Cyberknife Graduation Day

I completed my last (of five) CyberKnife sessions today and I was valedictorian out of a class of one. The Cyberknife office is a one hour drive each way but the Colorado mountains are always beautiful scenery
Preparatory daily protocol involves a low residue fiber diet, Gas-X on the night prior, and a Fleet enema prior to the appointment. I was advised that not following the diet could add as much as one-half hour to each session but I had no problems drinking an early cup of coffee.

I arrived at the CyberKnife Center in my street clothes and then lay on a table. Pants were lowered to eliminate the zipper being in the way. I was given a rubber ring on which to hold on my chest so that my arms did not sink too low. The Cyberknife VSI robot is the most recent model. No mold was used for my legs which would reduce my involuntary movement as listed on other accounts. I was required to verbally state my name, DOB, reason for the session (prostate) and type of music to be piped in via the Pandora system. Note: Seems like CK patients have a bias toward Enya or Windham Hill artists!!
It took about 5 minutes for the radiation techs to properly position me and the CyberKnife computer to locate and track the four gold fiducials which had been inserted about a month prior. Doctors / radiologists were available but not at each session.

There is a large room containing the VSI robot which is connected to the adjustable bed and two imaging devices mounted from the ceiling. A control room is located adjacent and monitored by two techs..The CyberKnife room and the patient is seen on four separate cameras along with a speaker for music. If I needed any assistance, I had to yell or wave my hands.

Once the music started, the robot starting moving about. It moved fairly rapidly and smoothly with a low buzzing sound and positioned itself in a wide variety of positions to deliver the dosage to the prostate from dozens of different angles.

Each session lasted 25-35 minutes, a reduction from older machines. Total dosage was 35 gy at 700 centigray per session. There were no sensations felt although I thought that I felt a buzz-tingling during session # 3. I'm told it was psychological but I won't argue the point
Because I had previous infections after the biopsy and fiducial placement, my first three sessions were M-W-F. Sessions 4 and 5 were on the following T-W due to the July 4 holiday. I had no side effects after sessions 1 and 2. After session 3, I had moderate burning, frequency-urgency (every 20 minutes) and very slow flow. I had started Flomax three days before session one and the dosage was doubled after session 4.

I was given my walking / graduation papers, told to get a PSA after 3 months and return for a consult. This is self-pay since Kaiser of Colorado would not acknowledge this procedure. DaVinci was my second choice but there are complications due to 1) medical history 2) Kaiser surgeon with only 250 procedures.

FYI, I am age 62, diagnosed March 2011 with Gleason 6, 2/12 cores, 10%, T1c, PSA 14.2. My PSA has been between 6-8 over the last 15 years with two negative biopsies in 1996 (18 cores).
Thanks for all the well wishes and hopefully this post will be informative to others considering CK. Even with the complications, I'd do it again.