December 2018 | Vol. 15 Iss. 12
FREE
HOLLADAY DOCTORS UNITE FOR FIRST PET RADIATION TREATMENT FACILITY IN UTAH By Lindsey Baxter | l.baxter@mycityjournals.com wo Holladay doctors have come together for a first-of-its-kind facility to treat cancers in dogs and cats with high dose rate brachytherapy (HDR), a highly effective form of radiation therapy. Dr. Clayton Watkins, owner of VetMed Consultants and human radiation oncologist and brachytherapy specialist, and Dr. John K. Hayes, owner of Companion Curietherapy, have over 60 years of combined experience in humans and animals. This potent type of radiation therapy delivers radiation by an agile, robotically controlled, radioactive seed that delivers a pinpointed burst of radiation directly into the tumor. This was originally designed to target certain forms of human cancer. The doctors’ collaboration is setting a bold precedent in taking brachytherapy care into veterinary medicine. “Brachytherapy is a focused intense treatment that has a lot of power at eradicating tumors. To see a bad tumor disappear and leave the pet with no or very mild side effects has been the most rewarding aspect to me,” Hayes said. “To see a pet retain normal function, when the alternative treatment would have caused loss of a limb or body part, has been greatly sat-
isfying. To my knowledge, this is the first collaboration of this kind in the world, and to lead out in something that is revolutionary is a rather humbling challenge.” “Before we started this, people had to travel out of state at a large expense to use radiation on their pets,” Watkins said. “The nearest anyone could get radiation therapy was in Colorado. What we are doing is less expensive and you don’t have to travel out of state. We also can pinpoint the tumor and provide radiation just to that area and not damage the normal tissue.” Annie Phenix sought veterinary care when her border collie, Echo — who had never been sick — suddenly couldn’t walk and seemed disoriented. After medications, different veterinarians, and an ER pet visit, they found a tumor at the front of Echo’s brain and referred her to Colorado State University. Phenix was concerned about the cost of care and the time she would have to be away from home and work. While in Colorado she called Watkins. They came back to Utah, consulted with Watkins, and Echo had radiation the following week. Considering how bad the tumor was, all were fearful she could pass away any day. Now, Continued on page 5...
Annie and her dog Echo, who had HDR, are living a happy and healthy life. (Courtesy of Annie Phenix)
Thank You to our Community Sponsors for supporting City Journals Local Postal Customer ECRWSS
T
Presort Std U.S. Postage PAID Ogden, UT Permit #190