Seven Years
Recently M D Anderson published an article citing the side effects of radiation.
I don’t have any of those side effects, seven years after my Proton Treatment ended at Loma Linda University Medical Center’s Proton Treatment Center on August 27, 1999.
The word is out and on August 22, 2006, a report on M.D. Anderson by MSNBC on the web pointed out many of the advantages of proton therapy.
The doctors cited in this report who “worry that the benefits to a few cancers don’t outweigh the enormous costs, when recent advances in traditional radiation make it safer to use”, obviously these doctors do not know much about the Proton. Since LLUMC treats 50 body sites for cancerous and benign conditions a “few” cancers is not in the equation. “Traditional radiation” is X-Rays in any treatment form and they do damage tissue. It is unfortunate the Protons are often mistaken for Photons.
Protons with an “R” had no significant side effects in my case, while
Photons with an “H” are X-Rays, and have a consistent history of tissue damage particularly to the Rectum and Bladder in the case of Prostate patients, although new radiation techniques have helped minimize damage. But enough of that, I’m happy and I hope others find out why!
Hampton University in Hampton, VA, Siteman Cancer in St Louis, MO, and the University of Pennsylvania are all coming on board – don’t be left behind.
Jim Tuggey
August 27, 2006
– Any of the doctors who read this “blog” really should talk to Dr. Jerry Slater, Chairman of the Proton Radiation group at LLUMC and corresponding author of the fifteen year report below.
(click on title above to be taken to the report…)
