Hampshire veteran completes proton therapy to beat cancer

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

HAMPSHIRE — After the Central DuPage Hospital Proton Center opened in Warrenville in October, Hampshire resident Dale Dopkins became its first prostate cancer patient.

Dopkins began his treatment Nov. 8 and completed it Jan. 13.

“Dale has done very well as he’s gone through his treatments,” said Dr. William Hartsell, medical director at the ProCure center. “We’re very pleased that he has been able to live a pretty normal, day-to-day life while doing so.”

“I had 44 shots (of radiation) in 44 days,” Dopkins said. “The only residual reminders of my treatment were silver dollar-sized spots, like sunburn, on my hips. Dr. William Hartsell, the radiation therapists, and all the people at ProCure were absolutely wonderful.”

Two years ago, Dale was diagnosed with an aggressive prostate tumor.

More than 200,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year, according to the National Association for Proton Therapy. Standard treatment options have been radiation or surgery.

As a retired United Airlines pilot and member of the Retired United Pilots Association, Dale heard about other RUPA members who had undergone successful proton therapy treatment in California.

While he was trying to find treatment closer to home, he read a newspaper article about the new proton therapy treatment center in Warrenville.

“When you pray, you want a miracle,” Dale said. “My miracle was ProCure.”

According to the center in Warrenville, “proton therapy is an advanced form of radiation treatment and an alternative to standard X-ray radiation for many patients with cancer and for some non-cancerous tumors. Proton therapy has proven beneficial in the treatment of a broad range of tumor types including brain, central nervous system, gastrointestinal, head and neck, lung and prostate as well as sarcomas and many pediatric cancers.”

“This is a powerful therapy,” Hartsell said. “It is very gratifying to see people benefiting from protons — people like Dale, as well as a large number of children and people with brain tumors and other cancers. We expect that Dale will be cured from this treatment, but he will need long term follow-up to be sure. This will primarily include physician visits and routine blood tests.”

During the “graduation ceremony” that was held for patients who completed treatment, Dopkins read a poem he wrote about his experience.

“It’s really hard to believe that nine full weeks of treatment have passed,” Dopkins said. “It actually went very fast.”

The Warrenville center says it recently opened its third treatment room with a gantry, “a nearly 100-ton rotating steel wheel that allows the proton beam to be directed at the tumor from any angle.” When the proton center opens its fourth treatment room, it will be able to treat up to 1,500 patients a year. The 60,000-square-foot facility is the ninth center of its kind in the country.

Dopkins and his wife, Pamela, have lived in Hampshire since 1996. They have a son, Brad; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Pamela’s 98-year-old mother, Millie, and Brad live with Dale and Pamela on their 26-acre farmette.

After 23 years in the U.S. Navy and 34 years as a United Airlines pilot, Dopkins wanted an active retirement that would involve his family and the different organizations where he volunteers.

Dopkins served in the Navy from 1953 to 1976 and earned the rank of lieutenant commander. He is a former commander of Hampshire-Burlington American Legion Post 680 and serves as the post’s color guard commander.

Dopkins remembered how the center’s staff decided to honor his years of military service on Veterans Day with a surprise round of applause. “When I stepped outside the door and saw all those people applauding, you could have picked me off the floor.”

Dopkins and other Post 680 members also give back to the community. They present the colors for football and basketball games at Hampshire and Central high schools. Dopkins is a board member of the Northwest Kane County Airport Authority, the United Airlines Historical Foundation, and Salvation Army Golden Diners that delivers meals to homebound individuals. And he is the president of the Hampshire/Burlington Senior Citizens Club.