk billed through Medicare. There is no out of pocket expense for Australian residents.

Preparation & Set-up

When it is time for your treatment a Radiation Therapist will call you from the waiting room and identify you by name and date of birth. They will then explain your treatment procedure and check that any pre-treatment instructions given have been followed. For example, bladder and bowel preparation or taking of medication (only if required).

After this discussion the Therapist will escort you into one of our treatment rooms. As a rule family and friends are not permitted into this area. Inside the treatment room you will see a large machine called a linear accelerator. This machine electrically generates radiation so there is no ongoing radioactivity.

Depending on your treatment area, you may be asked to remove items of clothing and jewellery. A sheet will be used to cover you, however if you feel more comfortable wearing a hospital gown one can be provided.

Once changed, you are then required to lie down on the motorised bed connected to the linear accelerator.

A team of Radiation Therapists use the information obtained from your planning session to set this bed and position your body. The Therapists may need to physically move your body to align your treatment area with the linear accelerator. If you were tattooed during your CT planning these marks will be used for alignment.

When your position is set the radiation therapists will leave the room to activate the linear accelerator from an adjacent control area. A loud beeping sound will signal that the staff have left the treatment room.

Radiation therapy is a made to order treatment designed
to manage individual conditions. While some patients
may have a similar treatment to yours, it will not be
exactly the same.

Administering Radiation

When the Radiation Therapists leave the treatment room it is important to keep still & breathe normally. From the control area the Therapists operate the linear accelerator and check settings before delivering the treatment.

Even though you are alone in the treatment room the Radiation Therapists can still see, hear and speak to you via a closed circuit camera and intercom system.

In the majority of cases the Radiation Therapists will begin by setting the linear accelerator to take a digital X-ray image of your treatment area.During this scan the linear accelerator may rotate around you and produce a continuous buzzing sound.

After finishing the scan, the Therapists may take a few minutes to review the images. A computer program also checks the scan and displays measurements of how accurately you are aligned.

Usually a small adjustment in your position is required to precisely align your planned treatment area.

You may hear a clicking sound and feel the bed move as this adjustment is automatically made.

After your treatment area is precisely matched to your planned position the linear accelerator is programmed to administer the radiation therapy.

Once activated, the linear accelerator produces a loud buzzing sound and may rotate around you as it directs a controlled beam of radiation at your treatment area.

The total amount of time treatment takes (including positioning) is on average no more than 20 minutes. However this can vary depending on the area being treated and the radiation therapy technique applied.

After Your First Treatment

After your treatment session is complete you may still have other appointments to attend with our Allied Health team.

If you are unsure please ask at reception. It is recommended that you confirm your next treatment appointment at the reception desk before leaving the department. This may help avoid confusion should any changes arise. Depending on your treatment area our health care team

may give you specific instructions relating to medications, skin care, diet or exercise. It is important to follow this advice as it may help reduce side effects and improve your treatment outcome.

If you are having multiple treatments, it is unlikely that you will experience any side effects immediately. This is because radiation effects gradually build up over time.

However if you feel unwell or are concerned about side effects please speak to our Nurses.

Please remember that when your treatment session is finished the Radiation Therapists will return into the room and assist you down from the bed. It is important that you remain still until advised it is safe to move. 