Questions about radiation for prostate cancer: Can I drive myself?

Avall, having to make that exact choice, we decided on City of Hope. Dr. Rossi doesn't think the five is a good choice. The difference would have been 28 treatments for a total of 58GY with a spacebar procedure. City of Hope is 5 treatments for a total of 40GY. The treatments are every other day so MWF and then TTh.
City of Hope is so much easier, but the genuine advantage is in the 2mm margin that they radiate around the prostate. With proton it is 3mm.
Opinions about the effectiveness of the total amount of radiation don't have enough evidence either way. Rossi suggests that 8GY a day could be more damaging in the final anaylsis. Damage from radiation treatment is sometimes not apparent for several years after treatment.
I drive 258 miles to the Lennar City of Hope Cancer Center, but would drive the extra 55. It's the MRI guidance during treatment and the lower GY total that were convincing.
If you haven't spoken with Rossi, you might want to have a zoom appointment. He has the most extensive experience. And there may be a deciding factor in the specifics of your cancer.
Ten minutes.
Best luck with your choice. I'm guessing you be at City of Hope.

Most likely you will.
You do have 2 prep issues.
1. A self administered enema 60 minutes before treatment.
2. Then drinking a bottle of water about 20 min before tmt.
Empty colon and full bladder.

My experience was with Proton treatment 5 doses over 8 days.
Stayed by the hospital during the week and drove home - 2 hrs- for the weekend.
No issues with driving

Hello everyone,
I started this thread, and have weaved my way through tons of information on prostate cancer treatments. At the time of posting, I was interested in radiation treatment. After more research, I felt that the MRIdian treatment was the way to go, and still feel that way as far as radiation goes. There are a couple of down sides. First, the company that made the MRIdian machine went out of business and many of the facilities that offered the procedure no longer do. Secondly, it is radiation. I like the idea that it's guided in real time with MRI. Makes me feel that this would be a very accurate method for aiming at the cancer. I believe that it uses Photons not Protons and is only a few treatments (please correct me if I wrong). With all of this said, I am now leaning towards the Tulsa Pro procedure. No radiation, no cutting, MRI guided, computer controlled, side effects are not common. Don't have to worry about the effects of radiation down the road. Partial ablation or full ablation as required. It can also treat symptoms of BPH. BUT, it appears that it's not covered by Medicare, though I'm not certain of that. Most of my online searching has lead me to believe that it's not covered, but I did find a few sites that mentioned temporary medicare numbers that can be used to get it covered. Also, I've read that it will be covered come the 1st. of next year. At $30k to $40k that's a big deal for me. UCLA does the Tulsa procedure, and initially they told me that traditional Medicare would cover it. But that was coming from the person that sets up appointments. Since then I have emailed back and forth a few times with different people in their department, and they will not confirm nor deny whether it will be covered, so I'm skeptical. They won't be able to tell me until after I have had a consultation, and I can't even schedule a consultation until after I have had an MRI, which is scheduled the 8th. of next month. Speaking of tests, I did get my Petscan test results back, it showed no cancer outside of my prostate. While that's no guarantee, it is good news. Oh, and Radnet, who also has a site where they perform the Tulsa Procedure, wrote to say that Medicare would only pay if the procedure is done in a hospital. Not sure how trust worthy that info. is either. My issue is waiting. Waiting for UCLA to schedule a consultation, then waiting to see if Medicare will cover it. I'm definitely willing to wait if it's covered, but if not, and I have to pay out of pocket anyway, I might as well go somewhere else that doesn't have such a long wait. Speaking of waiting, I spoke with my original Urologist about waiting, he said 6 months should be fine, but when I mentioned that I may want to wait until the first of next year, he said I had better speak with the UCLA doctors. Sorry for the rant, it helps to discuss this with others that are or have gone through it. I'm glad to be a part of this group.

Gently,
Thank you for your response.
were you treated by Percy Lee or some other Radiation oncologist from City of Hope?
How long ago you were treated?

Hi, can you recommend a doctor from Mayo in Rochester please. Thanks, Mike

jackph,
Where did you get 5 doses of proton treatment? I thought all proton treatments take several weeks?

I received my treatment at Mayo clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
My radiologist was doctor Bryan Traughber.
Both proton treatment and photon treatment can be administered in high-dose low frequency manners. Or low dose high frequency.
That's really up to the radiologist, each persons circumstances are unique.
I'm 10 months post treatment. Next PSA will be in May.
I'm 77, feel that I have had a good outcome.
My treatment included a 4 month course of ADT.
Side effects included a brief incident of rectal bleeding that resolved without treatment. That happened 2 months after treatment.
I live in Des Moines IA, about 2 hrs from Rochester.
After treatment I did connect with a local oncologist who has been very helpful as a care manager
My primary care doctor is also a good resource.
The most helpful education resource was the Prostate Cancer Research Institute. The organization has a great selection of youtube videos and covers most aspects of diagnosis and treatment.
Hope this is helpful.
Let me know if you have any questions

My husband (65) is very independent and still working. He scheduled his radiation sessions to be first patient in am so he could get to work after. He drove to appointments then the 45 minutes to work everyday for the 6 weeks of treatment. PSA zero after completed.

I met with Dr Percy Lee at city of Hope today. He suggested IMRT with 28 treatments and Brachy therapy and Harmone therapy. He gave me a choice if I want to skip Brachy therapy.
I am impressed with him and the facility.
I am trying to get an appointment at California proton center for zoom consultation with Dr. Rossi. They keep telling a clinical coordinator will contact me to get my medical records for the last 7 days.
Why is it so hard?

Yes, Dr Thompson as urologist/surgeon and Dr Ryan Phillips for radiology