Sunday, March 6, 2011

Cheaper to let Canadians die?

As you can see the beads used in this are made in Canada but it seems the treatment is not available in Canada. Cheaper for the Canadian health care system to let us die!!!.

Extending and improving life

Dr. Charles Nutting works on Socrates Sclavenitis, a patient with stage 4 liver cancer, during a procedure that is expected to relieve him of pain and extend his life. Sky Ridge Medical Center is one of few facilities nationwide to send radioactive beads into the body via catheter to attack a tumor. Patients have come from all over the world to seek help and comfort from Nutting, chief of interventional radiology at Sky Ridge. Photo by Chris Michlewicz

By Chris Michlewicz
Published: 03.04.11

The patients who enter Dr. Charles Nutting's world often have only been given months to live. They seek his help because he offers them the one thing others have not: hope.
A few have come from the corners of the earth, only finding out about his gift through the Internet or a specialist in their home country. On a sunny morning in mid-February, Nutting is preparing to operate on a handful of patients. First up is Socrates Sclavenitis, a Denver man whose wife sits faithfully by his bedside as he gets ready for the procedure. He has been diagnosed with stage 4 primary liver cancer, and the tumor has taken hold of his internal organs.

Nutting, chief of interventional radiology at Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, uses the latest technology to treat late-stage cancer
patients. He has mastered a procedure called radioembolization and has spent the better part of the last few years teaching other doctors how to administer the incredible therapy.

"To really be able to have results I think is what he and his team find so amazing. They really can give people life," said Linda Watson, spokeswoman for Sky Ridge, as she watches the team prepare for a thersphere radioembolization.

Using medical instruments and computer-guided imagery, Nutting goes into select parts of the body to inject a treatment directly into the tumor. On this particular day, an assistant inserts a catheter into Sclavenitis' groin. Nutting then uses the catheter as a guide to find a main artery into the liver before hooking into it with a machine that resembles a small hamster cage.

The machine contains the special potion, Yttrium-90, which is made up of small radioactive beads manufactured by a company in Canada. About 4 million beads ­ each the size of a grain of sand ­ are fed into the artery with saline via the catheter, and the blood-thirsty tumor sucks them in. Once the beads are trapped inside the
tumor, they go to work for roughly two weeks, exerting radioactive energy and shrinking the tumor.

Radioembolization helps loosen the tumor's grip on nerve fibers that cause discomfort or pain, improving quality of life for 90 percent of his patients. Instead of going through other, more debilitating treatments, the procedure eventually allows them to resume daily activities.

Nutting, a good-natured Lone Tree resident with an obvious passion for his job, said the role is attractive because he has the ability to change lives.

"We're actually offering hope to people that everybody else has said nothing can be done, so it's very rewarding to see patients come back," he said.

Nutting recalls the Christmas cards and wreaths he receives from former patients who are understandably grateful for another chance. Sometimes, his patients want to spend another holiday with their family or see a child graduate. It is hearing about those special moments that makes the treatment worth while.

"It will shrink the tumors and extend the life of the patient for sometimes many more years than they would ever have been projected," Watson said. "It really is quite amazing what he does in there."

However, Nutting says he is cautious not to give false hope and is always "realistic about expectations." A patient's survival depends on several factors, including the type of tumor, the amount of disease they have coming in, and whether it has metasticized.

Some patients have seen as many as 10 specialists before they end up in the suite where Nutting works his magic. A 14-year-old boy from Chicago was given three months to live and his hospital would no longer treat him. Nutting performed a radioembolization on him and the young man lived two more fulfilling years.

Nutting's patients end up in interventional radiology because they are non-surgical candidates, meaning the cancer has progressed to the point that doctors cannot go in and remove the mass. Only about 15 percent of late-stage cancer patients can have surgery, he says.

Radioembolization is a minimally invasive procedure that takes 20-30 minutes. Patients are under conscious sedation so they are comfortable, can follow directions to hold their breath so doctors can take X-rays during the procedure. Patients typically go home the same day. The beads will remain in their body forever.

Guided imagery is key to the success of radioembolization. Nutting uses a 54-inch television screen that enables him to see various scans, including real-time images that show the heart, liver, spleen, gall bladder and the location of the tumor. The surgical suite has only been in operation for six months, but it has everything in one place.

"The administration at Sky Ridge is very forward-thinking. They said 'how can we pull the different therapies and modalities into one room to give the patient the best care?'" Nutting said, adding that Sky Ridge is the only facility in Colorado that offers this type of treatment.

Nutting performs about 100 infusions of radioactive beads per year and the number is climbing. He is also able to use needles to inject cancer-fighting solutions into the lungs, bones and kidneys to shrink tumors.

"We're doing things here that no one else does," he said. "It's the combination of therapy and imaging that really makes it work."

Source URL/photo/online video:
http://coloradocommunitynewspapers.com/articles/2011/03/06/lone_tree_voice/news/03_cm_surgery_ltv.txt


Bruce DeVenne
b1devenne@ns.sympatico.ca

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