Saw Urologist. Got results. Changed mind about treatment choice.

worriedabouthubby

What a journey- and we've only begun! We saw the urologist today to get the results of the ct and bone scan. He opened by giving me copies of the biopsy report and the scans (brownie points to the doc). One piece of great news--- the scans were negative for any detectable cancer!!! Yeah!!! (does short 'Snoopy' dance) And now, hubby has changed his mind again. Now he has decided to have the Da Vinci surgury. Should be scheduled for mid-October. Have to give him time to heal from the biopsy. Once we get the pathology report from the surgery, then we'll know if we are going to need to consider hormone treatment and/or radiation.
Thanks for the support during our time of waiting!

I know I'll have more questions... it is comforting to know all of you are here.

laserlight

worried
I had this surgery, spend time and do research on it.
Make sure that it is done with nerve sparring if possible.
Please follow all of the pre surgery prep instructions.
Walking is very important, so try and get walking as soon as possible after surgery.

There are going to be a series of muscle strenghting routines for the bladder muscles. make sure that they are being done. This will help after the surgery. These are done to help with the urinary control/bladder issues.

There will be side effects that vary from person to person. Look into this and prepare yourselfs.

Some doctors will start to prescribe low dossage levetra or other ED pills. This helps in healing.

The Journey has started and it is life changing.

Good Luck my thoughts are with You All. And please keep us posted on out come

hopeful and optimistic

laserlight said:

worried
I had this surgery, spend time and do research on it.
Make sure that it is done with nerve sparring if possible.
Please follow all of the pre surgery prep instructions.
Walking is very important, so try and get walking as soon as possible after surgery.

There are going to be a series of muscle strenghting routines for the bladder muscles. make sure that they are being done. This will help after the surgery. These are done to help with the urinary control/bladder issues.

There will be side effects that vary from person to person. Look into this and prepare yourselfs.

Some doctors will start to prescribe low dossage levetra or other ED pills. This helps in healing.

The Journey has started and it is life changing.

Good Luck my thoughts are with You All. And please keep us posted on out come

mri diagnostic test versus a cat scan
As I had posted to you before, I strongly recommend that you have a MRI to determine if there is extracapsular extension. The cat scan is simply not that effective.

Here is one site

http://www.prostate-cancer.org/pcricms/node/433

Swingshiftworker

Hmmm???
If your husband is now opting for surgery, please have him read the following article which fully explains the risks of doing so BEFORE submitting himself to the knife:

http://www.hifurx.com/prostate-cancer/prostate-cancer-after-effects/

There are other much less potentially detrimental treatments available which have the same prospects for success.

If he chooses to continue w/surgery after reading this article, so be it but, if he is interested in exploring the other alternatives, we here will be happy too point him towards them.

Good luck!

Samsungtech1

Swingshiftworker said:

Hmmm???
If your husband is now opting for surgery, please have him read the following article which fully explains the risks of doing so BEFORE submitting himself to the knife:

http://www.hifurx.com/prostate-cancer/prostate-cancer-after-effects/

There are other much less potentially detrimental treatments available which have the same prospects for success.

If he chooses to continue w/surgery after reading this article, so be it but, if he is interested in exploring the other alternatives, we here will be happy too point him towards them.

Good luck!

Treatment
I had RP and rad, and rad etc. my cancer had already spread, but I decided to get rid of the source. I believe that I would go with anything else if my symptoms were less agressive. You are getting some good advice. My wife was just diagnosed with breast cancer and her Onc said masectomy, I said proton theraphy. She has a meeting with the proton people next week. She might go for masectomy, her choice entirely, but you never know what will be the final result until you wake up. Could be good news, could be bad but once they take your prostate you can not get it back.

Good luck to both of you. Not a journey anyone wants to take, but you are in it now. Knowledge is power.

FryinBaconWearinSpurs

Gerson Therapy
Hi All. My dad died of prostate cancer almost 5 years ago now. In the last couple years, I learned about the Gerson Therapy-a natural treatment that helps the body heal itself. I was wondering if any of you had heard of it or considered it as an alternative to conventional treatments, surgery, etc.

