Rapidly rising PSA

moonlitnight said:

Chin up

Don't you just hate that "chin up" title? I just want to share that my husband has been on a vegetarian, completely anti-cancer diet, with over $1,000 of supplements every month, and went on HT in March when his Gleason 8 with bone mets was discovered. No side effects and he lost 45 pounds and became very fit, saving himself from heart disease. Suddenly, the PSA starts rising. It never went below 0.24, which bothered me. But it quadrupled in one month and is still on the rise. He has no symptoms and feels "fantastic." We too are unsure of what to do and want to be as "natural" as we can while taking advantage of proven medical therapies.

I would stick with the diet-that-doesn't-seem-to-help and keep those positive vibes dancing. I am not sure if you are able to try Provenge (sipuleucel-T)but I hear only good things about it. One chap has widespread mets, and his PSA rose to over 100, and is now under 1.0 since he went on Provenge. Wishing you a healthy 2014. MLN

Thanks Moonlitnight

I cut down on a lot of things I like. When you are over 80 there is not much you can do except enjoy a good meal with friends and have a few drinks. Too old for sex, golf and swimming etc. But I have a great appetite and fed up now with dieting. I feel like eating a large T-bone steak every day with a bottle of red wine and french fies followed by some nice cheese.

I do not know much about Provenge. but like all these sort of drugs I beleive it will be way beyong my means. I have no insurance and there is no free or subsidised health

care. I have 1 years supply of Bicalumide (casodex) 50mg which my urologist will probably now advise me to start taking. But I am very wary of the side effects.  There is a famous Chinese Doctor in Malaysia who treats Pca with Chinese herbs. He does not claim to cure Pca but put it in remmission  I think I may try him as a last resort

resort.   

Happy new year to you

VascodaGama said:

Care with the substances in Chinese herbs medications

Tony

I am sorry for the rising PSA. It seems that the UTI treatment had no effect and now most probably recurrence is the cause.

I believe that you should follow your urologist advice and start Casodex. This is a daily pill with fewer side effects and short half-life, which you can stop whenever you feel like.
Please read our exchanged posts in your last thread (http://csn.cancer.org/node/264795)

Chinese herbs for prostate cancer have been around for many years. I recall discussing about several famous “cocktails” with my oncologist in Singapore, Dr. Alex Chang, back in 2001. He is not an herbalist but knows a lot about the subject. Apart from being a cancer specialist, he was raised, has studied and lives within the Chinese community, except that he is a “proper” medical oncologist, at our terms. Many of those Chinese medicines claiming good results in lowering the PSA are known to include hormonal effects in the mixture so that you should be cautious and should have a clue on what you are thinking to take  They are not “bad” but may include substances not proper to you.

Instead of going to Malaysia, extend the trip and visit this oncologist. He is extraordinary attentive and the price JH charges is commensurate with the Asian community (low GDP countries), in some cases with no charges. He is the director of JH in Singapore. http://www.imc.jhmi.edu/forPatients_aboutourstaff.html

Nowadays you do not talk much on your past trips in Asia and Thai. I would like to read more about your memories in Burma (Myanmar) like the Inle Lake. An impressive site I visited was the Golden Rock at the tip of a cliff, balancing on the hair of Buddha, as the legend says. One touch on the rock and all maladies are gone. The rock stays; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyaiktiyo_Pagoda

Myanmar is not the same as at my times. Tourists were few and their movements restrictedly controlled. At each entrance into the country, I had to exchange obligatory 300 US$ to local FEC (foreign exchange certificates). This money was the only currency permitted to be used by foreigners to pay anything. Now some guys comment about the prevalent black market to exchange for local Kyats.
In 2014 we will have the Chinese year of the Horse representing adventure and change. I hope you enjoy it to the most and forget about the PCA.

Best wishes for 2014.

VGama 

Vg

You really are so helpful. I am going to see the specialist in Bangkok that I saw last time because he told me to come back and see him if my PSA went up. He is the best Pca specialist I have seen so far and he speaks very good English. He agreed that I should take Bicalumde but only if my PSA went up. It is easy to get my PSA checked at a lab near where I live. I do not need to go to a Doctor and it is cheap at about $20. So having it done monthly is no problem.

Regarding Chinese Medicine. The Doctor in Malaysia is a proper "western" Physician who specialises in Cancer using chinese teas. Dr. Chris Teo www.cacare.com. A friend here in Thailand has managed to put his Pca into remission using this Doctors Chinese teas. However the diet restrictions are really hard to follow and he has given it up. You might like to check out the site and let me have your comments.

I was considering Dr Teo but I do not think I could follow his diet restrictions which must be strictly followed. Your Doctor in Singapore sounds interesting. But even travelling this short distance would be difficult for me. It means that I have to make the long trip to Bangkok and fly there. Whereas I can get a "sleeper" on the train to Penang from near where I live in Thailand. It is an overnight trip. I love Penang too. I spent 20 years working in Singapore from 1965-1985. The last 10 of these years I lived across the border in Malaysia and commuted to work in Singapore. I did not like Singapore!

I retired to Thailand in 1985. We went to Burma in about 1990 there were very few tourists and a lot of problems trying to get around.  The food was awful. Then we went again 2 years ago we loved Inle Lake and Pagan. Everything had changed for the better.

Hope everything works out better for you and all the best for 2024

Thanks again

Tony