Preparing for Your First Appointment

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Consultation

What you should bring

In order to expedite the registration process at the time of your initial consultation you will need to bring:

Health insurance card with your policy number and name of policy holder (spouse or other family member whose name is on the insurance policy), and policyholder's social security number.
Employer's name, address and phone number, if you are covered under your employer's insurance program.
Medicare card
Your Advance Directives ("living will").
Referring physician's name, address and phone number.
List of medications you currently take (including over-the-counter medicines).
Your parking ticket for validation.

What to Wear

We recommend that you where comfortable clothing that is easy to change in and out of because more than likely you will be asked to change into a patient examination gown. Lockers with keys are located in the dressing area for your convenience.

Forms You'll be Asked to Sign

Consent for Treatment — After your questions have been answered at this initial consultation, you will be asked to sign a "Consent for Treatment" form. Signing the consent form indicates that you understand the risks and benefits associated with radiation treatment, and that you agree to proceed with the proposed treatment plan. By signing the consent form, you do not give up your right to stop treatments, if you decide to discontinue at any time during your radiation therapy program.

Other forms you'll be asked to complete

Signature on file
Release of information
Patient survey
Patient Initial Consultation Form

We encourage you to download and print out this form.

Please fill out as much as you can.

Simulation

At the time of consultation your physician will evaluate the information that has been given to them and with you will determine if a course of radiation therapy will be beneficial for you. If you are decide to proceed with a course of Radiation Therapy the next step is the scheduling of a simulation procedure. This procedure is the beginning of the planning phase that will be personalized with your specific needs in mind.

When to Arrive

On the day of your appointment, please plan to arrive 15 minutes early.

What to Expect

One of the purposes of the simulation appointment is to position you on the table in such a manner that the therapist will be able to reproduce it each day. It may be necessary to create some form of custom immobilization (Vac-Loc Bag, Alphacradle, Aquaplast Mask) that will help you and the therapists to ensure that you are positioned accurately on the treatment table each day. You will be asked to lie still for this process but you will not experience any discomfort.

The next step will be to localize the area that needs to be treated. The department has a conventional simulator as well as a dedicated CT simulator and your physician will decide which type of simulation is most appropriate for you. If this is done on the CT simulator you may be given intravenous contrast to highlight the areas of interest. It is also possible that you may need to be given other forms of contrast and this will have been explained to you at the time of consultation along with any specific dietary instructions that you may need to follow prior to simulation. The actual CT scan will only take about fifteen minutes. If you are to be simulated on the conventional simulator it will probably take a minimum of one hour. It is not uncommon to have a second simulation a few days later to finalize your treatment plan before the actual treatment starts.

The therapist may put marks on your skin with a felt tip marker or skin markers and you will be asked not to wash these marks off. In some cases you will be given some permanent, very small marks to ensure that the therapists are able treat you accurately each day.

After your simulation you and the simulation therapist will formulate your treatment schedule.

Treatment

When to Arrive

After your simulation, you will be given an appointment card with the time and date of your first appointment for treatment. Your appointment time will usually be the same throughout your course of treatment although we try to be flexible to accommodate conflicting schedules.

Routine treatments are scheduled from Monday through Friday on a daily basis between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, except for holidays.

We try our best to accommodate your requests, but we cannot guarantee that the specific time you want will be available. However, if that time should become available in the future we will move your appointment to your desired time.

A licensed Radiation Therapists, a person with special training to work the equipment that delivers the radiation, will administer your daily treatments. While you are receiving treatments you will see your physician and a nurse at least once a week to access your progress and address any problems you may be having. Nutritional and Social Service Counseling is also available to assist you with any issues you may be having.

Rescheduling

We understand that emergencies and occasional conflicts may occur at your appointment time. It is essential that you do not skip any treatments or other clinic appointments. Therefore, if you must reschedule your appointment, please call us as soon as possible. (One day's notice is helpful.) Your therapist will advise you of any schedule changes caused by major holidays.