PSA 1524, Decision is to Treat Myself the Holistic Way.. I will regularily update my progress for ev

VascodaGama said:

Freddy; Touching in the wound of some guys
Hi Freddy

Freddy wrote; “…..When we look at the large number of post on this forum by people who want help in treatment options not given to them by the doctors, I wonder, is some of the lack of choice given driven by a need for profit in the medical profession….”

I believe you may be touching in the wound of some guys out there. PCa is a big business and there is a huge concurrency between hospitals and doctors. Each one trying to get a portion of the “Cake”.
I become suspicious about hidden “wolves” in PCa forums I subscribe (not CSN yet) and I found that such is happening. They approach newbies in a “Little Red Riding Hood” style and wait for later strike, as purely salesmen.

There is no dough that many guys recommend treatments biased because they believe in theirs or because they have become highly acknowledgeable with other treatments through own researches. However such opinions are from “laymen” and should be indicated as such in respect to other fellas.
VG

Touching in the wound
Sorry, it was not my intention to touch any wounds.

In my case, and some others, I do believe very little information was given by the doctors. I had a family doctor for years, he did blood work a few times, but never gave me any idea of a PSA level. He retired and a new Dr. in the office took over my file and treatment. More test were run and then I was told the PSA was high and I should see a Urologist. I assumed part of the reason was she is a woman, but she never told me tha PSA score. The Urologist said I needed a biopsy, to this day, I have no idea what the gleason score was or how many samples were taken. Even he did not tell me what the PSA was, but I had an agressive form. I was started on the hormone injections and scheduled for the radiation. I really was told little and given no options, except that I told them since I had no symptoms I was not considering surgery. I never found out what my starting PSA was until after I started the radiation. I guess I was sort of in denial over the whole thing and really did not start questioning until about a year later. I guess I should say I am happy with my treatment as my PSA is now zero. I know I would have liked to have more facts given to me by the Doctors as I am sure some others would. I very well may have gotten the best possible treatment for my problem but I was not given any choices. For all I know, it could have been to help them pay off the new building and equipment. If I had the chance to do it all over, I am sure I would ask for a second opinion and other options.

I have done quite a bit of reading on the subject in the last few months, and I even have a copy of the book, How to cure almost any cancer for $5.15 a day.
I am sticking with the doctors for now, but I am going to put a little of some of the Holistic ideas into my life along with the treatment.

FreddyJoe said:

Touching in the wound
Sorry, it was not my intention to touch any wounds.

In my case, and some others, I do believe very little information was given by the doctors. I had a family doctor for years, he did blood work a few times, but never gave me any idea of a PSA level. He retired and a new Dr. in the office took over my file and treatment. More test were run and then I was told the PSA was high and I should see a Urologist. I assumed part of the reason was she is a woman, but she never told me tha PSA score. The Urologist said I needed a biopsy, to this day, I have no idea what the gleason score was or how many samples were taken. Even he did not tell me what the PSA was, but I had an agressive form. I was started on the hormone injections and scheduled for the radiation. I really was told little and given no options, except that I told them since I had no symptoms I was not considering surgery. I never found out what my starting PSA was until after I started the radiation. I guess I was sort of in denial over the whole thing and really did not start questioning until about a year later. I guess I should say I am happy with my treatment as my PSA is now zero. I know I would have liked to have more facts given to me by the Doctors as I am sure some others would. I very well may have gotten the best possible treatment for my problem but I was not given any choices. For all I know, it could have been to help them pay off the new building and equipment. If I had the chance to do it all over, I am sure I would ask for a second opinion and other options.

I have done quite a bit of reading on the subject in the last few months, and I even have a copy of the book, How to cure almost any cancer for $5.15 a day.
I am sticking with the doctors for now, but I am going to put a little of some of the Holistic ideas into my life along with the treatment.

