Eleven patients have already been treated since the island’s new radiation therapy facility was officially opened last month.

Another 30 have embarked on their radiation treatment pathway with Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre, according to the centre’s medical director and clinical oncologist Chris Fosker.

“It has been going really well — we are up and running and we have had lots of patients through,” Dr Fosker told The Royal Gazette.

“We’re starting with a staggered start deliberately — you can only start so many people in one week. But every single slot that we’ve been able to start someone in, they have started.”

Some patients have already completed their treatment because they only needed one dose — others will be back for more.

“We have a mix of patients coming through that we are hoping to cure with the radiation and they are the ones who are having the longer courses of treatment,” Dr Fosker said.

“We have probably had an equal number of patients coming through where we are palliating, so hoping to help their symptoms with the radiation. A couple of those have shown good responses already.”

He said the facility would be able to treat between 15 and 18 patients a day, depending on the complexity of the treatments, adding that “we are going to be building up pretty quickly”.

The new radiation therapy unit was opened on May 17, after nine months of construction and more than two years of planning, and the first treatment was completed on May 23 — three days before the target date.

“It was only a slight difference but at the same time it was just everyone working incredibly hard that brought it all together,” Dr Fosker said.

“It’s gone way beyond my expectations in terms of how thrilled everyone has been in terms of what can be achieved here.”

He added that there had been “really positive” feedback from patients, who have been complimentary about how smoothly the service is run and the staff at the centre. “The therapist and the nurse have built up a nice rapport with those patients very quickly.”

He added that the constant support from the Dana Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Centre will also be continuing.

“Ever since the ribbon cutting, up to this week and onwards, we’ve had Brigham and Women personnel actually in the building, double-checking things and everything has gone completely to plan.”

However, the centre still has “a little ways to go” to cover the $10 million cost of the project, having raised $6.4 million so far. Relay for Life raised $2.2 million over the past four years, although funds are still coming in from this year’s event.

Noting that one in two men and one in three women will have cancer diagnosed in their lifetime, she said the “likelihood that a family member, a close friend, or even themselves possibly coming through our centre is pretty high”. “Supporting it now will certainly aid our ability to develop it further.”

The centre is still running three campaign levels, communications and fundraising manager Deborah Titterton Narraway explained.

“We’ve got what we call ‘plant a plant’ — we’ve been left with all these lovely flower beds and planters and I think Chris can attest to the fact that having nature and living plants around makes you relax coming in, makes you take a deep breath as you walk out. So we’ve got different tiers, starting at $25 in that area.”

The commemorative wall in the entrance hall is also being opened to the public, with large tiles costing $3,000 and small ones priced at $1,500.

“On top of that we do have the capital campaign, which runs from $3,000 and up,” Ms Titterton Narraway said.

“There are still naming opportunities available at the very high end but all of the donors will receive donor acknowledgments on either boards or plaques.”

“And once we’ve reached that $10 million goal, the funds raised will then support uninsured and underinsured patients who need radiation therapy.”

Underinsured patients do not have a copay, while the uninsured receive the treatment at no cost to them, she said.

FutureCare and Hip patients are already having the treatment with no copay because the centre is picking up the excess cost, “which would generally run into the tens of thousands in terms of the personal cost to the patients”, Dr Fosker explained.

And Ms Titterton Narraway said: “It’s even more than just the knowledge that they can have it done here, they don’t have to wait for someone to sign some paperwork or have a conversation behind the scenes of whether you will or won’t get extra funding — we don’t put any of that burden on the patient.

Dr Fosker added: “They can just think about themselves and not have to worry about where the money is coming from or who it’s coming from.

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