Has anyone heard of Proton Therapy? My dad has stage four cancer in the back of his tongue into his lymph nodes. We have been going back-and-forth trying to find treatments for him.y Now that I have had them all settled into Rochester he is very scared of the feeding tube and everything that it’s going to do to him. He now wants to look into pro town therapy in New York? Has anybody had proton therapy? Do you always have to get a feeding tube?

I know that proton therapy is a kind of radiation therapy, but I'm not sure how it is different than other kinds of radiation therapy. My dad had radiation therapy on his face and did not need a feeding tube, but I understand this is quite rare. My dad has a very strong objection to feeding tubes, and voiced that quite often. They told my dad he could try without and if he needed a tube, they would give him one. I don't know if your dad will have surgery first, and that might affect his ability to eat in and of itself. My dad's Stage 4 cancer was in his jawbone, and they removed the bone and rebuilt what they took out with bones and tissues from his leg. He was able to eat soft foods after the surgery, and within a few weeks, started radiation. I would definitely talk to your dad's radiation oncologist about his fears and see what they say. My dad had a similar fear of the tracheotomy after his first surgery, and they were willing to try alternatives for his second. They were successful using nasal trumpets to secure his airway instead.

Thank you for your reply. I do think we can find other alternatives.

Beckyjo,

I had Proton Radiation about five years ago, and believe it finally cured my cancer after 7 recurrences! It’s the strongest type Radiation we have in the U.S. as there is one type stronger in Japan. The Proton center is amazing! It’s the size of a football field, we had 4 Radiation machines, but only one could emit radiation at a time. The protons went through the coils and all to the big accelerator that’s two stories high to send the protons to your machine. The zaps lasted a minute and are silent. The only thing was the set-up had to be perfect, so setting you up sometimes took awhile, otherwise it’s fast. I had regular protons, which there are about 30 centers throughout the U.S. I had mine in NJ not far from NY. Now there is a center in Manhattan with the same nyc hospitals that had rights in NJ.i was going to a cancer center in manhattan, but lived in the suburbs.

There is a new type Proton Radiation that operated like IMRT called IMPT, so there is no need to change the patient set up for a point and shoot set up, but instead the table or machines changes position. There are about 8 locations in the U,S. that have this type.

I hope this helps!