Jdh697: my results were similar to yours, except my PSA went to 10.2 and I am older, 70 now, but 69 when I was diagnosed.
I was concerned that if I waited that it could spread, and no doctor was able to make that determination for me. I spoke to five radiation oncologist and did research. I narrowed it down to two radiation machines. One was mevian’s proton therapy and the other was viewrays mridian machine. Both machines were available to me in the Orlando area through the same Cancer Institute.
I chose the Mridian machine because I felt protecting healthy tissue was really important to quality of life. This machine uses 2 mm margins of radiation into healthy tissue instead of 4 to 6 mm for proton therapy and most other radiation machines. It is also the only machine that has a MRI and radiation built-in so what you can see, you can treat, in real time.
I also did spaceoar to separate the rectum from the prostate.
As you can see in the string on this website from Mayo, there’s a lot of good information to collect to help with your decision. There are also a lot of grey areas. By coming here, along with multiple doctors opinions, you can make the best decision you can based on whatever data you collect and people that you talk to. Good luck.
I have been diagnosed with prostate cancer recently but I also have ulcerative colitis. I am told they won't do radiation that close to my colon. Will the proton therapy work for me? I have just started looking for different methods but not much discussion with my problems.