ProtonPals

My Proton Therapy Prostate Cancer Process

Condensed Version
Proton therapy is cancer killing machine that targets cancer with precision to a millimeter while sparing nearby healthy tissues and causing very few, if any, side effects. It is important to remember that x-ray radiation with its side effects, which is what virtually everyone has heard of in the past, is not the same as proton radiation. Proton radiation is best for the prostate, lung, esophagus, liver, rectum, sarcomas GYN tumors and the brain. Great web-sites to check: http://www.mdanderson.org/care_centers/radiationonco/ptc/ & http://www.protonbob.com & http://protonpals.net/

Prostate Cancer: The goal is to eliminate cancer, save your sexuality and not have urinary problems (the two big treatment side effects) or for that matter any other side effects. All doctors you visit will typically tell you your treatment alternatives, but you will likely find no doctor who will mention what might be the magic bullet Proton Therapy as their network cannot perform proton radiation. I’ve been asking patients how they found out about this and they all have a strange story. One man was actually meeting with doctors at M. D. Anderson and even they did not mention proton therapy. The Proton Therapy Center has M. D. Anderson’s name on it and M. D. Anderson doctors, but it is a mile from the main campus and built by private investors. Proton therapy is NOT experimental. The first treatments were in 1954, however the first hospital based proton treatment center in the United States was built in 1990 at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California. Other facilities are in Jacksonville, near Boston, Indiana University and Sacramento. The reason there are so few treatment centers is the cost of the facility is prohibitive. The only proton therapy center in the Southwest is M. D. Anderson which is a brand new $125 million state-of-the-art facility which treated its first patient May 2006. If you must travel to a proton therapy facility for treatment this only facility to choose. I understand the retail cost of treatment is $144,000 but Medicare pays for the treatment.

My cancer treatment discovery drill in a nutshell: Annual physical found rise in my PSA – biopsy at urologist and cancer found – talked to urologist about open nerve sparing open surgery ? met with nerve sparing robotic surgery doctor – talked to radiation seed or IMRT x-ray radiation doctor – friend shared an article on Proton Radiation Therapy. The decision was easy. Everyone here, like me, discover Proton Therapy by accident – a friend, an article, a lucky hit on the Internet, etc. Your doctor will not mention Proton Therapy, it’s bad business. Note: Several patients here are required to have hormone therapy in addition to proton therapy (Lupron shots) which has significant side effects that last over 6 months.

My Proton Radiation Therapy Process at M. D. Anderson, Houston, Texas

Exploratory Visit 11/15/2007
The goals to understand the process and be accepted by the doctor as there are only 30 patients at a time and there is a waiting list. They are also selective and typically will not take patients with a PSA over 20, Gleason scores over 8, people with cancer spread outside of the prostate or with pacemakers or hip replacements

Simulation Proton Therapy Day at M. D. Anderson 12/13/2007
X-rays and CT scans to design plates used only for my prostate for precise radiation accuracy and to minimize side effects.

Treatment Began 1/2/2008 (38 treatments required)
Process: Drink lots of water to fill your bladder to protect it from radiation. Walk in building, put on gown, wait your turn. Enter treatment room, lie on table, have probe inserted in your rectum to protect other body parts, have x-ray line you up perfectly, have protons shot in one hip than the other for about 30 seconds each side, and you’re done. Visit takes less than an hour and you feel nothing.

Treatment done Monday through Friday. I return to Dallas each weekend. Patients from further away stay for the entire time or fly home each weekend. M. D. Anderson provides a long list of places to stay.

Never have I seem such a friendly helpful professional group of folks in one place. Somehow they figured out how to have everything evolve around the patient and actually transmit that feeling to the patient. Everyone has given me business cards from the doctor, to nurses and other professionals all of which made it a point of saying they were there for me and to call them as they gave me their card (it wasn’t something you picked out of a display as you checked out). Everyone, including the doctor, also gave me their e-mail address. How often have you wanted to talk to your doctor or at least his assistant and found that virtually impossible without an appointment? And yes, the place even has free parking. I actually look forward to the treatment. All patients are upbeat so the atmosphere is totally positive.

On 2/22/2008 38 treatments were completed and I’m done. Haven’t felt any different or had any side effects.
After your last treatment you ring a gong at a little ceremony and go home. That’s it. In 3 months and 6 months you return for blood work and have a consultation. For those living far away you can be given a kit and mail in your blood as different labs don’t necessarily come up with the same results and M. D. Anderson wants accurate controlled results. Your PSA should drop and the cancer should be gone. I’m confident proton therapy works.

This the medical professions best kept secret. Our favorite question to our doctor when he describes our treatment choices is what would you do doctor if you were me. This is their favorite question to answer as he does the answer. A better question is tell me about proton radiation. If you are concerned about side effects and pain this is the only correct answer.

I’ve taken pictures of almost everything and everyone that I’ve described above. To view the pictures go to http://protonpals.net/ and click slide show. For a much more detailed description of the above go to My Cancer Journey at the same web-site. BAN 2/22/08