Doctors and Choices
Hi, Freddy,

Perhaps I've misread your post or I failed to understand your point, but in my opinion it's not the doctor's fault you weren't informed about your PSA levels or made privy to their logic that led you to radiation treatment. We all have a responsibility to be informed and educated patients and if our doctor's aren't providing us with the information we need to fully partake in treatment decisions, we need to be more aggressive in demanding better treatment and change doctors if necessary. We shouldn't stumble into treatment decisions as critical as the one we make about prostate cancer by accident. A successful outcome requires a partnership between the patient and his medical team. If men don't care to demand the information they need, I'm not sure the blame for that rests with the men and women in white coats.

Also, I don't understand what your comment about your doctor being a woman had to do with anything. Are you suggesting that because she was a woman she didn't know anything about prostate cancer?

You indicated that "to this day" you have no idea what your Gleason score was. I do hope that first thing Monday morning you contact all of the doctors involved in this process so far and get copies of your medical records. They are required by law to give them to you (but you have to ask) and they are your records. If you should ever need additonal consultations or treatment, a complete set of these records will be critical in sorting out which treatment is best for you. Be sure to get copies of the doctor's notes as well and the correspondence that referring doctors send back and forth.

Best to you,

K

FreddyJoe said:

Doctors and Chioces
Thanks, that was a good idea, I think I will contact the doctors and get some records. It will be a little more difficult as I am no longer living in the state where I got the original treatment.
As far as the female doctor goes, I got the impression she just would not be comfortable doing the digital exam and stuff and passed me on to the other doctor. I went back to her a few times later, and we never discussed the prostate issue.
You are probably correct I should have been more agressive in asking questions, but at the time I had never heard of a Gleason score, and some of the other stuff, I had never heard of Cyber Kinfe or DaVinci Machine, this was all new to me until about a year after the treatment started. I guess I should have been more active in my treatment.

or maybe...
Perhaps she (your female GP) recognized that you'd be uncomfortable, so she did what was best for you and referred you to a specialist, i.e., a urologist (male/female) that was trained and skilled in PCa & DRE (digital rectal exam)?

twowheelsonly said:

Update on my Progress 6 months later..
Hello Everyone,

Its been 6 months since I made this post and I have been on my diet and lifestyle change.. It has been a real challenge at times with food.. seems like everything at the supermarket is processed and not really that good for anyone to eat.. Organic food is expensive and not easily available this time of year. For people who cannot afford Organic you can google search local coop food and find vegetables and foods which are grown locally and most of the food is fresh and not full of bad chemicals for you. I have been feeling much better since I started my diet, more energy, sleeping better, no pain medicine, and clearer thinking..

I went to my holistic doctor 3 times since I wrote this post, he feels I have made much progress in my overall health and the supplements I was taking are now only a few a day.. my next checkup with him is in a couple of months..

Last couple of weeks I have run into a new symptom which I saw my doctor to have his diagnosis, at first I got a burning pain in my left thigh & left hip only when I was sitting but it has now progressed when I am standing, it goes away if I am moving around so that's a blessing! My doctor thinks my PC has metastised to my left hip causing this burning type pain on my left side of my thigh, he has referred me to have a Bone Scan using Nucular Medicine to see if it had spread, of course I am concerned and I am hoping it is something else.. I am now waiting for my PSA results to see if my holistic approach has had an effect on lowering my PSA so I will update this again in the next week or so.. I hope everyone is getting better and the AMA figures out how to CURE this type of cancer..

May the Blessings be with all of us and may God bless you too!

Stewart

As we had discussed in this thread
...I wonder, did you do any of the diagnostic tests?...ie mri, etc.

twowheelsonly said:

Tests
As I wrote when I posted earlier I had a CT scan done in Oct 2010 which showed my prostate was 2 1/2 times bigger than normal, with a Lession on my left Lymph and 1 suspicious spots Renal in both Kidneys..

I wish the best for you
I hope that you will be compliant with medical professional(s) who specialize in this disease..........

My prayers are with you