Photos of the September 2010 Meeting
Photos courtesy of Gerry & Wanda McGonigle

  
 

Some of this month's attendees waiting for the meeting to begin. We had a good turnout, considering that it was the day after Labor Day. Sometimes folks forget our meetings that follow major holidays.

  
   
 

Jack Sheets chose a John Deere hat for his report this month.

  
   
 

President Joetta Hoewisch announced that she will be stepping down after this year. She has served us for seven years and leaves behind some big shoes to fill.

  
 

 

  
  Anuj V. Peddada,MD, is a graduate of the Louisiana State University School of Medicine. He completed his medical internship in the Department of Internal Medicine at Louisiana State University Medical Center and his residency in Radiation Oncology at Southern California Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he also served as Chief Resident and Staff Radiation Oncologist. Along with practicing medicine, Dr. Peddada has also served as a clinical instructor at the UCLA School of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology.

In 1994 he was awarded the American College of Radiation Oncology Fellowship in 3-D Conformal Radiotherapy, which he completed at both Fox Chase Cancer Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He also received specialized training in gamma knife radiosurgery in Stockholm, Sweden. He is certified by the American Board of Radiology (Radiation Oncology).

At Penrose Cancer Center, Dr. Peddada launched the high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy (prostate, gynecological, breast, esophageal and lung), IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) programs. He now teaches a course in IMRT for head and neck, as well as prostate cancers with physicians from across the country traveling to Colorado Springs to attend his course.

Dr. Peddada is active in research and has served as principal investigator for RTOG cancer trials. Currently, he is actively participating in a national study on partial breast irradiation. Penrose is the only site in southern Colorado that offers patients all three techniques of partial breast irradiation on this important study including multi-catheter, mammosite and 3-D conformal radiation. He is also published in a wide array of professional journals.

Dr. Peddada currently serves as the Medical Director for the department of Radiation Oncology at Penrose Cancer Center. In 2006 the El Paso County Medical Society and Peak Vista Community Health Centers recognized him for his volunteer service to the Colorado Springs community. He has also received the Sword of Hope Award, given for outstanding work in the field of cancer, from the American Cancer Society.
 

The presentation was very interesting and relatively easy to follow, even without a medical degree. The Cyber Knife can very precisely target a specific spot in the body, thus allowing a much stronger dose of radiation to be delivered at each treatment session. This translates into a much shorter course of treatement to achieve the same results as with older technology.The Cyber Knife certainly seems like a wonderful tool to have in our local medical arsenal.

  
 

A typical Cyber Knife Suite. Looks like something out of "Star Wars" doesn't it?

  
   
 

At the end of his presentation, Dr. Peddada took time to answer a number of questions about the use of radiation in the treatment of cancer as well as cancer treatment options in general.

  
 

Following the presentation, Jerry Murphy chats with Lorraine Meredith. Jerry was treated using the Cyber Knife, and is quite enthusiastic about the results achieved in his case.

  
 

As usual, the meeting was followed by refreshements.

  
 

One of our more faithful contributors is Mary Lou Bailey. She and husband, Les, often step forward when there is a call for volunteers to take on some chore to support our club. Today she was involved in providing and serving up the refreshements to our hungry members.

  
 

This was really a meal, and most took advantage of it. There's Les Bailey in the background.