Parker said, “I want to be here,” Jordan recalled.

The level of commitment stood out when taking into account that Jordan’s radiation sessions began early in the morning, which meant Parker needed to leave his home around 5 or 6 A.M. to meet Jordan and his wife at the hospital.

Making the Treatment Decision for Radiation

Radiation therapy for prostate cancer offers a spectrum of effective and safe options tailored to each individual’s clinical situation and personal preferences. From traditional external beam therapy to advanced technologies like stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), brachytherapy, and proton therapy, patients today — even those with advanced disease — have more choices.

The best decision is one made together with your physician, based on a thorough discussion of the benefits, risks, logistics, and your values. With the right plan in place, radiation therapy can be a powerful and effective tool in your fight against prostate cancer.

WATCH: Radiation For Prostate Cancer: What Are My Options?

Radiation therapy is typically given Monday through Friday, with weekends off to rest. The treatment is delivered externally and is completely non‑invasive—you won’t see, feel, or notice anything while it’s happening.

Each day, you’ll go to the radiation center and lie on a table using a custom mold—similar to a small bean bag—shaped specifically for your body and positioned around your hips.

This mold helps keep you still during treatment. Once the session is finished, you can resume your normal daily activities without any restrictions.

The proton beam therapy approach may be used for:

• Patients with localized prostate cancer who meet certain anatomic and insurance criteria
• Those seeking to reduce radiation dose to surrounding tissues (e.g., rectum or bladder)
• Men with prior pelvic radiation may benefit from proton’s precision

Advantages of proton therapy include the potential for fewer side effects due to less radiation dose to adjacent organs, a reduction in long-term risks of secondary cancers in younger patients, and it can be technically advantageous in patients with challenging anatomy.

One major difference is that radiation therapy does not involve the physical removal of the prostate, so urinary incontinence is generally less common and less severe than after surgery.

Radiation side effects can also develop more slowly, over time, whereas surgery side effects would be felt in the immediate aftermath.

“Radiation and focal therapies have been touted as options for men who want to preserve their erectile function and their continence by avoiding injury to the nerves that surround, like a hammock, the prostate, and by avoiding injury to the sphincter mechanism that maintains continence,” Dr. Shirin Razdan, director of the robotic surgery department at the Comprehensive Urological Surgery Institute in Miami, tells SurvivorNet.

However, since cells around the prostate may be impacted by the radiation, which includes blood vessels and nerves, “5 to 10 years out, you will get maybe some urgency incontinence,” Dr. Razdan adds as a possible long-term side effect of radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

Jordan’s Prostate Cancer Journey

Jordan’s cancer never announced itself with symptoms. As SurvivorNet previously reported, it was caught because his doctors, who had been seeing him for regular check-ups over roughly a decade, noticed his PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels steadily climbing.

That led to a diagnosis of Gleason Score of 6 prostate cancer, the lowest score on a scale that runs from 6 to 10 and is generally classified as low risk. Even low-risk disease calls for a treatment decision, and Jordan chose a prostatectomy, surgery to remove the prostate gland and surrounding tissue. The procedure can carry side effects such as erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence, but Jordan has said he stayed focused on recovery.

WATCH: How Gleason Grade Determines Treatment

The cancer later came back. Jordan has described the fear of facing a disease where he realized things could go another way. His recovery from the recurrence, which he has credited to a combination of treatment and major lifestyle changes, included proton therapy, the stretch of treatment during which Parker kept showing up.

Jordan said he feels great and is committed to doing everything he can to stay cancer-free for life.

Through it all, Jordan and his wife, Kristen, have been honest about the “hardest part of treatment.” The loneliness was.

“It makes you feel like you’re all by yourself,” Kristen told “Rolling Out,” describing how cancer can isolate a couple even when they face it together. That feeling of isolation is what makes Parker’s early-morning drives across Atlanta stand out: he refused to let his friend sit in that waiting room alone.

Why Showing Up Matters

Parker’s support is a model for friends who don’t know what to do. He simply committed to being there, and he followed through for more than 30 appointments.

For anyone supporting a loved one through prostate cancer, a few practical ways to help:

• Offer rides or company at appointments. Even a few visits a week can lighten the load on a spouse or partner.
• Make specific offers. “I can drive you Tuesday and Thursday” is easier to accept than “Let me know if you need anything.”
• Keep talking. Men often internalize a prostate cancer diagnosis. SurvivorNet’s Shoulder to Shoulder series with Al Roker encourages men to talk openly about the disease rather than face it in silence.
• Support the caregiver too. Partners like Kristen Jordan carry their own share of the isolation and stress.

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Understanding Proton Therapy and Prostate Cancer

Proton beam therapy is a type of external beam radiation. It accelerates protons to high speed and delivers them precisely to the tumor, where they damage the DNA of cancer cells.

Its key advantage is a physical property called the Bragg peak, Dr. Alan Dal Pra, a radiation oncologist at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Health System, previously told SurvivorNet.

The beam deposits most of its energy at the target and then falls off sharply, which can spare more of the surrounding healthy tissue.

WATCH: CyberKnife Targets Radiation with the Same Effectiveness as Traditional Treatments

For prostate cancer, that precision can mean less radiation reaching nearby organs like the bladder and rectum. Treatment is non-invasive, and patients can usually return to normal activities after each session. Whether proton therapy is the right fit depends on factors like the stage of the cancer, a patient’s anatomy, prior treatment, and insurance coverage.

Prostate cancer recurrence after surgery is not unusual.

In a study published in JAMA that followed 1,997 men after prostate removal, 304 had their cancer return, and about a quarter of those recurrences came five or more years after surgery. For this reason, ongoing PSA monitoring matters even after successful treatment.

Remember, Jordan’s cancer caused no symptoms and was found only because his PSA was being tracked. The American Cancer Society recommends that men at average risk talk with their doctor about screening starting at age 50, at age 45 for higher-risk men including Black men, and at age 40 for men at even higher risk.

Questions to Ask Your Doctor

• Am I a candidate for proton therapy, and how does it compare with other radiation options for me?
• What side effects should I expect, and how will they be managed?
• How often will my PSA be checked after treatment?
• What support resources are available for me and my caregivers?

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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