Prostate Cancer Awareness
I was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Aug 15th 2008 from a 12 core biopsy. I had a second 32 core biopsy that confirmed the diagnosis on Dec. 12, 2008 with 2 cores having cancer, 3% and 23%. My Gleason score is 3+3, staged at T1c. The second biopsy was done to assure that I was (or was not) a candidate for active surveillance and that no cancer had been missed in the first biopsy. I am 78 years old and in good health otherwise. My life expectancy is 93 years.
My doctor and I selected Active Surveillance as treatment.
Part of the surveillance is to get a PSA test every 3-6 months.
My PSA went up slowly to 5.23. I had my first biopsy at this point
My PSA on Jan. 15, 2010 was 4.94. My doctor gave me the OK to continue on Active Surveillance. He gave me the option of taking Avodart, based on preliminary results of testing on 18,000 men that it may help reduce the number of cancer cells. I am now taking Avodart.
I credit four things for the PSA decrease:
1. Prayer
2. Drastic change in my diet.
3. Exercise increase
ABOUT ME FIRST
My career for 38 years was as a technical writer or managing technical writers. Another name for a technical writer might be “a researcher” because he spends about 75 percent of his time researching his subject, 15 percent writing and 10 percent doing other things. I learned how to research well.
I've seen 3 medical doctors about my prostate cancer and asked them, "Do we know what causes prostate cancer?" All three gave me almost the same answer: "Eating beef or other red meat and too much fat and probably not enough exercise." A number of extensive studies support this with "proof" in the statistics. You can’t say this causes prostate cancer but can say it reduces your immune system effectiveness to allow cancer to grow.
One analogy is:
Have you ever taken a wire and bent it back and forth a number of times until it finally breaks? This is what happens to the prostate immune system when you eat red meat and animal fat over time. It attacks the immune system over and over and the cumulative results is the immune system breaks down and allows cancer to grow. Even the “lean” in beef is fat. One study showed that 1 commercial hamburger has as much fat as 12 crisp slices of bacon!
Since my diagnosis, I’ve been getting “Google and Yahoo Alerts” at a rate of 10-20 every day. I get every new article put on the internet that has the words “prostate and cancer” and “prostate and diet”. I average reading about 4 a day.
I learned that Asian and Mediterranean men have much less prostate cancer probably because they do not eat red meat or a fatty "western" diet. If they move to America and eat our diet, they get prostate cancer.
Be aware that many articles about prostate cancer on the internet may contain "old" information that is no longer accurate. Be sure to check anything you read from several sources to valadate it. This even includes some websites that do not keep their information upo-to-date.
I was raised in Kansas and spent most of my adult life in Texas. In both places, the center of my diet was beef and beef products and dairy products. At times I ate a 16 oz, fat rib eye steak b-bqued at least once a week and 70 % of other meals were with some kind of beef. I used to drink 1-2 gallons of milk a week.
What about genetics, how much does it play a part in getting prostate cancer. It does increase your probability of getting cancer by less then 15%. I recently heard a famous prostate doctor (Snuffy Myres) say: "The main genetic affect is the bad eating habits we learned in our family."
One very important thing to remember is that the biggest thing to fear is fear itself. I've seen many men so fearful of the word cancer, that they are afraid to really find out what that means and they just turn themselves over to a doctor. If they realized the possible outcome, they would drop their fear and find out about prostate cancer and that many men live with it.
SIX THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW IN MAKING A DECISION ON TREATMENT.
This is the minimum information needed to start making a treatment decision with a diagnosis of prostate cancer. Usually, all of this information will be on the biopsy report except for the psa. There is no good reason to not disclose all this information. Once you have this information, you need to research to understand what each means.
