Cleveland-based hospital performs new procedure to help cancer patients with pain relief

CLEVELAND - Getting a cancer diagnosis is certainly something no one ever wants to hear, especially when the patient's fight to battle the disease gets harder because it spread and becomes very painful. But a local hospital has a new procedure to help take the pain away.

University Hospital's Seidman Cancer Center is one of only a few hospitals in the country that does this procedure. It's called Cryoablation.

Dr. David Prologo is an Interventional Radiologist at the Seidman Cancer Center. He said he feels very proud to be a part of something so important to a patient's condition and state of mind.

"It's the most rewarding thing that I've ever done in my career as a doctor. To be able to help patients and see them go from such extreme pain to pain relief and improve their quality of life. Having a true impact on patients is extremely rewarding," said Prologo.

So how does this work?

"Technological advancements allow us to freeze or burn and thereby destroy cancer cells with a probe using advanced imaging like CT or MRI. We take away that contact with the bone that's causing the patient pain," said Dr. Prologo.

If anyone knows the power of this procedure, it's Peggy Heaver. She was diagnosed with cancer in October 2010. Heaver said a nagging pain in her hip and feeling a growth where her pain was made her get to the doctor right away. After many tests, Heaver was diagnosed with cancer.

With some treatment, she was showing clear results for a full year. But during an checkup at the end of 2011, the cancer came back. This time it spread to her bones and lungs.

Living a normal life became nearly impossible.

"I was in so much pain. I was doing four Oxycodone every four hours. I couldn't even keep awake, but it didn't even help the pain," said Heaver.

But that's when she found Dr. Prologo, the doctor she now considers her angel. She went through the procedure with him and her results were amazing. She said after suffering with massive pain, she was completely pain-free within 12 hours.

Dr. Prologo said patients get relief anywhere from 12 to 48 hours after they get the Cryoablation procedure.

Dr. Prologo and the experts at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center believe getting rid of the pain in cancer patients gives them a better outlook for their future.

If you'd like more information about Cryoablation or to get in touch with Dr. Prologo, click here: http://on.wews.com/yyyOGQ . Or you can call University Hospitals at 1-866-UH4-CARE.