Cancer.
The word settled on me like a dense, cold fog.
”We found malignancy in two of the 8 cores.” Being human, my mind raced directly to the worst case. Would I go from an active, healthy man to something less than that? Would I even be able to control my most basic bodily functions? Would I lose my ability to function fully as a man?

My dad died of prostate cancer. My maternal grandfather had it, as did all of my uncles. My mom is a breast cancer survivor. This was a conversation that I expected to have, but not so soon—I was 54 when I was diagnosed.
We talked options. I didn’t like some of the possible outcomes of surgery and decided that was a coin that I didn’t want to flip, unless there were no other viable choices.

“What about radiation? Can’t prostate cancer be treated with radiation?” My urologist explained that it could and that he would be happy to refer me to a doctor in Scottsdale, who had the latest in radiation beam technology.

Before following up on the referral, I needed to know more. The only way to reduce fear is to reduce the unknown to the greatest extent possible. Thanks to the Internet, and my mom (who continued to research prostate cancer after my dad’s death, out of worry for me and my brother), I was able to track down credible sources of information about Radioactive Seeds, Cryosurgery, and variations of Electron Beam Therapy like IMRT, IGRT and Proton Beam Therapy.

What I learned is that the cure rate of any of the treatments is pretty high, so the side effects are the real differentiator.

My goal was to figure out which treatment would fit best into my life, leave me in the best condition and have the lowest chance of side effects. No matter what, it was a roll of the dice, but you might as well stack the odds in your favor if you can.

My urologist had referred me to Dr. Scott Tropper. The “latest technology” was IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy), coupled with the Calypso tracking system. When I met with Dr. Tropper, I was very encouraged by his willingness to compare Calypso to other treatments and appreciated his openness—he answered all of my questions patiently and made it clear that this was totally my decision.

The technology made sense to me. By implanting “beacons” in the prostate, Dr. Tropper and the radiation techs are able to monitor the spatial position of the prostate in real time to a very tight tolerance—2mm in my case. If the prostate moves out of the target zone, the techs turn off the radiation machine, move the patient into the new position and resume treatment.

After taking some time to think about it, I decided to proceed with the Calypso treatment.

As a patient, it couldn’t get much easier. Sure, there is some discomfort when the beacons are implanted, but no more so than when a prostate biopsy is performed.

The rest of my treatment consisted of showing up every weekday for 9 weeks, lying on the radiation table for a few minutes and then going to work. The only side effect that I had during treatment was that I would get tired in the afternoons, starting at about 5 weeks into the series. The afternoon exhaustion continued for about 4 weeks after treatment. Fortunately, my workplace allowed me to leave early to sleep for a couple of hours every afternoon and I was able to weather it pretty well.

Now, eight months after completing treatment, my energy is back to its previous levels, I’m riding my bike 25 – 45 miles on the weekends, hiking, kayaking and living a full life in a relationship with the woman I love. I have no urinary or bowel problems and my life has fully returned to normal. All of this gives me great hope for my two sons, who may one day feel that dense, cold fog settle on them as they sit in a doctor’s office.

Compared to the fear and uncertainty that I felt when I first heard that I had cancer, my life is as good as it can be. I was diagnosed early, and was treated with a non-invasive, almost “magical” treatment that can kill cancer with an invisible beam and keep my healthy parts healthy.

I am so lucky to have been born when I was so that this treatment was available to me. I wish it had been there for my dad.