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Hi, too bad for your diagnosis. I'm being treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, but I got two second opinions from Mayo and MD Anderson. All three of those are known for their excellence for cancer care and research. I'm so happy that you are reaching out to get other opinions as you only have one life and need to fight with all you have.
There are others, but I felt confident with my choices, and they all came to the same conclusion for my care which make me feel better as I've made bad choices in the past for health care. There are some bad players out there.
You picked a good group here to help you along your way.
BTW, if you choose radiation, not all radiation machines are created equal and I'm not sure if all centers of excellence have the newest and the best equipment. My radiation was only 5 sessions for the prostate and three for the pelvis. Some machines require many more sessions to accomplish the same results. Ask questions about the number of sessions needed if you go that route.
Dave
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@bonanzaman
Just FYI, the numbers of radiation sessions isn't dependent on the quality or state of the art of the radiation machine, be it a linear accelerator/LINAC (photons) or a cyclotron (protons). Generally, the key factor is the total radiation dose as expressed in gray (Gy). The total dose is almost always divided into fractions, delivered daily or every other day. Both the total dose and the number of fractions is decided by the Radiation Oncologist (RO) dependent on a number of factors. In many cases there isn't a definitive "right way". The RO may decide to deliver, say, 30 Gy in 3 fractions or 5 fractions. In primary treatment of prostate cancer a total of 35-45 treatments are administered at a daily dose of 1.8-2 Gy. Some RO use higher daily dose so less number of treatments, but still the approximate same total dose. Radiation is fractionated because the radiation damages normal, healthy tissue also. But healthy cells are more efficient at repairing the damaged DNA (the target of the radiation) than are cancer cells. So by fractionating the dose the normal cells have a better chance of surviving than the cancer cells.
I practiced Radiology for 45 years so I have a modicum of knowledge about radiation treatment. Sometimes radiologists are confused with radiation oncologists but they are 2 entirely separate specialties. Radiologists interpret various imaging studies (MRI, PET, CT, US etc) and RO administer radiation to treat cancer.