|
Profiles in Cancer:
When Janie Szot sees her regular physician for physicals he always says the same thing, "You would never know you had breast cancer." Ms.Szot, whose early stage breast cancer was discovered during the first mammogram she ever had, attributes her favorable cosmetic results to treatment she received at the Department of Radiation Oncology at Saint Barnabas. "I expected my skin to get red and to have a bad burn during treatment, as well as long-term skin changes", says Ms. Szot. I never had any of that. I think cosmetic issues are important to any woman. It was a very positive experience. Saint Barnabas is one of the only Radiation Oncology Departments in New Jersey that delivers radiation oncology treatment to larger breasted women while they are in a prone position (lying on the belly). Patients with large breasts pose a challenge because the radiation dose may not be distributed evenly. Treatment in the prone position minimizes irregular dosing, which then decreases the dose to the heart, lung and chest wall, reports Alison Grann, M.D., radiation oncologist at Saint Barnabas. It also results in dramatically better cosmetic outcomes. In addition to a more targeted treatment with a positive cosmetic outcome, Ms. Szot reports that she had no side effects. She went to the six weeks of treatment during her lunchtime and never had to take time off from work. Her husband and children, who were in middle and high school at the time, felt that their wife and mother didn t skip a beat in terms of her everyday activity level. Most of all, Ms. Szot was pleased that the treatment was very targeted on the small cancerous area. The results were terrific and the treatment didn t affect the other organs, she says. I can t say enough good things about Dr. Grann and the treatment I received. For more information about The Department of Radiation Oncology, please call (973) 322-5630. [ top ] |
|
||||||||||
