Real Miracles, Healing Stories
Senator Tom Gannon—Healing Story: Novalis
When Twin Falls Legislator Tom Gannon, of Buhl, learned in September of 2003,
that he had prostate cancer, he reacted in the same, no-nonsense manner he
brings to issues in the Statehouse.
"I said to my wife, 'OK, I've got it. Now, let's get it fixed. We're going to beat this.'"
Following Tom's surgery in Twin Falls, where his urologist, David Bowyer, M.D. found the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, Gannon began hormone therapy as he started his second session as a State Senator representing District 23. Three months later, he began radiation treatment at the Saint Alphonsus Cancer Care Center in Boise.
The daily radiation treatments left him fatigued and his energy waned at times. As is typical with most radiation therapy patients, Tom's radiation had to be delivered over a larger field than where his cancer was, to ensure all of his cancer was being treated. This approach involved the irradiation of large amounts of normal tissue surrounding his prostate, and resulted in a few other side effects.
From the onset, Tom's radiation oncologist, David Koeplin, M.D., suggested he would be a great candidate for Novalis Shaped Beam Surgery—a new highly-precise radiation treatment that was just being installed in the Cancer Care Center.
"I was nearing the end of the Legislative Session, and Dr. Koeplin suggested we wait to start treatment to ensure Novalis would be on-line. I'm glad we did." As planned, following four weeks of traditional irradiation, Tom switched to Novalis.
Gannon became the first prostate patient to undergo treatment with Novalis at Saint Alphonsus in April, 2004. Saint Alphonsus is the only hospital in the Northwest utilizing Novalis's highly-precise stereotactic radiation technology.
With Novalis, the radiation beams are shaped to match the exact contour of the tumor or lesion so that even tiny, irregularly shaped tumors can be treated very precisely, protecting most of the surrounding, healthy tissue. The radiation oncologist defines the target and the critical structures or organs that should be given minimal dose. Sophisticated software then calculates the ideal radiation beam arrangement and defines the treatment plan.
During treatment, Novalis steadily rotates around the patient's body so that the radiation beams converge on the tumor or lesion from many different angles. While the tumor receives the full dose of radiation, the surrounding healthy tissue receives only a fraction of the total dose, which reduces potential damage to delicate structures such as the bladder or spinal cord.
Following his daily Novalis treatment sessions at Saint Alphonsus, Gannon returned to Buhl and his other job as Planning and Zoning Administrator for the City of Buhl.
Today, the 59-year-old retired Navy officer is thanking his Twin Falls urologist, Dr. Bowyer, for recommending Saint Alphonsus.
"Considering my situation, I really feel I couldn't have had better treatment than I had here in Boise," Gannon said. "And Novalis is so precise that there was no more collateral damage to my other healthy organs. After 8 1/2 weeks of treatment I felt better than I did at the end of week four. My side effects subsided then vanished three months after treatment.”
In fact, one of the most important things he learned during his ordeal, besides getting regular check-ups (by regular check-ups Tom means ALL males having a PSA test at the age of 50) was what outstanding treatment he received by all of his doctors.
"There is a strong push to go out of state for medical treatment because people think they can get better care in the bigger cities, like Salt Lake or Seattle, and it's just not true," Tom stated. "I found my doctors in Twin Falls and Boise to be extremely competent and confident, and I would recommend that everyone check out the medical options locally before seeking treatment outside of Idaho."
Gannon said a recent check-up brought him more good news. "It's like graduation day after your last treatment. I feel great."