Friday, December 19, 2008

Treatment Center Selection

I first heard of proton therapy by way of Bob Marckini's book, "You Can Beat Prostate Cancer." His book more than anything else convinced me proton therapy represented my best treatment option. Subsequent research has not dissuaded me from this personal choice. Doctors Ezee and Tuflov offered persuasive arguments for surgery and IMRT, respectively. Certainly other viable options exist depending on personal preference and individual circumstances. Any of us afflicted with this dreadful disease are inevitably confronted with difficult choices. There is no perfect solution, and most certainly there are no guarantees. In the final analysis you place your bet , roll the dice and hope to get double lucky.

I contacted four of the five proton centers in the United States. I made my decision primarily on which center could begin my treatment soonest. It turned out to be the University of Florida Proton Institute(UFPTI) located here in Jacksonville. Due either to an unfortunate miscommunication on their part or a regrettable misunderstanding on my part, the wait is considerably longer than anticipated. Even so the waiting period at UFPTI is no longer relative to the other treatment centers I contacted and briefer by a month in one instance. Preliminary measures are scheduled to begin here in Jacksonville next week.

4 comments:

Marianne Bush said...

Wishing you all the best. We're heading for Loma Linda, CA on Monday for my husband's pre treatment checks, i.e. CT Scan, pod fitting etc. Reading your blog brought back memories of the exact same reaction to proton therapy (though I must admit, your encounter with "Mr. You're nothing special" was kind of special).

Karen said...

Test

Karen said...

Dad, you and your "72 year-old colon" gave me a chuckle. And obviosly, Dr. Tuflove doesn't have a clue what "special" means. Best of luck as you get through this week. Hope they are not too tough on you as you get poked, prodded, and tested some more.

Brad said...

You are going through the same questioning attitude I have been through. Ya gots ta roll the dice. I finished at MDA proton therapy center in late December last year. One thing I might add is hormone therapy will stop the cancer growth temporarly if you have to wait a conciderable ammount of time before beginning treatments. Is usually a shot of Lupron.