Miranda ~
Thanks for the link.
I read the entire N.Y. Times story and was dismayed that these errors, with their tragic results, occurred. I could write paragraphs on what I viewed as the causes but the majority stemmed from human error; incompetence, staffing shortages and inattentiveness on the part of doctors and hospital staff that resulted in a cascade of mistakes, ending with the harming and sometimes the death of the patient. That is unacceptable. Fortunately, most of the mistakes seem to have been corrected, such as having a fail-safe mechanism embedded in the software. I noticed that, statistically, the number of glitches (albeit, sometimes with deadly results) are a tiny percentage of the total Linear treatments administered each year. That should be noted. Of course, if you're one of the people that are the victim of a radiation mistake and suffer terrible harm - or death - statistics are of little comfort, I know.
In my experience with the Linear accelerator system, my neurosurgeon and the radiation oncologist he worked with spent most of a day 'mapping' my treatment, using just-taken MRI and CT scans as a guide. I had full confidence in both men. In fact, the radiation oncologist said, just before I was to begin the treatments, that he had programmed the radiation 'dosage' low enough to be effective but that he doubted I would even lose any hair at the radiation site..and I didn't. I agree that research is paramount but of course, human error can never be totally removed from this kind of procedure. I don't view this N.Y. Times piece as scary, just a cautionary tale that we can't take our treatment for granted. Still, we have little choice but to trust the doctors and the technicians at the facility we use. We have many members that have undergone CK, GK and FSR successfully. Their experience should help keep the risks of radiation, which are quite real, in perspective.
Jim
