I think the 159K is probably in the ballpark as far as total cost. I have added up all my statements and it came to about
144K however they settled for "reasonable and customary charges" of much less than that. My total cost was ZERO, except for out-of-pocket expenses for living in So. Cal. for 2 and 1/2 months. I also know that Medicare reimburses about
22K for the cost of treatment and we were quoted about
37K if we had to pay ourselves. The conclusion would be that the cost is either overstated or highly subsidized.
As far as the treatment itself I have absolutely nothing bad to say at all. Any issues I had occurred during treatment, abated soon after completion and the numbers as seen in my signature, speak for themselves.
54 years old (55 currently)
PSA 5.6 on 3/20/07
DRE: Negative
Biopsy on 4/20/07
Results 4/25/07:
3 out of 12 cores positive, 2 on the right lobe with 5% adenocarcinoma Gleason 3+3, 1 on the left lobe 10% adenocarcinoma Gleason 3+4, overall Gleason graded 7 Cancer T1C. After web research discovered Proton Beam Therapy and called Loma Linda. Completed consultation with Dr. Luu on 7/5/2007 and started treatment at Loma Linda on 7/26/07. Completed treatment 44 on 9/28/07. 0 treatments remain. Side Effects remain minimal. 1st PSA result on January 28th is 1.1. PSA result on July 17th, 2008 .73 . One year removed from start of treatment.