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Beating cancer, the proton way
By LAURA CAPITANO, The Times-Union
Jul 20, 2008
Doug Peralta reminded me of something important: Your doctor doesn't always know best.
Discouraged by the surgery-or-else prognosis two different urologists gave him, Peralta, a Melbourne resident, continued to seek options regarding his early-stage prostate cancer.
"You need to take charge of your own diagnosis," he said. "If I'd listened to the first doctor, I'd be walking around without my prostate."
It was a dentist, actually, a golf buddy of his, who told Peralta that he might want to look into the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute, right here in our beloved Jacksonville.
August marks two years since Florida Proton treated its first patient, and yet the institute hasn't even become a household name in its home city. A dedicated core of patients and believers, almost a proton fan club, talk up the benefits of treatment, but Peralta is far from the only patient who didn't hear about it from his doctor. Stuart Klein, the institute's executive director, said that between 30 percent and 40 percent of the patients find the institute by word of mouth.
Jacksonville's facility is one of five proton therapy institutes in the United States, and the beauty of the treatment is how precise and effective it is. Proton particles carry radiation doses to targeted tumors, doing very little damage to the healthy tissue surrounding the treatment area. Tumor-zapper may be a bit brash for a layman's term, but that's the easiest way to put it.
Thanks to the mighty proton, patients with localized cancers are getting higher cure rates, with few side effects, according to institute literature. The list includes those fighting early-stage prostate cancer, eye tumors, brain, lung, head, neck, gastrointestinal or pediatric cancers.
Once you're in, you simply catch a wave of the optimism that courses through the institute. The waiting room is a sunny, welcoming place, free from worry and hospital smells. Patients and their families sit chatting and laughing, enjoying coffee bar refreshments.
The waiting area was purposely furnished without Mr. Television to encourage camaraderie among patients. On a central easel, a bulletin board holds announcements for weekly luncheons and dinners, some more social and off-site, others hosted by the institute and featuring presentations or Q&A sessions with the staff.
The Grateful Dead plays from the speakers in one of the three proton treatment rooms. There's even a lending library and a line of U.F.P.T.I. fashions - the vibe is more student union than cancer treatment center.
Patients have taken to the Florida Proton logo gear to help spread the word of their winning battles with cancer. Bill Ritchie, down all the way from Vancouver, Wash., for a zap, is so pleased with protons that he wears his hat everywhere he goes. "Last night at a restaurant, the waiter pointed at it and said, 'I'm seeing a lot of you guys these days.' "
No treatment as revolutionary as protons should be on the down-low. Join the word-of-mouth movement and guide anyone to www.floridaproton.org.
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