Sky Writer

I'm a FDX pilot and an avid reader of the forum. I realize this is not an aviation subject, but it's extremely important in MHO. I lost an uncle from prostate cancer a few years ago, my father-in-law has it, my mother-in-law's husband has it, my cousin had it, and my father has it. My uncle, father-in-law, and mother-in-law's husband had the usual treatments of Rad seeds, chemo, and surgery. All these options have bad side effects (sex problems, depends wearing, hair loss, weight gain/loss). From what little knowledge I know, these options are necessary if cancer has progressed beyond a certain point. My cousin just finished a new proton treatment. He is cancer free and with NO side effects. My father is going thru this treatment now. This treatment method just started a few years ago. Currently there is only 5 places in the USA that does this because it cost around $110 million to build the facility. The treatment itself costs around $165,000. In my fathers case Blue Cross/ Blue Shield along with medicare is picking up around 95% of costs. My father is 75 yrs old. He has gone thru 6 treatments in the lasts 2 weeks and with no side effects. He has been told there will be none. The drawbacks are you will need to live (rent an apt. or hotel rm) in the area where the hospital is for around 2-2.5 months. The treatment is usually 5 days a week. Each session is about 45 min waiting for treatment and then the actual treatment is about 30 min. I know there is a location at Univ. of Fla. @ Jacksonville, Fla., Loma Linda, Calif, Either Dallas or Houston, I also think there is one in Boston, and Chicago. Most Urologist won't tell you about this option. This is not one of those fruit and vitemin and hope all goes well treatments. This is the real deal and if you, a friend, or a loved has prostate cancer, please check into this. Get on the internet and research it. Just google Proton Treatment for prostate cancer. I have no financial interest in this treatment. My only interest is in keeping my fellow pilot and family friends around longer. It took my Dad about 1.5 months on the waiting lists to get in. You should apply to all 5 of the hospitals and go to which ever lets you in first. Jacksonville is the newest and is where my Dad is. If you want to ask him any questions, feel free to PM me and I can get you in touch with him.
Thanks for you time and I hope this helps someone.

K0H1K0

Thank you for the information. I sincerely hope your dad makes a full recovery!

MaydayMark

My dad did fine with the surgery option but your "new" method sounds more desirable to me ...

Sky Writer

Thanks KOH1KO, and MM I'm glad to hear your dad did good with his surgery. I hope you or anyone else didn't think I'm totally against the surgery method. It just depends on each case.
There's one other thing I forgot to mention in my previous message that my dad told me. He said he has seen a lot of children with brain cancer going thru this treatment. He said the doctors told him that the proton treatment goes straight to the cancer tumor and doesn't destroy surrounding brain tissue. He's going to ask them Monday if it can be used for pancreatic, liver, and other areas. I'll report back when I can.

Sky Writer

Talked again with my father about other uses of the proton treatment. He said the treatment can be used on other cancers ie. brain, pancreatic, and others. If the cancer has spread, then it's unlikely they'll do it. It's a case by case basis. If you or a loved one has cancer, it's worth getting in touch with a hospital with this treatment.

Sky Writer

Got some more important info for you who are interested. Here's a book about the proton treatment. "You Can Beat Prostate Cancer, and you don't need surgery to do it" Written by Robert J. Marckini. It's white with black and red lettering. It lists the hospitals where the treatment is available, and what insurance covers it, and info on the treatment. My father has only 10 treatments left(30 min sessions for another 10 days) and is feeling great. Spread the word on this treatment, you might just save a life. You'll definitly save someone alot of pain and trouble of the other options. Thanks.

Sky Writer

For anyone interested, my father finished his last proton treatment and is back to playing golf. He feels great and doesn't have to go back to the Center for 6 mths for a check up. Until then he has to have monthly blood PSA tests. He added that there is a new proton treatment center being built in Virginia. This is the way to go if you or someone you know has prostate cancer. Take care of it.

Sky Writer

Here's a great acticle on the Proton Therapy:

"The Promise of Proton Therapy is Two-fold- Less toxicity and higher cure rates than achievable with x-ray therapy"
by Nancy Price Mendenhall, MD

This article was in Oncology Issues, May/June 2007.

This article also states that the Proton Therapy has been successful with prostate cancer, eye tumors, sarcomas, base of skull tumors, brain, lung, head and neck, gastrointestinal, and pediatric cancers.


If you can't google this article and would like a copy; I can either fax or send you a copy if you notify me. Best way to reach me is my e-mail [email protected]. If you're a Fedex pilot I can drop a copy in your locker at work.

Spread the news of this therapy. Don't make the mistake of relying on your Urologist to reccomend this treatment.

Sideshow Bob

There are two downsides to any other treatment than surgery. One, there is no post-treatment pathology of the gland and surrounding tissues/lymph nodes which determines if the cancer escaped the gland and once you've done radiation surgery is pretty much out of the question while with surgery one can have radiation treatment if Elvis left the building. In effect the peace of mind that it was contained (and more importantly completely removed from the body) or the knowledge/reality that it spread leading to radiation and hormone/chemo before Elvis starts playing gigs in your bones, liver, bladder, lymph system. Sometimes by the time metastasis is detected after radiation treatments (which often leave detectable PSA in the blood, clouding the decision making process for further treatment), effective treatment is questionable. On the other hand, if the cancer is completely within the prostate and the radiation treatment is done with skill, the cancer is dead and there are fewer side effects to be sure. Point is, it's a personal decision and a tough one...one of the toughest anyone will ever have to make.

Regardless of the treatment the long term follow-up is regular PSA tests, and if undetectable for ten years the patient is pronounced "cured". With the robotic Da Vinci, the symptoms/after-effects are greatly reduced over the old-school techniques.