My proton radiation began March of 2010 at Loma Linda Children's Hospital in Loma Linda, California adjacent to Riverside. Loma Linda Children's Hospital was one of the first to build a cyclotron which requires a very large space to "spin" and throw off the protons. The large space mentioned is the sIze of a football field but round in size. The hospital built this back in the early 1990's at a cost of several hundred million dollars. Without review, this is what I recall from reading the information 14 years ago.

The hospital put me through either a MRI scanner or something similar. This identified the location of the cancer. The biopsy was "slow growth cancer on te right lobe". PSA: 6.47; Gleason 3 plus 3. Then the "machine" uses the MRI or scan to "mark" the areas of the cancer. I was placed in a lower body cast to minimize movement and while on the "bed", the nurse placed a ballon up my rectum to keep the prostate in place while the "machine" calibrated where the precise cancer was located. This was each morning for 9 weeks. Each treatment cost at that time nearly $4,000. My full time under the "machine" was about 5 minutes. I understand the procedure has changed reference target cancer area.

But, be aware, proton radiation therapy as a definition can be used to identify several treatments, but the cost and construction of a proton radiation operation like the one I experienced are few in the US because of the cost. So, make certain you are getting what has been professionally proscribed.

Now..the after-effects. Virtually none! I was somewhat tired by Friday..but most days I played racquetball where I stayed during the treatment at Air Force Base, California..about 30 minutes from Loma Linda. Leesburg, Florida