Sidney Health Center Cancer Center Expansion

The Sidney Health Center Cancer Center recently conducted a tour of the new expansion of the cancer center. One that has roughly costed $7 million that started in 2022 but now has been completed with new treatment rooms, as well as some new technology to help patients with various conditions. With this new expansion they were able to add a Hyperbaric Oxygen chamber. A medical procedure that involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber to treat various conditions. Oxygen, when delivered to a patient in a hyperbaric chamber, greatly increases the amount of oxygen that can be delivered to body tissues by blood. All the benefits provided by hyperbaric oxygen therapy are a result of this extra oxygen being carried within the bloodstream.This treatment can help treat delayed radiation injuries, bone infections, skin wounds, diabetic foot and leg wounds, burns, crush injuries, carbon monoxide poisoning, and gangrene. It is also used for infections in which tissues are starved for oxygen. This type of therapy is a non-invasive treatment that involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber. While being treated Ashley Braun, RN - Wound Care & Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, will be walking you through the treatment along with other nurses that work hard to make these treatments as comfortable as possible.

The Cancer Center was also able to get a device for treatment called an Optune device. Now Optune is made of strips of electrodes that cover a patient's shaved head. The electrodes create low-intensity, alternating electrical fields that are designed to slow the growth of cancer cells. Optune can also shrink the tumor, which reduces pressure on areas of the brain where the tumor is located, thus alleviating symptoms such as headaches, nausea, memory loss, and changes in personality. This device is hard to come by and normally patients were sent to Billings to get the Optune device treatment, but now Sidney's cancer center was able to get the funds to bring this device in so patients could be treated in Sidney.

The Radixact System using TomoTherapy technology is a sophisticated radiation therapy system that effectively treats cancer anywhere in the body with high precision. The only radiation therapy system designed on a CT scanner foundation, the Radixact System uses daily imaging to guide the treatment each day and deliver highly accurate radiation dose from 360 degrees around the patient.

The center is able to now take a normally 3-6 minute treatment down to a 1-2 minute treatment which is allowing Dr. Kiehl, MD, to see patients even more in a day since treatment time takes about 15 minutes now to be seen. TomoTherapy provides flexibility in the treatment plan and minimizes the radiation exposure to healthy tissue.

While you are being treated there will always be two different therapists monitoring the treatment thoroughly during your visit.

If you are needing an infusion the cancer center has gone above and beyond to make sure you are as comfortable as possible. Aaron Franke, MD – Medical Oncologist & Chad Pedersen, MD – Medical Oncologist will be the ones to tend to you as well as the nurses to help with the infusion process. While there you can either sit by the sun during your treatment or get a private room