Treated 2012 • Posted 2017
“I have nothing but positive things to say about the entire procedure.”
I was 71 years old and my PSA had jumped a bit so my General Practitioner sent me to a local urologist in Vero Beach, Florida, who performed the common 12 hollow needle cuts.
Only one of the cuts showed cancer, however, the cancer was found to be a Gleason 8, which means it was an aggressive form.
The urologist said, "I operate using robotics, and I can take it out whenever you are ready."
The thought of being cut didn't particularly appeal to me so I started researching other methods of handling prostate cancer. For less than a week I perused the Internet reading as much as possible about prostate cancer. In retrospect, I never did call the urologist back, and he also never saw fit to contact me to ask again about surgically removing my prostate.
When I came across proton therap and UFPTI, I picked up the phone and talked with one of the people there and asked a few questions. Within a day or two I received an overnight mail package with loads of info including Bob Marckini's book, "You can Beat Prostate Cancer:......", and Ron Nelson's book, "Protons versus Prostate Cancer, Exposed."
To say I read these two books voraciously would be an understatement. I next scheduled a visit to UFPTI and my wife and I were given a very nice tour of the facility and all of our questions were answered.
This might be a good point to say that I've always had a feeling there was a reason why I found UFPTI and it was such a smooth process from start to finish. I do believe in The Lord, and I feel it was divine providence leading me in that direction. As I've attended many meetings with other proton patients, so many have mentioned unique and unusual ways they found proton beam. And one of the reasons for this is that most urologists either do not know about, or recommend proton beam. Although, we have found that more nurses tend to do so than doctors.
We soon scheduled the treatment (39 sessions) in Jacksonville, staying in a single facility for two months. The folks at UFPTI made us very comfortable and appeared to think of everything, from activities, learning sessions, lunches and dinners off-site for those who were interested, and much more. I have nothing but positive things to say about the entire procedure.
Since the proton beam treatments just over 4 1/2 years, I've had triple bypass heart surgery, and later a pacemaker installed. In the past month and a half it was some Mohs Surgery for basil cell cancer removal. The dermatologist had to dig so deeply that a plastic surgeon was necessary to close up the large openings on my face.
But, after all these health problems, I'm extremely positive and active, playing tennis 3-5 times a week, playing golf when the mood strikes, and my wife and I run a full-time business. In fact, we took laptops and printer with us and the business never suffered during the two months of proton beam therapy treatment. Since so little time was necessary in the "gantry" we had most of each day to ourselves. Fortunately, there were no problems with weakness, pain, discomfort, etc., and we did everything we wanted to do throughout the two month period.
Our business is selling used-only mobile homes, primarily within 55+ communities, and we have sold over 500 homes in the past 6 1/2 years. In Florida used mobile homes continue to remain registered much as an automobile. Our brokerage license is through the State Department of Motor Vehicles.
- Roland