Does Radiation Therapy Facility Matter?

Great question. My surgeon asked me where I lived and recommended a facility two minutes from my home. I believe the facilities are tightly regulated and monitored. Except for one day that I was rescheduled because of problems with the machine, my treatment was very straight forward and uneventful. I understand that there can be fatigue after the first few weeks, but I seemed to do well. I doubt that I would have liked to go further than a half hour from home, just in case I did experience fatigue. Good luck... Remember to stay hydrated, lube up and try to walk 30 minutes a day. You should do fine!

Btw... My facility was a satellite attached to the hospital.

It can matter depending on the situation. One place by me had a machine with a built in ct scanner. It mattered for me in that I had some nodes they could not resect and they were able to see them on the ct machine and would not be able to on a simple radiation machine. So, every time they did the rads they were able to see that the nodes were in the line up. If they nodes were not still there, it wouldn't have mattered.

As with all docs, not all rad oncs graduated at the top of their class.  One way to find a really good rad onc might be to ask the closest NCI-designated cancer center if they can recommend someone in your area.  Equipment can also vary.  I had RT at a very advanced facility, but they were on the verge of getting even newer machines and sending their existing equipment to a satellite facility that was just being built.  No doubt some places without sufficient budgets have even earlier generations of equipment.   And from comparing experiences with those in my rads group here, I think the atmosphere can be either uplifting (mine had an entry waterfall, dog therapy visitors, ceiling art & heated blankets -- little things that created a very pleasant, patient-caring atmosphere) or depressing (like in an ugly, dark, cold basement, as someone else reported).   

And while I've heard it said that RT for breast cancer is pretty basic ("the bread & better of RT facilities"), a facility that falls short on a combination of the above elements, IMO may not give you an equal experience to one that excels in each of those areas.     Deanna