@heavyphil All I needed to read is that traditional radiation therapy not only targets the tissue intended, but the nature of that form of radiation is that it travels right through the target-tissue, and irradiates surrounding healthy tissue that does not need to be irradiated. It can cause damage to the bladder, urethra, and rectum, plus lymph nodes depending on where the radiation was focused.
That does NOT happen with Proton Beam therapy. The "radiation" goes "to", but not "through" the target-tissue. Your bladder, urethra, rectum, and other surrounding tissue are not at risk of being irradiated. And...in my initial consultation with an RO, he flat out said that the unfortunate consequence of traditional radiation therapy, is that nearly 100% of men will have urinary incontinence for the rest of their life due to damage and scarring, again, because they can't really control the radiation from irradiating the bladder, urethra, and rectum. And, while low, there is a 1-5% chance of bladder, urethral, or rectal cancer a few to many years later. That's all I needed to know. I will never have traditional radiation therapy, if in fact I need it if/when I experience BCR and enough prostate tissue growth that indicates one or more targeted areas of growth recurrence.