Posted on 10/31/2015 3:18:31 PM PDT by originalbuckeye
Don’t look at statistics. They don’t tell your story.
I have already decided to make the actuaries weep.
My fathere died at 86. That seems like a worthy goal.
CANCER WARRIORS PING
This is a ping list for cancer survivors and caregivers to share information. If you would like your name added to or removed from this ping list, please tell us in the comments section at this link (click here). (For the most updated list of names, click on the same link and go to the last comment.)
Statistics are just to give you an idea how many people you’re going to pass on your long journey. God bless.
I honestly don’t feel that the statistics have anything to do with me. By yhemselves statistics, I would be dead by the time I’m 58, or maybe 59. Sorry, but my plans extend much further.
The one thing I know I needed to change was to reduce my stress. I have tried to do so.
You’re right. Statistics don’t have anything to do with anyone’s future journey. They’re just a journal of past journeys.
You’re also right about the stress. I’m going to go play with my kittens and puppies now. Have a blessed day.
I had a PSA of 5.4 in August of 2013. My insurance company’s protocol on when a man should have a biopsy makes no mention of any specific PSA level at which point one shoud be ordered.
13 months later, it was 9.7 and I got one; and, I was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. There is no cure. Had I gotten the biopsy when I should have, Iwould have been completely cured.
Educate yourself. Insurance compnie don’t care if you live or die. They only care about profits. Anyone who thinks doctors determine what care you get are naive like I was.
That doubling in 1 year is alarming. With a PSA like that they should have at least been doing blood work quarterly. Don’t give up.
Twenty years ago, just a few days before we walked down the aisle, the love of my life was diagnosed with prostate cancer. His PSA was 29, and his Gleason score was 9/10. We opted for surgery with a 75% chance that they would find it in his lymph nodes and close him back up. They opened him up and after a quick look at the lymph nodes they didn’t find cancer, so they went ahead with the surgery. Within a couple of weeks, they had done further path work on the lymph nodes (still didn’t find any) and there were clear margins.
Immediately after the surgery, his PSA went to undetectable (<0.1). Five years later, his PSA remained undetectable, so I asked his urologist if he could be considered cured. He told me that we *never* say that with prostate cancer. Truth be known, they only expected him to live 3-5 past the surgery.
Thirteen years after his surgery, the PSA was once again detectable at 0.1, so the waiting game began to see how long it would take it to double. It took four years to get to 0.2, but then it doubled again in two years, so picking up speed. We are still at tiny amounts at that point, 0.4. They pass him off to radiology, and that doc wants him to think about radiation. Very confusing to me, because it too small of an amount to located, so how do they know where to aim the radiation?
She wanted to get started right away, but hubby told her he wanted to wait 6 months, which would be last month in October. He went in for and MRI, blood draw, and then the appointment with the radiologist. First the radiologist’s understudy comes in, and goes over the MRI, and says it all looks good. Then he tells us “we don’t have any explanation for this, but your PSA dropped from 0.4 to 0.1.” The radiologist comes in and says “this isn’t the way that prostate cancer works, it doesn’t go down without treatment, we can’t explain this. Have you been doing ANYTHING different?”
We couldn’t come up with anything on the spot, but on the way home I realized that after his April appointment that he had stopped exercising indoors at the gym and instead was walking outdoors with me. He was getting about 6 hours of sunshine a week and making a lot more vitamin D for the last 6 months.
There are lots of studies on the affects of vitamin D and prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is more common and there are more higher grade tumors the farther north you go. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=prostate%20cancer%20vitamin%20d
We did get back in touch with his urologist who said that his improvement could be tied to vitamin D, and that was better than any explanation that he had.
Get some sunshine on your skin or take some vitamin D supplements, it certainly could not hurt. I’m not saying it’s a cure, but there is a lot of evidence that it can slow it down and at least hold it in check.
My prostate cancer is metastatic because it has spread to eight spots on my skeleton.
I’ve been on Lupron therapy for the past year and my PSA has gradually gone down to 0.4. Doctor said it could work for another 3-6 years, but it could be sooner or longer. My latest CT continues to show no spreading to other organs and there was a slight improvement in my bone scan.
I take some supplements, including 10,000 iu of vitamin D, and hve elimintrd almost all sugar. Aso in the process of losing weight. Also taking 1 tsp of baking soda since there are some arguments that cancer needs an acidic environment to survive and grow. Not sure if it works, but my doctor said it wouldn’t hurt.
Ws at a patient-focused semainar at MDA in July, and the researchers are very optimistic that there will be a cure in the foreseeable future. I will still be around for it.
Sorry....that should read once every 3 years for ages 21-29 and once every 5 years for women ages 30-65......my proofreading failed me : /
Whoa! Down to 0.4? I’m very happy for you! Prayers that your therapy continues to work.
We are at MDA also. Feel very blessed to have that at our disposal. Thanks for the info on the progress for a cure.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.