Once a patient has a PRRT, then they should return to Bad Berka for a re-evaluation. This is done to assess how well the PRRT is working and to determine if another treatment is necessary. Typically patients return 3-4 months following their first treatment. This is commonly referred to as restaging.
Checking in – the usual schedule for restaging starts on a Monday. Patients can check in on Sunday in the late afternoon (after 5pm) or early Monday (8 am) morning by going to the reception area in the Zentralklinik and checking with the finance people. The same process is followed as when the original PRRT was done.
Usually the first test is the renal/kidney test. This is followed by the 68-Gallium PET/CT scan and any other tests that the doctors believe are important to evaluating the patient. The type and number of tests are dictated by the patient's condition and disease status.
Normally Dr. Baum will meet with the patient once the results of the 68-Ga scan and other associated tests have been evaluated. This meeting usually takes place later in afternoon or early evening at Dr. Baum's office.
When the restaging appointment is made with the clinic you will be advised if it is a one or two day appointment and if it can be done as an out patient (not requiring a hospital stay.) You will also be advised what the PRRT treatment date would be if PRRT is required after the restaging. Normally it can not be done during the same week as the restaging since radioisotope material for the PRRT usually comes from Canada or the United States. This process usually takes about one week for shipping to Bad Berka and preparation for use in PRRT.
For the patient who comes from another country this normally means spending time around Bad Berka or traveling someplace else to spend time until returning to Bad Berka for another treatment.
If the patient needs another treatment then the process follows the same path as when the original PRRT was done.
The patient is to check in to the Zentralklinik on Sunday afternoon/evening.
On Monday, instead of getting scans and tests, the patient is given the PRRT. From this point going forward the process is the same, but is happening a day earlier.