Martha, Delaware, USA, underwent proton therapy for a brain tumor :

« I woke up one night and I couldn’t hold anything down, I was sick, I had a tremendous headache… So I went to the emergency room of the local hospital, and just as I went to sign in I passed out. » It turned out Martha had a brain tumor. As all the cancer cells couldn’t be removed surgically, she was a candidate for proton radiations. « This journey has made us stronger », says her husband, « because we realized how much we needed each other. Proton therapy gives us a better quality of time because she’s not down with radiation sickness. She can take a treatment today and then this afternoon go some place and do something, and to me that’s just amazing because 3 years ago, when she had her first tumor, it wasn’t that way at all. » Martha tells « Once, I was at the grocery store and I told a lady I had brain cancer… She said that I looked too good to be sick ! »

Rob underwent proton therapy for pancreatic cancer :

« I had testicular cancer when I was 22 and went 33 years without any problem. » In 2011, his doctor called to announce he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer, with an average survical rate of 6 to 8 months. « It was crazy, I was absolutely feeling fine » he says. « The wonderful thing about proton therapy is that it gave me hope. I’ve never felt sick or like I was terminal. I wanted to fight. Right after my 29th session of proton therapy, my daughter delivered my first grand child. The seven months that I’ve had since the proton therapy were some of the best months my wife and I have ever had… Being able to go the beach, play golf, ride my bike again… I believe that the proton therapy and my doctor have extended my life. Will I be cured some day ? I think so. I know the statistics aren’t there but the statistics are for other people, not for me. »

To learn about more patients’ stories, go to http://www.oncolink.org/treatment/article.cfm?id=538&s=70&c=9