Sabin Robbins Receives RapidArc Radiotherapy Treatments to Beat Prostate Cancer
As a regular cruise ship lecturer—discussing ocean appropriate topics such as whales, sharks, and pirates—Sabin Robbins, 75, had always enjoyed the experience of sharing his expertise on wildlife. But aboard a cruise ship bound for the waters of Alaska in 2008 his experience was markedly different. The majority of his time was spent in his cabin reading a stack of medical books, and generally, "trying not to be too scared." Shortly before the trip, Sabin had learned that he had prostate cancer.
"My children were after me for years to get a physical," said Sabin, who lives in Highland Beach, Florida. "I kept putting off their advice, because the way I saw it, I was swimming 70 laps in the pool each day, and I hadn't been to a doctor in over ten years. I finally relented to their advice, and realized that I didn't even have a designated personal physician!"
His doctor performed a PSA test to determine whether his prostate was enlarged. "My PSA was very high," said Sabin. "I had prostate cancer." He turned to doctors at Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Boynton Beach Florida, who recommended a course of radiotherapy. He sought a second opinion from doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston who affirmed the advice from the doctors at Bethesda, and so Sabin began receiving treatments five days a week for eight and a half weeks.
At the beginning of his treatments, his doctor told him about a new treatment approach that had recently been deployed at Bethesda Memorial. RapidArc™ radiotherapy, from Varian Medical Systems, had the potential to deliver each of Sabin's daily treatments in less than two minutes—treatments that would have taken 10-15 minutes each day. Bethesda Memorial was one of the first sites in the world to install this technology, which delivers an accurate image-guided treatment to the entire tumor with a single revolution of the treatment machine around the patient.
"Aboard the cruise ship to Alaska I spent most of my time reading everything that I could about prostate cancer. I admit that it was frightening to me," Sabin said. "I trusted the doctors at Bethesda, but I had to get a second opinion from some doctors I knew in Boston. Once all my questions were answered and I learned that the survival rate for prostate cancer is very good, I felt much more relaxed. The RapidArc treatments were very fast, and fortunately I didn't experience any side effects. My experience was as good as it could possibly have been."
During each of his daily treatments, and every day after, Sabin has kept up with his daily regimen of 70 laps in his condominium swimming pool. The next time that he lectures aboard a cruise ship, he expects to be much more relaxed.
