B.C. Cancer Agency: Not as bad as its reports...

I don't know if this writer, Gary Mason, has ever needed the services of the local Cancer Society Clinic at 600 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC but I've been going there since the spring of 2010, for treatment of prostate cancer. 

My radiation oncologist is Dr. Mira Keyes, and I'm personally convinced that she's an angel in disguise. She performs miracles, and I'm one of them. She's very busy, because she also teaches at the University of British Columbia's Medical School. 

When I first went there for evaluation, Dr. Keyes explained that there were different treatment methods available, and one of those involved mapping of the prostate using ultrasound to pinpoint the cancerous spots in the prostate, and then injecting radioactive pellets directly into it, into those cancerous locations, so that these low-dose radioactive pellets would form a little cloud of radiation just large enough to kill the cancerous areas without having nearby tissue and organs involved in the radiation treatment, such as would be the case if we used external radiation. The radioactive pellets being a one-time treatment, as opposed to those frequent external radiation treatments over a period of about six weeks. 

I chose the radioactive pellets, a procedure called prostate brachytherapy, and this procedure is performed in about 45 minutes, and then after you come out of the anesthetic, you can get up and get dressed and you're free to go. When I was able to begin dressing, I looked at the area where the needles inject those pellets, and there was virtually no sign of what had just been done. No bandages, nothing except some disinfectant. They kept me in their nearby hostel overnight, because I had nobody to take me home and watch me for 24 hours, but after that, I was on my own, and quite mobile.

Since then, I've been getting tests twice a year, following which there's a short visit with Dr. Keyes, and during this latest one about a month ago, she said, "Your PSA reading is only 0.21, and I think it's safe to call this a cure now." I said, "To me, it seems like a miracle, and I can't find the words to thank you for saving my life." She said, "It seems like a miracle to me too. Keep on getting your tests every six months, and I'll see you again at the end of March, 2017".

I can't comment on the Clinic's administrators nor their problems, but it has been my experience that I've received the very best of care and attention from their overworked staff, and a finer bunch of people you won't find anywhere. And if they didn't do excellent work, I probably wouldn't be telling you this.