Treated 2006 · Posted 2010

"When I hear of the unbelievable problems that so many others experience, I am so thankful that I chose protons."

In early 2007, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age of 64. Of course, my urologist recommended a radical prostatectomy. A fellow Rotarian and fellow church member had been to Loma Linda for treatment in 2000, and he highly recommended that I choose proton therapy. After consultation with his friend and doctor, as well with a friend (general surgeon) of mine who graduated from LLU Medical School, I chose to go down to LLUMC.

My experience in Loma Linda was absolutely wonderful! I told my doctor that if I later learned that they were doing a "placebo" test on me, I was going to really be mad. He assured me that they were treating me, even though I never felt anything, and had no side effects. I didn't even develop "sunburn" spots on my hips. I have never had any side effects, ever. Praise the Lord! When I hear of the unbelievable problems that so many others experience, I am so thankful that I chose protons. My PSA was .74 in February, and still dropping.

An older brother, who was diagnosed three years before me, chose surgery at UCLA Medical School. Several years after being told that they "got it all," his PSA started to rise again. Because of my good experience at LLUMC, he chose to go there for his follow-up treatment. Then, last year, when my oldest brother was diagnosed, he had no difficulty making the decision to be the third family member to be treated at LLUMC in four years. Too bad they don't have a special family plan! My younger brother is watching his PSA very closely, knowing that he likely will follow all of his older brothers to Loma Linda.

Mark Wulf