Proton therapy

I’ve been handling my prostate cancer problem fairly well, until I hit a roadblock with Blue Cross Blue Shield, which is currently denying proton therapy, my best alternative. Blue Cross says it’s not medically necessary, but proton therapy would spare a lot of healthy tissue and healthy organs and avoid a lot of future problems that I would not have with proton therapy.

I turned to 69 this week, but I’ve always had a good healthy sex life which I’ve worked hard to maintain. There’s a reasonable chance of sexual function after proton therapy because it’s not nearly as destructive.

Blue Cross only considers which is more effective at killing the cancer initially, and they are both about the same. However, traditional radiation causes much more damage and more side effects, so I cannot see how this could be a fair comparison. It’s like pain, avoidance, preservation of bodily function, and less radiation risk for secondary exposure are not even considerations to Blue Cross.

We’re all different. I’ve seen post on this thread by people my age who are not concerned about loss of sexual function at all. I can’t understand that because of the way my mind is wired, but I’m interested in whether this is a natural tenancy or something that has been accepted because of the risk that cancer poses.

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s had to deal with proton therapy being denied as not medically necessary, and how that was resolved.

I have always thought about sex because I thought that was something that men do on a daily basis. I wonder if there’s a means to getting it off of my mind, where it’s no longer important. Psychologically, that would seem like a big blow to my health and enjoyment of life.