1. Psa number progression from one test to another. In one year, the psa is considered "normal" if it does NOT go up more than 0.75. For example, it might be 3.1 on Jan. 1 of 2011 and on Jan. 1 of 2012 it is 3.6, and increase of 0.50. This is in the safe range. But if it were 4.2, that would be an increase of 1.1 and outside the safe range, and some testing is required, often a biopsy. Depending on symptoms a doctor may treat for prostate infection before doing a biopsy.
2. Gleason score. This is two numbers like mine is 3+3=6. Mine is considered low grade cancer. If it were 7 then some additional testing might be in needed.
3. Staging of cancer found. Mine is T1c. This is categorizing the risk of cancer having spread beyond the prostate. Mine means: a tumor was found in a needle biopsy performed due to an elevated serum PSA . For more in depth explanation of this, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostate_cancer_staging
4. Number of biopsy cores that had cancer with the percent of cancer found in each core and any irregularity between findings.
5. Where the tumors were found in the prostate. The prostate has two lobes and sometimes the tumors are limited to one lobe. Some treatments may be better than others if cancer is close to the urethra.
6. Size of the prostate. Was it enlarged or normal size?
These six items are just a start in learning what you need to know for a good decision on treatment. You can ask doctors what these all mean, but consider doing your own researh too, then ask more questions of your doctor.
MY NEW DIET:
Some New Rules
A recent book on anti-cancer says we have cancer because of what we eat. This book points out that you MUST refrain from ever eating food known to advance cancer. If you "cheat" now and then, it puts you right back to where you started.
1. I do not eat beef or beef products, fixed any way. This includes hamburger, steak, roast, milk or cream, etc. This was hard at first but I’m used to it now after about 15 months of it. I was given a small 6 oz steak at a wedding dinner recently, ate only about 1/3 of it, and decided I did not like it.
2. I do not eat fast food because most of it is fried and full of fat.
3. I do not eat BBQ that is charred because it has been proven to cause cancers.
4. I have reduced my intake of sugar foods. (this is the hardest part for me!)
5. I eat far more fresh caught fish, at least 2-3 times a week. (no farm rasied!)
6. I eat more vegetables, whole grains, brown rice, salads and fruit. Fruit and carrots and blueberries have become my between meal snacks.
7. I am eating more fruit but drinking less juice, including apple and orange. I use these on my cereal in place of milk. Once you get use to this, you may actually like it.
8. I use only olive oil in and on my foods. I use coconut oil for a few thing. No other fats of any kind. I now watch the fat content of anything I buy and have eliminated a number of foods. I eat about 20 dry roasted almonds most evening.
9. I do not add sugar or salt to any food.
10. I eat two tablespoons of “Golden” ground flax a day, usually in my morning cereal. My cereal has flax added to it and is very low sugar and no fat.
I no longer do this because taking Krill supplies the same Omega 3 and does not have the problems of flax products. This decision came from Dr. Snuff Myres opinion on flax.
11 . I drink more water
12. I drink 1-3 large cups of Japanese Green tea each day.
13. I drink 2 oz, twice a day of Essiac tea that I make for myself.
(reasons that this may have caused a kidney stone. The most recent thinking is that this didnot cause my stone, that a calcium supplement with too much D3 caused it.)
14. I have a large garden in the summer and often eat right out of the garden. I have peas and broccoli and tomatoes when available daily. If not available from my garden, I buy them. I try to eat one tomato a day or the juice of a tomato.
15. My supplements consists of:
5000 2,000 iu of D3 taken at bed time,
500 mg of buffered, time-release C,
2 -500 mg of pomegranate concentrate soft-gel,
600 mg calcium,
(My doctor told me to quit this because of my kidney stone.)
1000 mcg of B-12 every other day,
500 500 mg of Flush-free Niacin at bed time, 500 at noon meal (this taken for low HDL)
(changed)1000 mg of Omega-3 Krill taken twice a day.
(added)100 mg Reseratrol with 500 mg Turmeric daily (KAL brand)
(added) CoQ10 100 mg daily in the form of liquid Qunol
Prescription of Celebrex, 200 mg 5 3 days a week
MORE ON FINDING TREATMENT FOR PROSTATE CANCER
6 hints on how to proceed . . . . . .
