Cancer patients in the Four Corners area now have new options for treatment. San Juan Regional Cancer Center is equipped with new advanced technology that’s changing the way we are able to deliver treatment right here at home.
“We have not had this kind of technology before. We will now be able to treat the very smallest of tumors that could live on a nerve,” said Troy Fuhrman, Director of San Juan Regional Cancer Center. “It’s an amazing treatment approach, very precise. Before we would have to send some of our patients to Mayo for treatment. Technology has come such a long way that now we are going to have this in San Juan County.”
The $5 million investment includes a CT scanner and linear accelerator that work in tandem. The CT scanner pinpoints the exact location of a tumor and then sends that information to the linear accelerator, a radiation therapy machine, for precise treatment.
Troy Fuhrman, Director of San Juan Regional Cancer Center discusses the installation of the new GE CT Simulator.
Our new CT scanner, the GE CT Simulator, uses lasers and 4D imaging to specifically and accurately target and image the area to be treated. The simulator also includes a respiratory gating system that can detect and monitor breathing, so even if a tumor moves while someone is breathing, the radiation therapy knows to adjust accordingly.
“It’s state of the art technology,” Fuhrman said. “We are one of the first ones to get it west of the Rockies.”
Our linear accelerator, the Varian Edge Radiosurgery System, delivers stereotactic radiation therapy. This is a “cyber knife” that can precisely deliver treatment to the very smallest of tumors from multiple different angles at the same time. This helps to preserve healthy tissue surrounding the treatment area and significantly cuts down on the time it takes to complete treatment.
Chelsea Page-Robertson, a Medical Physicist with Colorado Associates In Medical Physics tests the the Varian Edge Radiosurgery System.
“Some types of cancer treatments can go eight to ten weeks, but this system will cut it down to two weeks,” Fuhrman said. “That is total night and day for a patient.”
“The fatigue that comes from chemo and radiation is astronomical. So, to cut that down from eight to ten weeks to just two, how exciting is that?” said Deb Albin, RN and Cancer Navigator at San Juan Regional Cancer Center. “It’s so beneficial to our patients.”
As a smaller community owned and operated hospital in a remote area, we are extremely fortunate to have this kind of advanced technology available for patients who need it.
“A lot of hospitals our size do not have these luxuries,” Fuhrman said. “When we get travelers or visiting physicians here from big cities, many are shocked to see our equipment.”
San Juan Regional Cancer Center is now scheduling appointments as it resumes treatment with this new technology. For more information, visit us online https://www.sanjuanregional.com/ourservices/cancer or call us at 505.609.6259. Patients are also encouraged to call Cancer Navigator Deb Albin with any questions or concerns they may have at 505.609.6089.