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Spring 
Rogue Valley Medical Center Health Newsletter
INTHISISSUE
TomoTherapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Stroke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Pediatric Sleep. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Colon Cancer Therapy. . . . . . . . . . . 8Colon-healthy Recipe. . . . . . . . . . . . 9Hospice Volunteers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Calendar of Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Your Health
Goes Green. . . . . . . . . 12
TomoTherapy
Bringing hope to cancertreatment in ourcommunity
 page 2
 
I
t would be diffi cult to park your car inyour garage with your eyes closed. Nowimagine that someone moved the garage. Wouldn’t you want to know where it was?Some cancers, such as prostate cancer, pose asimilar problem for doctors because the canceris in a part of the body where itcan shift and move. Doctorsneed to know precisely  where the tumor isto deliver the mosteffective doseof radiation.omoTerapy,the newest formof radiationtherapy forcertain cancers, gives doctors that ability, andit is now available at Dubs Cancer Center atRogue Valley Medical Center (RVMC).Te omoTerapy Hi-Art treatmentsystem combines intensity-modulatedradiation therapy (IMR)—the mosteffective form of radiation therapy—withthe image precision of a C (computerizedaxial tomography) scan to guide radiationexactly to tumor areas. Patients lie on a tablethat moves through a donutlike opening. Asthey pass through, the IMR heads spinaround inside the donut, sendingradiation beams at an infinite numberof angles to reach the exact locationof the tumor. Tis maximizes the radiationreaching the cancer while minimizing damageto the surrounding healthy tissue.“omoTerapy represents the bestradiation approach for many cancers,” saysradiation oncologist Jere Sandefur, MD.“We are going to take a scan every day on thetable right before we treat the patient so wecan shift the radiation right to the target.”Current treatment systems requiregetting a C image of the tumor and thenpositioning the body at a later time andtargeting the tumor based on the image. Tis works extremely well for most cancers but notfor ones in very sensitive places such as thespine and the neck or in areas that move suchas the prostate.“We were already using IMR and C,”Dr. Sandefur says, “but omo brings togetherall these parts into one package. We see it,then we treat it at the same time. It is clearly better, and bringing it to the Rogue Valley  was something we had to do.”
TT
Revolutionary Cancer Treatment Now at Rogue Valley Medical
2 |
Read more about the new TomoTherapy treatment system at
www.rvmc.org,
keyword:

“A patient does not have togo out of town to get thebest treatment available.”
 
—
 Jere Sandefur, MD
 
Previously, local patients had to travel either to Salem orto the University of California at Davis near Sacramento foromoTerapy. Tanks to generous and ongoing community support through the Asante Foundation, this startlingly successful therapy is now available here.Te cancer specialists at Dubs Cancer Center on the RVMCcampus can help you decide if omoTerapy is the right choicefor you or your loved one.For more information call
1-877-789-8666
.
Center
W
hen Jed Meese needed care for his prostate cancer, he wanted the most effectivetreatment to give himself a winning edge. o do that, he had to travel to Washington state.“I am very fortunate. I could afford to leave the area. Some people can’t,” saysMeese. He and his wife, Celia, are supporting omoTerapy by donating a lead giftto the Asante Foundation. “It is very important for everybody in the area to have a top-notch hospital with cutting-edge treatments like omoTerapy,” explains Meese.Te Asante Foundation will continue to raise funds to cover its cost, says Deborah Ameen, Asante’s chief development offi cer. “Our Foundation Board felt that improvedradiation therapy would make a difference to our community’s cancer patients and thatthey shouldn’t have to wait or travel hundreds of miles,” she continues. “Donors like Jed and Celia Meese give to the hospitalbecause of their belief that philanthropy leverages partnerships among the hospital,physicians, and the community. ogether we create a connection of care.” Jed put it this way: “We have beenvery fortunate and we like to give back.By giving to RVMC, you can make a hugedifference in a lot of people’s lives.”“And we hope others do the same,”Celia adds.
CommunitySupportMakesTomoTherapyPossible
To make a gi, go to
www.rvmc.org,
keyword:
gvg
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Jed and Celia Meese
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