1. The number one thing you MUST do for yourself is ALWAYS get a second opinion and get it from a doctor that is far removed from the first doctor. [from one not in the same medical group] This will usually be a urologist.
2. Before you agree on any treatment, strongly consider consulting with a medical oncologist. A medical oncologist treats the whole body. If your prostate cancer is believed to have gotten beyond the prostate, then seeing a medical oncologist is a must. Here is why: If you see a urologist and he surgically removes your prostate, he is usually through treating you. You must then seek another doctor for ongoing treatment. You no longer need a urologist. If you see a medical oncologist before surgery, he may recommend against surgery. Be sure to consider total quality of life in any treatment you select.Try to get as many good days as you can, doing what you want to do.
3. Encourage others to get a psa blood test beginning at age 40. The initial test forms a base line number for you and this is important for your future protection. If you wait until you are 60 or 70 to get the first test, then it may not be accurate until several are taken. The standard for this testing is 50, but I know several doctors say men in their 40's are starting to get prostate cancer. This is due to the very fat diet people eat in the US. Also have them get a DRE. There are no medical risk in having these test. The risk you may experience is not understanding what the test mean. You need to ask questions until you understand the meaning.
4. Within the prostate “world” there is what is talked about as the “old standard” treatment as a must to get all the cancer they can out of your body. Recently, a new “gold standard” study came out that says precision radiation with hormone therapy is just as successful as surgery, and maybe more so. Surgery alone has many problems and can cause many problems that you will live with the rest of your life and impacts quality of life for the rest of your life. Most men with a Gleason score below 7, should consider active survillance with your doctor. Doctors that make their living doing surgery do not readily accept the new “gold standard”. In some cases surgery may be the best treatment.
5. You must learn to be your own advocate or face possible inappropriate treatment.
Trying to sort through all the treatments available and picking the right one for you is about like trying to nail Jello to a tree!! If I had taken my first opinion beyond a doubt, I would have had the wrong treatment.
The way it seems to work is that each urologist has a main treatment method. He will usually say that you are an ideal candidate for his treatment even if there are others that may be better for you. I read an article some months ago written by a medical doctor that was seeking treatment for his prostate cancer. He went to a large number of urologists for opinions before selecting his treatment because he found it confusing to find the best for himself.
A good place to find a second opinion is from a doctor in a teaching hospital. Most of them are paid a good salary and their income is not dependent on how many they treat or the treatment selected. I went to Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas and was very pleased with the results. My doctor does three different treatments and if I had wanted treatment other than active surveillance, he would have suggested one he did not do. (radiation)
I have about 20 friends that have prostate cancer and know their stories and have read the case histories of over 100 other men. I have invited my brother to write his opinions concerning the surgical removal of his prostate and about his progress. I will add a list of books that have been helpful to me and tell you about some that are a waste of your time. Too many books are badly dated and have out of date information.
6. I've become aware than the psychological aspects of prostate cancer too often cause men to make a decision for treatment that may not be the best for his total quality of life. Very little is written about this, but in reading case histories, I find it in almost every one. Most men are not aware of how this is affecting their decision making abilities. Some feel it is taking away their manhood or that they must make a quick decision for treatment rather than an informed decision The opposite is also true, that some men will do about anything to keep from having treatment, including lying to themselves or going on some kind of unproven treatment. I know one man that thought eating lots of carrots would rid him of is cancer. It did not work. I hope to write more about this in the future after doing more research.
September was Prostate awareness month. I made a number of talks to men about prostate cancer. I became more aware of how much men want to forget about the possibility of having prostate cancer, to a dangerous level.
PERSON 1. Diagnosed with prostate cancer. My PSA is 4.2 ng/ml and the
Gleason was 3+3=6. The cancer was 5% of one core. I am age 52. My first urologist recommends radical prostatectomy. My second opinion urologist recommended Active Surveillance.
