Proton Beam at M. D. Anderson - Anyone done it?

I have/had another thread going, having been diagnosed with prostate cancer and I have received a tremendous amount of good and helpful information from friendly people, which I greatly appreciate.

Therefore this is not an attempt to subvert the purposes of this splendid forum with a cross-post, but rather an attempt to get a new topic listed in case anyone has had any experience that might take note of this particular topic (and might not read the rather lengthy thread I have already had in the other post which covered a variety of aspects of the problem).

I have talked to two different local people on the phone who have been to M. D. Anderson in Houston; one has very positive comments, and the other very negative comments in relation to prostate cancer treatment there, but neither has actually had proton beam therapy there since Anderson implemented it.

My Question: Does anyone have any experience (either first or second hand) about the competence of the M. D. Anderson proton beam group (which has only been in operation since last May)?

The alternative is to go to Loma Linda (or apply there, at least) and that is an inconveniently long way away, relatively speaking, if I could get treatment there equivalent to what I could get at Loma Linda. But could I?

Thank you,

krt

Well, that sounds like the logical thing to do since there has been no response here . . . not sure what that means!

I would much prefer Loma Linda but the location and the fact that they tell me there is presently about a 6 - 7 week acceptance period before the initial visit concerns me. And I have got to get on with it, if I am going to do something.

Thanks for the suggestion,

krt

KRT,

Perhaps the reson no one has much to say about MD Anderson is because they've only been doing the Proton for a short time. Protocols are most likey the same as Loma. I guess the question is...how experienced are MD's radiation oncologists and where did they train on Proton? I am betting Loma since Loma is the model for Proton therapy. Good Luck in whatever you choose.

swim

Krt

Regarding the time you must wait to get an appointment, don't worry about it. Even you  get into Anderson or decided upon another treatment, it is quite likely that the wait time would be months, not weeks. It is highly unusual for this cancer to move that rapidly.

It took over seven Months between the time I first met with a urologist to my DaVinci surgery. Six weeks seems like a long time when we want an answer, but it is just a short blip. 

 As you have decided upon the proton therapy, developing patience would be a good thing.  The long concentrated treatment and the extended follow up testing all happen slowly and in a proscribed manner.

Good luck with your treatment