Ted’s Story: Starving Colon Cancer with Y-90

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“My name is Ted. I am 53 years old and I’ve been a patient of the Interventional Radiology Department at Miami Valley Hospital.

I had a few symptoms that led me to believe that I should get my colonoscopy done. And I went and had the colonoscopy, and it was determined after the colonoscopy that I had colon cancer. And through further testing, it was determined that I had some metastasis into my liver. So I went through the surgery to have my colon resected and onto chemotherapy where I responded well. Following the first two cycles of chemotherapy, they came in and decided that there were some other treatments that I should look into, which led me to Miami Valley.

I met with Dr. Brittain, and he determined that I was a good candidate for a procedure called Y-90 ablation ( radioembolization). The process sounds very scary and very complicated. But the truth of the matter is, in terms of the treatments I’ve been through so far, it was very simple, and it was almost painless. And the side effects were very minimal.

The procedure was done at the Miami Valley Hospital campus downtown. And I was an outpatient. So I went in in the morning, and I believe in both instances, I was home by 2 o’clock. It was pretty amazing that they can do that and that they can deliver that much treatment to you in that short a time span, and I was awake throughout the entire procedure. They give you medication similar to a colonoscopy where you are somewhat relaxed. I certainly didn’t feel any pain. The only discomfort really is laying in the same spot for a couple of hours.

The doctors and nurses and the aides and everyone at Miami Valley have been great to me. They are all very well trained and skilled. Everyone knows what it is they are supposed to be doing, and they do it well. If you want for anything, they get it for you quickly. They are very careful to make sure you are not in any pain. As soon as you can eat or drink after these things, they get it to you right away because they know how much a cup of coffee means to you.

Dr. Brittain just has great bedside manner. He tells you the truth. And that is what you want in a doctor more than anything. You want a doctor to tell you what is going on — what to expect. Whatever they do, you want to know exactly what is going on in your body, and they are good at that.”