It's Prostate Cancer Awareness Month--again

This is the 14th annual (I think) Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. 

I try to make a note of it each year just so none of us forget. There's not much new to say this year, but maybe just repeating the ever-improving statistics can give you an idea of the size of the problem.

1. More than two and a half million American men are living with prostate cancer or have been diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer.
2. 238,000 American men will be diagnosed this year.
3. Nearly 30,000 men in the U.S. will die from prostate cancer in 2013.
   

There is a trend for more men to be diagnosed with prostate cancer each year and fewer to die from it. That's good. Most men with prostate cancer will die from some other cause. Heart disease is the most common cause of death for men with prostate cancer. That makes sense--the median age of diagnosis is 66 so many men already have other health concerns.

My ten-year survival is not uncommon. Good doctors and new treatments have made a difference. Funding by the National Cancer Institute and donations to the American Cancer Society and other non-profit organizations have helped make research possible. Cancer research is very expensive and 'awareness' months have helped bring in money for research and improvements in treatment for other cancers as well. For example, I am taking a medication that was not available to me a couple years ago. I am able to live a more-or-less normal life largely because of medical research and clinical trials. Woo Hoo.

I'm still awaiting that magical time when the word CURE is at least as common as TREATMENT or MANAGEMENT.

axman

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year—Really

Holidays are good—for me, anyway

Keeping busy has been a good way for us not to focus on health problems. Carol and I enjoy getting together with kids, grandkids, and old friends. We do that on a regular basis throughout the year but it’s a little more special during the holidays. Family has always been important to us (even when some of our kids were teenagers and didn’t like us very much). Now that they’re all in their 40s we’ve been forgiven.

As we navigate through our 70s there are more and more health concerns—many of them minor—and a noticeable slowing down (both mental and physical, I fear). That’s all normal and so far our slowing process hasn't resulted in a full stop.

It is taking me longer to write these blogs and draw the cartoons but they eventually get posted. I never actually thought much about getting older and slower. It just happened. Worrying about aging and health doesn't do any good, anyway.

My life reality includes: cancer still sucks, treatments are improving, clinical trials are often available, life is what it is, and I’m looking forward to a great 2013.

I wish all of you a healthy and active 2013 and “give ‘em hell.”

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

Real Men Get Prostate Cancer Too, Second Edition is now available

Easy Access from my Blog!

Have prostate cancer? Know someone who has recently been diagnosed? Or maybe they’ve been battling it for five or ten years? Share this with them by email, liking, sharing, etc. Prostate cancer (after skin cancer) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men. More than two million American men are living with prostate cancer--and 12 million worldwide.

Many survivors, including me, have benefited from  advances that have been made in diagnosing and treating prostate cancer in the years since I published the first edition of Real Men Get Prostate Cancer Too in 2008. So it was time to update the state of prostate cancer and my survival story. And I even included some new cartoons!

axman

Lost Another Friend to Prostate Cancer

We first met when we lived in Canada in the 1970s and our families have been friends for the past 40 years. Dennis was, at various times, my neighbor, my student, my building contractor, and my colleague (he became a psychologist). He was active, smart, ambitious, and musically talented (he played in a rock band in his 60s). He had a knack for helping others—whether building their house or counseling their marital problems.

He was diagnosed only four years ago but the cancer was already advanced. He received multiple treatments to slow the tumor growth but nothing was very successful. His church and family ties helped keep him strong and positive.

No matter what progress you hear about in cancer treatment, it all boils down to the individual person. I can only hope that somebody somewhere finds a way to slow down prostate cancer (or even cure it) before I lose more friends.

axman

The Cold, Cold Facts

What’s new in Prostate Cancer Treatment?

Every year or so I take another look at what’s happening (or not happening) in the prostate cancer wars. The answer (from my standpoint) in a nutshell is: not too much.

For eight years now I’ve been waiting for the next big breakthrough in prostate cancer treatment. All the ‘miracle’ cures I’ve been able to track down have proved to be less than advertised, anecdotal, unsupported, or downright fraudulent. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been improvements, new approaches, and new and better drugs (for example, keeping me alive 2.5 months longer is a step in the right direction but NOT a miracle cure in my estimation).

Genetics

Advances in the study of genetic inheritance may help in future prevention – I’m sure it will help my grandkids and their grandkids. This is a long, long term project.

Diagnosis

The PSA test is imperfect, new urine tests are being tested, biopsies in color are being developed to find cancers that don’t show up in black and white - and the controversy over testing or not testing rages on. It still seems that being diagnosed early is a good idea but there can also be a misdiagnosis and needless treatment. I am glad I was diagnosed when I was.

Vitamins

There IS such a thing as too much of a good thing. Vitamins that can help can also harm if taken in very large quantities. Diet and exercise and vitamins are good. But they aren’t a silver bullet.

