Why am I in Jacksonville,Florida?

Sophia Rossi
Sep 13, 2019
5 min read

To get my boobs done.

Just kidding! Although that is what I told the taxi driver when mummy said that I was having some treatment here. I laughed.

I'm in Jacksonville for some medical treatment, not for my tittas though. I'm having Proton Therapy which is a special type of radio therapy. It is more concise and less likely to harm my other organs.

Proton Therapy

According to the University of Florida Proton Institute, compared to other cancer treatments it has a "lower risk of side effects, more precise treatment capabilities and impressive success rates". Protons can be directed to reach only the areas of the body that are affected by cancer. This leads to more accurate therapy, with less risk that healthy tissue will be exposed to radiation - and this can reduce the risk of complications and side effects. This also means that a higher dose of radiation can be used as it is so concise giving a higher success rate.

Unlike the regular radio therapy, the proton beam does not go through the tumour, it stops before it harms the other organs and tissue.

Why am I having it?

I am having proton therapy rather than radio therapy because of the place where my main active cancer site is situated in my body. My cancer was mainly in my Thymus which is in the middle of my chest near my heart, lungs and breast tissue. Therefore, if I have regular radiation I would be at a high risk of developing lung damage, heart disease or breast cancer later in life. By having proton therapy it lowered this risk considerably and that is why Dr cutter (the radio therapy specialist at the Churchill in Oxford) applied for funding from the NHS to send me to the land of UFL, NASCAR and Krispy Kremes, the USA. Whilst there are other proton machines in Berlin and even in England, they sent me to Florida due to availability within the time scale.

How is it going?

I don't know how its going medically but from an enjoyment point of view it is going VERY well. it took two weeks from when we arrived in Jacksonville to start the treatment. The plane journey over was a bit of a nightmare as we had 2 cancelled planes on the connection and they lost our bags but at least the plane food was good.

In those two weeks I had meetings with Dr Mailhot (my main consultant in charge of my treatment), Amy Sapp (very friendly director of nursing who organises most things for us), Heather Oakley (head of social stuff) and Dr Katzenstein (there to deal with any oncology problems that may arrive). I also had an appointment with the radiologists who set up the position that i lie in every time I have treatment. For this set up they had to make a plastic yellow mask that they moulded to my face and cut out the middle which I have kept for next halloween - seeing a 3D version of my nose really let me see just how big it is aha. They also tied me down - #fiftyshades am I riiiight?! and tattooed me 7 times. They did little tiny dots that look like freckles on my arms, side body and in the middle of my chest. Finally, they did a CT scan to compare to my old ones in order to work out exactly where they are going to target the beam

What is the treatment like?

I actually really enjoy going to treatment. I go every weekday for about an hour and it's usually in the morning so I get it done and then we get on with the rest of the day. The technicians are so so nice and they make an effort to get to know you and ask you how you are which made such a difference in the beginning.

My first treatment had been delayed because of the hurricane Dorian which despite the hype in Jacksonville turned out to be like a regular rainy day in England. We were even evacuated to a hotel closer to the airport that served powdered scrambled eggs for breakfast. Was so disappointed. However, despite the setback the amazingly hardworking Americans made up for lost time by working late and on the weekend. I had my first session at 7:45pm on Friday 6th September and it was plain sailing.

This is how it goes everyday:

I lie down on bed in gown.
They prod and move me around to line me up perfectly to the beam.
They leave room and I lie there thinking about how one of the buttons looks like a cat and what I'm going to do next year.
They come in and turn the bed around.
They leave and I lie there thinking about whether crabs think fish are flying and if Percy the pug is still alive.
They come in and I leave. simples.

ree — A picture of my proton machine that I got on internet.

I don't even know when the beam is on it is that harmless.

In the beginning, the mask was quite tight on my chin but now it's fine and I just walk out with scales on my face because the mask has holes in it.

Are there any side effects?

Well when I googled it it said the normal ones (nausea, fatigue and hair loss) and I haven't experience any of those at all!! In fact, my hair has grown and as I've been recovering from chemo I have more and more energy and doing more exercise than I have this whole year. I guess it depends where you are having it though because I have heard that people who have the beam directed to hair experience hair loss.

The only side effect I have experienced is redness where it is directed which you can barely see.

So there you have it, that's everything I know about Proton Therapy and why I am here in America.

What else have you been up to?

If you know me then I've been doing what I do best: eating. We've had BBQ, Tex-Mex, Mexican, Steak, Smokehouse, Italian, Seafood, Sushi, you name it! My favourite place so far was Longhorn - amazing steak.

We've also been to the beach (I surfed!!! well it was mainly swimming as not much time was spent in the air ahahah), a few bars (testing my luck with the 21 issue but being bald helps), The Cummer Art Museum and Gardens (beautiful), St John's town centre (huge mall like Bicester Village on steroids) and my best bit was going to watch the JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS !! They lost but it was fun shouting stuff that I knew NOTHING about.

I've made a friend who's in the navy and lives in our apartment complex. Our apartment has a free gym and pool which is pretty suite - if you'll pardon the pun.

If you are going to have proton therapy and you want to talk to someone about it or if you just want to find out more please please don't hesitate to message me.