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Patient journey
Patient journey
The multidisciplinary consultation meeting
The multidisciplinary consultation meeting for diagnostic or
or therapeutic purposes brings together expert doctors from different disciplines.
They study your case and make decisions to contribute to the establishment
of one or more therapeutic strategies (surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, chemotherapy). The multidisciplinary consultation meeting takes place once a week and per speciality; it can be carried out by video conference.
Diagnosis announcement consultation
During the diagnosis announcement consultation, the radiotherapy oncologist often relates the first accurate information on the nature of the disease and the therapeutic possibilities. Following the multidisciplinary consultation meeting, formed by a team of several specialists, your referring doctor will offer you the most suitable treatment and explain the different stages of your personalised care plan. All the information about your state of health is provided during an individual interview. It is up to you to decide with your doctor what treatment you will follow; your consent is fundamental. The doctor also explains the expected side effects. You will then meet with a radiology manipulator, who will determine the treatment schedule.
The centring scanner
In a second step, you return to the centre for a scan, which is designed to obtain a very precise identification of the area to be treated, but also to locate nearby healthy organs to protect them as best as possible. The examination begins with the choice of positioning and accessories (headrest, thermoformed masks, footrest) used to optimise the reproducibility of the treatment position so that it will be the most comfortable for you.
Marks (small dots) will be tattooed on the skin so that you can be placed systematically in the same position on each day of treatment; these dots are very discreet and painless. After the scan, you meet with a manipulator who will set with you the date of the start of your treatment, the schedules and explain the modalities of radiation therapy.
Conformational dosimetry
All images acquired by the centring scanner are transmitted to a computer console located in the physics unit where the radiotherapist designs the tumour and its possible extensions. In collaboration with the radiotherapist, dosimetrists and physicists verify that the treatment is perfectly adapted to your case with 3D dose calculation in dosimetric planning software.
Installation under the accelerator (blank session)
For safety, before any start of the treatment, we perform what we call a “blank session”. During this session, you will be positioned on the treatment table under the same conditions as for the centring scanner. An image acquisition system is integrated into the accelerator allowing real-time control of your correct positioning.
The treatment is then validated and can therefore begin. You are received by the manipulators who will take care of you at each session. The treatment usually lasts between two and eight weeks. The session is painless and can last between 10 and 60 minutes. One session per day is necessary for four or five consecutive days. During treatment, the part of the body to treat will be undressed. Placed on the treatment table, you must stay still for the duration of the session to prevent rays from reaching parts of the body that are not to be treated. The manipulators keep in touch with you via an intercom and they monitor you through cameras.
For the duration of your treatment, you will meet with a radiotherapist in a follow-up consultation, which allows you to ask any your questions and report any possible inconveniences.