Treatments

As time goes by, surgery, radiation, and other procedures become refined and more precise and do less damage to other organs and functions. This is a slow process but a good one for the men who will have these treatments in the future.

As I grow older and older I am still glad that I am getting older rather than the other dubious alternative. Maybe the big breakthrough will happen next month

axman

The Advantages of NOT having a Prostate

Look on the bright side, old timer...

There is, of course, the nasty side of having your prostate surgically ripped from your body. There are side effects you won’t much like: a scar, some pain for a few weeks or months, a reduced sex life, and your bladder control never seems quite the same.

I’ve bemoaned all this and more. But what about the upside? Upside? There’s an upside?

Here is a list of some, if not all, of the obvious and not so obvious benefits I have observed and experienced from no longer having a prostate to kick around.

1. Most important to me - I’m alive seven years later and still counting

2. I never hold up lines in public restrooms (believe me, this can be a godsend)

3. I lost the two ounces the prostate weighed but I hardly notice the weight loss

4. I have an awesome scar to show anyone brave enough to want to see it (so far no one has ever asked to see it)

5. I’m definitely sterile – as if it matters to anyone as old as me

6. I can tell humorous and entertaining stories at parties about tubes and bags and diapers (my wife says definitely NO to this possibility)

7. Once the deed was done, it was done; no specific ongoing treatment – nobody ever gets a prostate implant – not yet anyway…

I consider my prostatectomy one of the more significant events of my life – after marriage, parenthood, grandparenthood, and running a few marathons.

axman

A Morbid Curiosity with the Latest Cancer Research

…as if it made any difference

I subscribe to several email and Blog programs that send daily updates on all sorts of cancer research – and I read them all. Then there are the medical journal reports, Cancer Center articles, and anecdotal information. Reading all this stuff probably doesn’t make me even a little bit healthier. Even if there is a miracle cure in there someplace I’d probably get hopelessly confused by the medical gobbledygook.

All the headlines accentuate the positive: Mice with Prostate Cancer Treated with XTZ666 Live 27% Longer than Control Group, or New Chemo Cocktail Shows Promise, or Exploitation Drugs Ltd to Unveil Revolutionary Prostate Drug! As good as these headlines sound there isn’t any real information in there.

If I had not read any of those articles or studies nothing in my life would be much different – except for knowing a lot more about cancer ridden mice. I wonder if someone notifies the next-of-kin mouse.

So should we all read everything we can find – fact or fiction – about our particular disease? Will it help? Nobody knows.

I will likely continue my obsessive search for cancer information – I guess it’s in my nature. You, on the other hand, may be emotionally healthier than I am and able to resist the urge.

axman

Just When You Thought...

...you could trust your oncologist, an article turned up in the NY Times that may cause you to be more cautious. Check this out at the Zero Cancer website http://www.zerocancer.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=10874. At a VA Hospital in Philadelphia there were serious errors in 92 of 116 treatments when radioactive seeds (brachytherapy) were inserted into the prostate (supposedly) of men expecting professional prostate cancer treatment. Seeds were actually injected into the colon, bladder, and other areas instead of the prostate. There have been serious and painful side effects.
This whole process took place over more than six years and nothing was done to intervene or protect the patients who were put at risk during that time.

Why do I include this here? I'm not trying to scare you; only to strongly suggest that you don't make hasty decisions. Talk to doctors, patients, friends, and clergy. Check hospital and doctor reviews online. Read the blogs and medical journals and reliable websites. While most doctors and hospitals and treatments are high quality you want to be sure.

The best treatment is what we all deserve. Demand it and expect it and let your doctor and hospital and insurance carrier know when that doesn't happen.
axman

And the BEST Treatment is…

OK, OK, nobody really knows, but in a new research study there may be an indication – if you’re young enough. If you’re older than 50 when you’re diagnosed the jury is still out.

Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan reviewed more than 8,200 cases where men were diagnosed with prostate cancer before they were 50.

The Study in a Nutshell

"When given the choice between surgery, watchful waiting or external beam radiotherapy, patients younger than 50 with moderately and poorly differentiated prostate cancers have better long-term overall and cancer-specific survival when they opt for surgery," says study author Naveen Pokala, M.D., an urologist with Henry Ford Hospital.

In 5, 10, 15, and 20 year follow-ups those men who opted for radical prostatectomy had a better survival rate than those who received external beam radiation (X-ray) treatment or chose active surveillance (watch and wait).

So tell your younger friends (more and more ‘young’ men are being diagnosed) to check out this study if they are diagnosed and BEFORE they opt for treatment. Long term survival rates keep getting better and better. I consider that pretty good news now that my post-treatment recurrent prostate cancer is at six years and counting. I try to count very slowly.

axman