Bill Barbour, 63, of New York, is an avid cyclist who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in May, 2011. Always active, he wasn’t ready to let treatment for prostate cancer slow down his life, or his participation in his favorite activity, cycling. Bill chose to have proton therapy for prostate cancer at Penn in February, 2012, and today he is cancer-free, and looking forward to riding with the Abramson Cancer Center cycling team in the Philadelphia LIVESTRONG challenge this August.
Watch Bill tell his story about before and after cancer treatment.
I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in May, 2011. Last fall when my doctor recommended I start to consider treatment options for my prostate cancer, I immediately thought about the effects that the popular treatments for prostate cancer may have on my cycling. Cycling plays a significant role in my life, so I sought the advice from a fellow avid cyclist who had undergone treatment for prostate cancer. He related that he wasn’t able to ride for an extended period after his treatment.
My thoughts turned to the negative impact that such a layoff from cycling would have on my physical conditioning. It takes top physical conditioning to ride the distances needed for my frequent group rides and for my daily commute to work. I wanted a treatment option for prostate cancer that would minimize any reduction of my cycling activity, and I began researching various treatments for prostate cancer.
I quickly learned about proton therapy for prostate cancer from the excellent book called You Can Beat Prostate Cancer by Robert Marckini. After reading it, and doing some more research on my own, I felt that proton therapy, was not only as an effective treatment for my prostate cancer, but it was also a treatment that would allow me to maintain my active lifestyle.
Proton treatment at the Roberts Proton Therapy Center within the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine in Philadelphia could not have worked out any better for me.
Through Hosts for Hospitals, I found a gracious family that opened their home in Philadelphia for me during my 8 weeks of proton therapy treatments. I acquired a bike and I was able to ride from my host’s home to my proton therapy sessions at the Roberts Proton Therapy Center in Philadelphia. Thanks to laptop computers and the internet, I was even able to bring my work with me, and never missed a beat.
Not only did proton therapy allow me to avoid a lengthy post-surgery layoff from cycling, I was able to regularly include cycling, something so important to me and my lifestyle, in my routine while undergoing my treatment.
During each ride I realized how fortunate I was to have gone from the prospect of not being able to sit on a bike seat to having the best seat in the house. I rode the scenic Schuykill River Trail, and I never tired of the great views of center city from the South Street Bridge.
Every pedal stroke reminded me that we are truly living in the age of advanced medicine and how important it is for those facing a potentially lifestyle altering treatment decision to consider proton therapy for prostate cancer.
Diagnosed with prostate cancer?
Have you or a loved one been diagnosed with prostate cancer?Penn Medicine is one of only 10 centers in the United States to offer proton therapy.
Proton therapy treats prostate cancer with external beam radiotherapy in which protons are directed at a tumor. The radiation dose that is given through proton therapy is very precise, and limits the exposure of radiation to normal tissues. This reduced exposure leads to the possibility of decreased toxicity, side effects and complications for patients.
