Proton Beam (Radio) Therapy

Accounts of Personal Experiences

Bill Chang:

My proton beam treatment was performed at the Loma Linda Medical Center. It is a radiotherapy that seems to hold much promise. The clinical trials are for age related MD. I have myopic macular degeneration, so the cost of my treatment could not be covered by the trial, nor would my (otherwise very good) health insurance. As near as I can tell, the treatment has been effective in stopping the bleeding. It is almost a full year since I had the treatment (Dec 10, 1999).

The cost for me was $5,000 – $3500 for the hospital, $1500 for the radiologists. The cost of the opthamologist was covered by my insurance. I believe the opthamologist that is in charge of the procedure is:

Paul Blacharski
Inland Valley Retina
11300 Mt View, Providence Building, Suite B
Loma Linda, CA 92354
(909) 478-0788

He is quite good and will answer all questions. According to my regular RS, the treatment has had excellent results for the 30 or so patients he has sent over to the treatment.

The treatment is a one time only affair, the actual “beaming” takes about 90 seconds. The diffficulty is to immobilize the head/face and aim the beam properly. A mask is formed to the shape of the patient’s head/face. This mask is used to hold the head in position during the treatment. The eyelid is clipped in an open position so as to not interfere with the beam. There is potential to obliterate eyebrows still dangling into the path. Blacharski will perform follow up observations for a year.