My name is Tony Petty, and I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in June of 2012.
As a retired Air Force Veteran who served in Vietnam, I was no stranger to a battle when faced with one. Cancer is scary. The unknown is scarier.
I first noticed something was not right when my eyesight began deteriorating, especially while reading. I felt a tingling sensation on the right side of my face and reoccurring unease. After visiting with an optometrist, a neurologist, and many other specialists, doctors at Integris found a mass near my sinuses. A biopsy revealed it was non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a large tumor moving upward from my sinuses to my eyes.
Knowing the areas surrounding the tumor were very delicate, I did as much research as possible to find out what the best treatment option would be for me. I didn’t want to cause damage to the areas around the tumor that were healthy. I considered my eyes, brain, mouth, and all the areas around the tumor “collateral damage” or healthy tissue, if you will. I knew that my quality of life after treatment was the most important thing for me to consider. After researching my options, I learned I was a good candidate for proton therapy.
My treatment consisted of 18 chemotherapy treatments, followed by 28 treatments of proton therapy.