Meet Dr Miller

 

 

The Cancer Center is across the street from the main hospital. For liability reasons, Firefighter and EMS staff transport cancer patients via ambulance back and forth from the hospital to the Cancer Center. 

The staff at the Cancer Center are great. I’ve spent so much time there, they have become like a second family to me.  Dr Miller is the doctor that I give full credit to saving my life. 

Meet Dr Miller

Dr. Miller is a Radiation Oncologist with specialized training to provide advanced High Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy, a state-of-the-art treatment for people with prostate, breast, lung, cervical, uterine, skin, and oral cancers. His roots in our community run deep, as a native of Firth, Idaho. Dr. Miller completed his Residency at Mayo Clinic, where he served as Chief Resident; graduated from Creighton University School of Medicine; and earned his B.S. from Idaho State University.  (source: https://eirmc.com/specialties/oncology)

During my initial stay at EIRMC, I started radiation treatments. Dr Miller explained to me that while everyone considered my radical hysterectomy to be successful, the surgeon had taken all my reproductive organs, but left me with a partial cervix  The doctors are under the assumption that apparently when the cancerous mass was being removed, some cells fell off and attached themselves to this partial cervix. This is why I had been hemorrhaging. These cancer cells were slow growing, but after five years, the mass had grown to the size of a grapefruit. 

Because I have a history of bleeding, they were not keen on the idea of another surgery.  Instead, they were going to try radiation, followed by brachytherapy. (Don’t worry, I’ll explain that one to you in an upcoming post as I was confused by it as well)

But first, let’s talk about radiation treatment.  Initially, you are taken to a CT room, were images are taken of the area to be treated. In my case, they were very much interested in the cervix. Because the bladder sits on top of this area, one must fill their bladder to approx 95 percent full. This lifts the bladder up off of the area to be treated.  After the radiation team is happy with the images they have taken, they mark you up with permanent marker, followed by prison tats… er,.. I mean medical tats. The tats are a simple ‘dot’  that is used by the radiation machine and lasers to ensure that you are lined up precisely where you need to be so that only the area they are treating gets treated.  In my case, I received three ‘dots’ - one on the left hip, one in the center of my pelvic/abdominal region, and one on my right hip.

The second appointment is really your first official treatment. Here, you are taken to the treatment room and you get up on the tiny slab of a table and your tats are lined up with the lasers and the machine.  

If memory serves me correct, I was also placed in an abdominal binder that would help keep my body in place.  They have music playing in the background to help relax you.  The entire setup from start to finish takes about 25 minutes, with the majority of that time being spent in lining you up perfectly. The radiation usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes. The table tilts as needed to help with the perfect lineup.

The third appointment occurred on a Saturday, and I now know that weekend treatments are not the norm. Dr Miller was anxious to get my treatment started and to get me on my way back to some sort of normality of life. It was at this third appointment that I learned Dr Miller is much younger than I originally thought he was.While they were setting me up in the treatment room, the technician apologized because the music was 70s adult contemporary.  I said not to worry because it reminded me of my childhood. He just looked at me funny and said “Just how old are you?”  The tech thought I was much younger. I told him that I was born just a few years prior to the 70s. Dr Miller spoke up and said his dad was born in 1964.  Great. I’m old enough to be my doctor’s mother.  But he is very knowledgeable and I trust him wholly with my life. 

After spending 8 days total from the initial ER visit in Blackfoot to my discharge from EIRMC, I had received a total of 13 units of blood. 

I continued outpatient radiation treatments 5 days a week until the end of February. 

 

I was scheduled for Brachytherapy to start the following week. Instead, I had pneumonia for two weeks. 

 

 

Until next time…