Your radiation therapy, or treatment course, begins with a consultation visit. You will be interviewed to record all necessary information for your patient chart. At this time you will be asked to sign a form authorizing the Center to release information about your illness to your insurance company(s) and any physicians, medical facilities or community agencies which may potentially offer you assistance.
One of the radiation oncology nurses will visit with you, take your vital signs and assist you in completing a questionnaire, if needed. Your physician will ask you about your medical history and perform a thorough physical examination. This is done to make sure that radiation therapy is necessary and, if so, to determine the best possible way of delivering your unique treatments.
Your radiation oncologist will communicate with the physician who referred you to the Center so that your care is carefully planned and coordinated.
In Baton Rouge, you will be given a patient identification card. Scan your card at the reception desk every day you come to the Center for treatment. In Hammond and Covington please check in with the receptionist.
You will also receive a copy of a patient video prior to your treatment at Mary Bird Perkins. The patient video will prepare you for your first visit to the Center.