PHOTO CAPTION: Recent patient and new Proton Ambassador Gene Ponkauskas (second from the right) was known for wearing his stylish fedora every day. On his graduation day at the completion of his treatment, the clinical staff surprised Gene and wore fedoras in honor of him.
You may recall last week’s video blog featuring Gene Ponkauskas and his patient experience while undergoing proton therapy treatment, especially his love of the Wellness Center here on the Provision campus. He graciously wrote a lovely newsletter article for us to recap his treatment journey. It was such a moving piece, we just had to share it with you. Here it is, in his own words:
As my journey at the Provision Center for Proton Therapy comes to an end and I leave to “carry on” as the saying goes, I go with a heavy heart. Looking back, it is these incredible talented, dedicated, caring, and professional people, all of whom teamed together to make my time with prostate cancer and its treatment a pleasant and most memorable experience. Pleasant and memorable for most are not words one would ordinarily associate with cancer but for me, given the alternatives, they are most fitting. It is remarkable to think that the staff of the Provision Center for Proton Therapy, in their short life together, have grown into this amazing center of hope and restoration to those of us who suffer from one of many forms of cancer.
I first heard the word cancer from my primary care physician at the VA who referred me to the urologist and after a most unpleasant biopsy discovered a problem from a surgical procedure some 50 years ago. This being said, I had limited entry to the one area which I later learned my future therapist would explore on a daily basis throughout my treatments… I’LL JUST SAY, THEIR KINDNESS AND GENTLENESS WAS MOST APPRECIATED.
Once it was confirmed that it was cancer it began with a parade of options which we, who have been there, are all too familiar with. Surgery, radiation, seeds and one urologist even suggested waiting and watching because, “You have a better chance of being hit and killed by a tour bus off the planet of Mars than to die from prostate cancer, and at your age you will most likely die of something else.” Needless to say first, it was cancer and second “at my age”, how dare he; I have a lot of life yet to live.
After exploring the options laid out to me and with the prospect of the peripheral ramifications from diapers, incontinence and impotency, along with a whole host of unpleasant and horrific possibilities, they all were confident they could remove the cancer…BUT!! It was that BUT that lead to my wife’s and my belief that there had to be something else because up to that point we didn’t see any type of outcome that gave us any comfort until we requested a package from Provision Center for Proton Therapy. From that point on I’ll repeat what a pleasant, memorable experience it has been. From our initial consultation with Dr. Marcio Fagundes to the last insertion of my final balloon and last treatment I feel none the worse for wear and, as far as I can tell, all systems remain fully functional.
As I recount my journey, I see the Provision Center as a fine-tuned and well-orchestrated symphony. Initially I saw Dr. Fagundes as the conductor, but have come to believe him to be the instrument in which a much higher power has placed the baton. Let me begin with the brass, and what would a symphony be without brass. The therapists who administered the daily treatments are indeed the players of the brass and they play it well, thanks to a mystery group of instrument technicians who fine tune that brass to each parent’s specific need.
Of course, to keep our full attention, there is plenty of liquid refreshment and each attendee is given a balloon as a remembrance only just to be taken back as you leave their arena. Not that I know of anyone who has asked to keep theirs. Yes, this symphony has brass!! Mellowing the brass are the strings which is the medical team that reads our vitals and a lot more to balance out the sometimes overpowering brass.
Between the rhythm of the brass and the strings there is that one element which keeps everything running on time and in sync, and that is the percussions. Each performance, as we lay motionless, listening to the clunks, whirrs, bells and chimes, this symphony has its own master percussionist. Personally, I’ve heard those sounds, along with a few others that some might think did not belong in the tune I expected to be playing, but I disagree. Let’s just say, hearing a strange sound at a symphony most of the time would not be a good thing.
And finally, harmony, that being the support staff, they always present a supportive staff which blends all the sounds together. This makes the beautiful music of the Provision Center for Proton Therapy for all of us who have had the good fortune to hear. Yes, the Provision Center for Proton Therapy is a Symphony, but no encore for me…………. just PLAY ON, OH YES, PLEASE DO PLAY ON!!!!!!