Samsungtech1

FryinBaconWearinSpurs said:

Gerson Therapy
Hi All. My dad died of prostate cancer almost 5 years ago now. In the last couple years, I learned about the Gerson Therapy-a natural treatment that helps the body heal itself. I was wondering if any of you had heard of it or considered it as an alternative to conventional treatments, surgery, etc.

Alternative treatments
Never heard of this. Do you currently have prostate cancer? If so what stage is it? If not why ask? Dr. Snuffy Myers has a great book about defeating prostate cancer. It is called "The New Prostate Cancer Nutrition Book". It explains how diet and exercise can prevent, or reverse, prostate cancer. It is available on line. Most people on this site have changed their diets, and exercise patterns to extend our lives or to prevent cancer.

Mike

mrspjd

FryinBaconWearinSpurs said:

Gerson Therapy
Hi All. My dad died of prostate cancer almost 5 years ago now. In the last couple years, I learned about the Gerson Therapy-a natural treatment that helps the body heal itself. I was wondering if any of you had heard of it or considered it as an alternative to conventional treatments, surgery, etc.

Questionable Cancer Therapies
Gerson Method
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/cancer.html

"Proponents of the Gerson diet claim that cancer can be cured only if toxins are eliminated from the body. They recommend "detoxification" with frequent coffee enemas and a low-sodium diet that includes more than a gallon a day of juices made from fruits, vegetables, and raw calf's liver. This method was developed by Max Gerson, a German-born physician who emigrated to the United States in 1936 and practiced in New York City until his death in 1959. Gerson therapy is still available at Hospital Meridien in Tijuana, Mexico and, since February 1997, at the Gerson Healing Center in Sedona, Arizona.

Gerson therapy is still actively promoted by his daughter, Charlotte Gerson, through lectures, talk show appearances, and publications of the Gerson Institute in Bonita, California. Gerson protocols have included liver extract injections, ozone enemas, "live cell therapy," thyroid tablets, royal jelly capsules, linseed oil, castor oil enemas, clay packs, laetrile, and vaccines made from influenza virus and killed Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.

In 1947, the NCI reviewed ten cases selected by Dr. Gerson and found his report unconvincing. That same year, a committee appointed by the New York County Medical Society reviewed records of 86 patients, examined ten patients, and found no evidence that the Gerson method had value in treating cancer. An NCI analysis of Dr. Gerson's book A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases concluded in 1959 that most of the cases failed to meet the criteria (such as histologic verification of cancer) for proper evaluation of a cancer case [16]. A recent review of the Gerson treatment rationale concluded: (a) the "poisons" Gerson claimed to be present in processed foods have never been identified, (b) frequent coffee enemas have never been shown to mobilize and remove poisons from the liver and intestines of cancer patients, (c) there is no evidence that any such poisons are related to the onset of cancer, (d) there is no evidence that a "healing" inflammatory reaction exists that can seek out and kill cancer cells [17].

Between 1980 and 1986 at least 13 patients treated with Gerson therapy were admitted to San Diego area hospitals with Campylobacter fetus sepsis attributable to the liver injections [18]. None of the patients was cancer-free, and one died of his malignancy within a week. Five were comatose due to low serum sodium levels, presumably as a result of the "no sodium" Gerson dietary regimen. As a result, Gerson personnel modified their techniques for handling raw liver products and biologicals. However, the Gerson approach still has considerable potential for harm. Deaths also have been attributed to the coffee enemas administered at the Tijuana clinic.

Charlotte Gerson claims that treatment at the clinic has produced high cure rates for many cancers. In 1986, however, investigators learned that patients were not monitored after they left the facility [19]. Although clinic personnel later said they would follow their patients systematically, there is no published evidence that they have done so. A naturopath who visited the Gerson Clinic in 1983 was able to track 21 patients over a 5-year period (or until death) through annual letters or phone calls. At the 5-year mark, only one was still alive (but not cancer-free); the rest had succumbed to their cancer [20]."