Jerry Parks, MPRI prostate cancer patient

"My doctors told me I had to make a decision," Jerry explains. "I had the option of surgery, seed implants, or external radiation. At first, I thought it was odd that I'd have to decide, thinking, 'Aren't you the doctor here?'"

Then Jerry plunged into nonstop research. He liked what he found about proton therapy, but his doctor was not particularly familiar with it.

Jerry decided to move forward anyway and get treated at a proton facility in Loma Linda, CA. Then he met with Dr. Allan Thornton at MPRI, which is only a six–hour drive from his home. "Dr. Thornton is a very impressive guy," Jerry says. "He was very reassuring and seemed like he had tremendous experience behind him."

Because treatment at MPRI would allow him to go home on weekends, Jerry chose to have proton therapy in Bloomington.

For Jerry, proton therapy made sense. "The cure rate of proton therapy was comparable to other therapies (around 92%). But the difference comes in the side effects," he says. "With proton therapy, there's a much smaller risk of incontinence and impotence."

Before treatment, Jerry went through preliminary tests: bone and body scans to make sure his cancer hadn't migrated, a fitting for an immobilization device, and implantation of gold beads into his prostate—targeting markers to help MPRI aim the beam very precisely.

After five weeks, treatments are just a normal part of his day. "It's kind of old hat," says Jerry. "The staff members are very good about telling me what happens first, what happens next."

Jerry appreciates that clinicians work around his needs, scheduling his Friday treatments for early in the morning and his Monday treatments late in the afternoon. "They know I want to get home on weekends," he says.

"Other than some heavy fatigue around the fifth or sixth week, I'm really feeling very good," says Jerry. "You almost feel guilty because people back home are saying, 'Oh, I'm so sorry you're experiencing radiation treatment,' and here I am taking it easy, watching old movies, and going to the YMCA. It's almost like a radiation vacation."

Jerry is staying in a reasonably priced rental condo arranged by a local church, which also assigned a family to show him Hoosier hospitality. "When I showed up my first day, I walked in the door and there's a pile of chocolate chip cookies on the table."

Although many of Jerry's friends with prostate cancer have already received other treatments, everyone he talks to seems interested in proton therapy. "I've had other people who've had other treatments tell me they think proton therapy might make the other therapies obsolete," he says. "It can make a big difference in the quality of the rest of your life."