This urologist said the following: A small Gleason 6 prostate cancer is very unlikely to kill you no matter what treatment option you select. In fact, you are much more likely to die of something else. I would note that this small Gleason 6 cancer can be found in 30-50%of men your age group. Only a small percentage of these cancers has the capacity to grow and spread. There is now a broad consensus that you could do active surveillance. This is an approach where you are followed carefully and sent to surgery or radiation if your cancer is growing. A study of outcomes for 12,000 patients with low risk disease after surgery and the 20 year cancer mortality was 0.2%. Why not go directly to surgery? Because you will never be the same. Your sexual function will be altered even if you are lucky enough to be potent. Your urinary function will be compromised. Surgical mortality is close to 0.5%.
PERSON 2. He is in his 50's and has PSA has been less than 1 for many years. It suddenly jumps to 2.2 and his DRE indicates a hard prostate. He has a biopsy that shows 12 cores with aggressive prostate cancer. He gets proper treatment and is still alive 8 years later.
PERSON 3. He has had PSA and DREs for over 20 years with no findings and then his PSA goes to 5.13. He has a biopsy and it shows non-agressive cancer in 2 out of 12 cores and with a Gleason score of 6. He has been on active surveillance now for 18 months and has a good quality of life. He is 76.
PERSON 4. His doctor did not believe in doing PSA or DRE. He eventually had both at age 69. The DRE indicated aggressive cancer because of a protrusion of his prostate. Also, his PSA was 13. If he had these tests many years before, the cancer may have been stopped. His Gleason was 8. He had surgery to remove the prostate and it on ADT treatment. He is 71.
PERSON 5. He has had PSA/DRE for several years. At age 48 his PSA takes a jump to more than double. He has a biopsy and it shows non-agressive cancer with a Gleason score of 6. He is presently trying to decide what treatment he will have.
Statistics clearly show that prostate cancer is being found in younger men, even in the 30's and it seem more screening should be done rather than less.
There are only 2 "risk" related to PSA and DRE testing:
- If you do not get the test, you may have cancer and never know it like PERSON 3. If he had the test much earlier in his life, he probably would not have agressive cancer.
- What your doctor tells you about your test. I believe that too often doctors are forced to be very conserative to protect themselves from legal action and may tell you your cancer is worst then it is. This is where a 2nd opinion is very useful.
The following is taken from a John Hopkings Prostate Bulletin around 2002:
The introduction of the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test in 1986 ushered in a new era in prostate cancer detection and treatment. With the ability to find cancer up to six years earlier than with a digital rectal exam, PSA testing has resulted in more men than ever being diagnosed with tumors still in an early, localized, and curable stage. Before the PSA test was introduced, more than half of prostate cancers were not detected until they had already advanced beyond the prostate; but today, the majority of cancers (about 70%) are still localized when they are detected.
Essiac Tea
I do not know if this tea works or not. It has few side-effects and does not cost much. So, I'll drinking it. I've drank about 9 gallons of it to date.
I learned about Essiac from a medical doctor in Arlington Texas where I live. He is taking it for his prostate cancer. He learned of it from a minister. I have talked to the minister and heard his story: In 1996, he was diagnosed with advanced stage IV prostate cancer that had metastasized in his spine. He was given about 6 weeks to live. He announced this to his friends.That same day, a church member showed up with some Essiac Tea for him to drink. He continued to drink it and within 6 months an MRI showed his cancer was gone. He is now retired at age 77 with no cancer but still drinks his Essiac tea each day.
Both the governments of U. S. and Canada have studied it to determine if it can harm a person. Both concluded it probably will not harm any one, with one exception. Persons that have a tendency to develop kidney stones should not drink it because one of the ingredients is know to cause kidney stones sometimes. The governments have not tested the tea against any diseases.
Write me your questions. I will answer.
Jerry Hampton