Waiting for the Next Prostate Cancer Treatments

  

Will they come in time for my generation?

There are almost too many promising new prostate cancer treatments in clinical trials to count. A very few have been approved and many are in the clinical trials process. That’s great! I’ll drink to that!

Those of us who have been living with prostate cancer (or other cancers) for five, ten, or fifteen years can’t help but wonder how soon these new drugs will be available. And will they work for me? Everybody wants to live happily ever after. I sure do--whatever that means.

Of course, there will be a price to pay—drugs seem to be getting more and more expensive, there will be the ever-present side effects, and maybe we'll feel a little guilt that the new drugs weren’t there for previous generations.

Many diseases such as polio, AIDS, malaria, smallpox, and whooping cough have gone from fatal to curable or treatable in my lifetime. I have lost family and friends to some of them. Those people were born in the wrong century, wrong decade, or wrong place. And that will always be true.

If this sounds a little maudlin, I’m sorry. It’s just the way life is and the way science progresses. I believe there will  be more helpful treatments in my lifetime and I'm absolutely sure that by the time my kids and grandkids need a miracle cure there will be one for them. Keeping positive, believing there will be good outcomes, and living your bucket list seems a lot better than assuming the worst.

axman

15 More Minutes of Fame!

When celebrities get prostate cancer

If you pay any attention to the News Feeds about prostate cancer (like I do) you’ve probably noticed that every time a celebrity is diagnosed with prostate cancer that’s all you can read about.

Earlier this year it was Warren Buffett, at 85, being diagnosed and choosing to get treated (at 85!). It’s likely he can afford it but there were all kinds of articles and commentaries criticizing him for being too old for diagnosis and/or treatment. I’m thinking it is HIS choice. I sent him one of my books but haven’t received a thank you note yet. How you doin’ Warren?

A couple of months ago it was Ryan O’Neal. It seemed that his stage and treatment choices changed from day to day, but that was his story and he was the story.

This week it’s Tommy Chong (of Cheech and Chong fame) being diagnosed and touting his ‘cannabis cure’ treatment. For shame! Or, is it HIS choice? Or, is it any of OUR business? Maybe it’ll work and he’ll be our hero, man.

We (that’s the all-inclusive we) seem to have lots of opinions and ideas and strongly felt absolute conclusions about how guys with prostate cancer (if they are famous) should treat (or not treat) their prostate cancer. There must be better things for us to do.

axman

My Heroes

Heroes can be male or female and any age. But most of mine are well past retirement age.

Many of my heroes have serious life threatening diseases and still do things beyond what would be expected and they show strength and perseverance in the process.

For anyone with incurable cancer, the probable end doesn‘t sound very good. “Your cancer will eventually kill you—unless something else does first.” You’d think there would be a tendency to give up and just wait for the inevitable. Sometimes that’s what happens. But mostly—not so. 


In my experience, a bad prognosis can actually motivate someone to do something more, extra, different, and even feel more positive in the process (not the same as denial). What they do doesn’t always make sense to the rest of us—it doesn’t have to.

Call it a ‘bucket list,’ ‘wish list,’ or just ‘why the heck not list,’ it can certainly impact quality of life and just maybe even length of life—just maybe. Here are a few examples taken from what I see and hear:

• Being totally restricted to a wheel chair doesn’t have to keep you from going on that cruise or visiting Branson or Disney World.
•  Having the strength to laugh and joke about whether to wear the blonde, auburn, or brunette wig today (thanks to chemotherapy baldness), makes the day a little better.
•  Getting a tattoo—someplace that shows and will probably embarrass the kids (but not the grandkids) is a statement of independence—of sorts.
• Skydiving for the first time (safer than driving down the road, I’m told) can be a thrill or a way to overcome a long time fear.
• Selling the house, buying an R.V., and traveling as far as possible for as long as possible seems to be more and more popular. Watch out for old geezers in 40 foot motor homes (towing a Jeep).
• Finding old high school and college friends (with the help of the Internet and grandkids) and renewing long ago friendships is rewarding and kind of cool.

Facing your particular reality and not giving up, becoming amazingly resourceful, not letting an uncertain future dictate the present you can control, and not feeling sorry for yourself makes you a hero. Thanks for setting a good example.

axman