Mark Podob - Southampton, Pennsylvania
Treated - 2010 - Posted - 2012
"I qualified for the hypofractionated proton therapy clinical trial (a shorter course of treatment), so I went ahead with it. It turned out great."
I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in February, 2010. My PSA was 2.9 and my Gleason score was 6. I…
Treated 2009 · Posted 2012
"My greatest fear and concern as I explored my treatment options was related to side effects."
I have hesitated to write about my proton experience as it seemed so easy and normal and successful. My prostate cancer was almost a non-event, as there were never any symptoms and hardly any side effects. The discovery of my…
Treated 2009 - Posted 2012
"The more I studied prostate cancer, the more I felt drawn to proton therapy as my treatment path."
Below is the first full entry from John Stevens' blog titled, "On the Path with Prostate Cancer." He wrote the blog soon after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009 and in it, he processes the highs and lows of…
Treated 2002 • Posted 2003
"I was rather stunned by the enormity of the word 'cancer', but felt a certain calmness brought about by a sense that it was very treatable and that this was all part of 'God's Plan' for my life."
My diagnosis of prostate cancer came as no surprise to me, but the timing was not at all anticipated. You see, I was…
Treated 2012 · Posted 2012
"Cancer no longer has to be the destroyer of lives and families. Cancer can bring about the possibility of a life changing experience physically, mentally and spiritually, and of course it can be beaten."
The roots of my journey to Loma Linda began about 35 years ago when I was just 15. One night as my younger brother…
Treated 2009 · Posted 2013 · Updated 2022
"I learned that the list of possible side effects from the urologist's recommended treatments were scary. I could not sleep. I woke Gene up one night and told him, 'I think we should go to Loma Linda.'"
Gene and I returned home September 14,…
Treated 2012 · Posted 2013
"It was as if we had had a vacation in Southern California and received the cure for my cancer at the same time."
My experience with proton therapy actually started 24 years ago when I took a job and moved about 100 miles away to Roanoke, Virginia. It was there that I met my friend, Jerry (a BOB member), who had…
Treated 2001 · Posted 2001
“What a way to be cured of cancer!”
My name is Norton Elder and I graduated from LLUMC on December 15, 2001. I just had my first four-month PSA check and am proud to say it was 0.07. When I started my treatment at Loma Linda, my PSA was 5.4; Gleason was 6 (3+3); class was T1c. I had a ten-plug biopsy, all cancerous. I…
Treated 2002 · Posted 2003 · Updated 2015
“I had my last proton treatment on February 21, 2002 and haven't stopped smiling since!”
1994: PSA was 4.6. My doctor gave me Hytrin to lower PSA and keep my blood pressure in check. Blood pressure went up so the doctor stopped…
Treated 2002 · Posted 2002 · Updated 2015
“I DO NOT regret choosing Loma Linda and I encourage anyone to explore it to the fullest!”
I've watched my PSA for ten years (I'm now 57) since my father's death from Prostate Cancer in 1992 (four of his brothers also had prostate cancer, one before and 3 after him). In July 2001 my PSA was 1.6 -- I…