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Prescription for Proton Radiation

As patients many times we hear, "proton treatment is medically unnecessary"  but then sometimes our cases are overturned and insurance pays for treatment.  And sometimes cases aren't approved. 

In my book you'll learn from 15 patient stories plus my own story of how we found  out about proton radiation. You'll also hear how many of us fought and appealed to our insurance companies through the support of our physicians and cancer centers. 

I've interviewed 8 Radiation Oncology physicians and the Chief Medical Officer at Varian, one of the manufacturers of the proton radiation machines.

I'm not a doctor and I'm not prescribing proton radiation. I'm a cancer survivor,  passionate about helping other patients learn about proton radiation. I also want to help others navigate the insurance process. 

Here’s what some of the patients had to say about their experiences:

• “While cancer interrupted my senior year of college at UC Santa Barbara, my insurer’s actions caused me the most stress.” Hear from Mariam Tariq as she navigated her breast cancer diagnosis and battle with insurance. Mariam was eating in a restaurant enjoying her second day in the Big Apple when she received a call from her doctor. “She dropped the news that the biopsy she took was cancer. And just like that my whole world was shaken.” At 21 years old going into her senior year at UCSB, Mariam was diagnosed with breast cancer.

• In July of 2020 just before the start of the NFL season Head Coach Ron Rivera of the Washington Football Team felt a lump in his neck. He was on his way to a two week vacation and just thought maybe his glands were swollen. But when he got back, he asked the team doctor, M. Anthony Casolaro, MD to check it out. As Coach Rivera said in our interview; “You know, when I asked the doctors, what should I do? They all said, we think you should do proton therapy. So as far as I was concerned photon radiation was out of the question.”

• ”Keep fighting. That's the best advice I’ve got. It's so hard, but keep persevering. It might not work out, but we don't have to make it easy on the insurance companies. And we can at least make a point that they can't just keep treating people like this and walking all over us. Keep fighting.” One day in December of 2017, she was fiddling with her necklace at work. She noticed a lump in her neck and thought…hmmm, maybe I should get this checked out?She went to her Primary Care Physician (PCP) who ordered tests including a CT scan. Days later after her scans came back she got a phone call from her PCP’s Physician Assistant (PA) on a Friday asking her to come in on the following Monday to review the CT, in-person. “I think any time a doctor asks to deliver news in-person there is sort of a sinking feeling in the pit of a person’s stomach. I was in the car with my boss at the time, but I begged the PA to not make me wait and worry myself sick all weekend.”