Never Surrender

Bill, 

I also live in so ca.

There is an excellent support group, " the prostate forum of orange county"  that meets in Fullerton. There is a meeting tonight. The discussion group for advanced cases starts at 5 PM until the meeting that starts at 7 PM. The location is "First Presbyterian Church, 838 North Euclid Street, Fullerton, CA 92832"

I cannot make tonights meeting, but I strongly advise that you attend.

Directions: 

http://www.From 91 (Riverside) Freeway: Take the Euclid Street exit, go north 1 3/4 mile. From Interstate 5 Freeway: Take the Euclid Street exit (in Anaheim), go north 3.0 miles.

First Presbyterian Church, 838 North Euclid Street, Fullerton, CA 92832

Bill, 

Sorry, I thought that you were in the Pasadena area.

I don't know of a group in the Riverside area, but you may wish to check out the USTOO website. USTOO sponsors support groups world wide, and the organiztion lists the ones that they sponsor.

annatipping said:

Hello Never Surrender

My husband was diagnosed with advanced adenocarcinoma of the prostate in 2001.  PSA 32 Gleason 7.  Our GP put him on Zoladex 10.8 every 3 months and for 10 years we lowered his PSA to 2-3 and even 0 at one point.  This was not just the Zoladex but complete lifestyle and diet change.  No animal protein, biochemical nutritional support, special teas and juices, complementary therapies - it was hard slog but we thought we beat it until the 11th year, his PSA rapidly escalated to find his PC metastasised to his bones.  A raft of androgen deprivation therapies followed with no success and then chemotherapy with doecxtaxel and cabaxitaxel and then we were given more false hope with radium 223 which made my husband very sick very quickly and as a direct result he developed pancytopenia and had scores of invasive blood collections, cross matches, and blood transfusions and he passed away after a prolonged and painful suffering of 9 months as we surrendered our trust to doctors and specialists as we thought they had my husband's best interests in mind.

Don't surrender - we never did - my husband fought hard to stay alive - he had a lot to live for - children, grandchildren, me but he died.  We all die but we should never surrender hope, never surrender to the medical community - trust yourself - eat well, exercise, enjoy every moment,  Yes, there is a place for conventional medicine but not at the expense of suffering and the benefit of pharmaceutical companies who sponsor drug trials.

My husband was at increased risk of coronary heart disease as a result of being on androgen deprivation therapies but noone told us or even took steps to prevent the heart he had.  The chemo and radiation put him at risk of bone marrow suppression and even though we were told about neutrophils we were never explained the downline ramifications of bone marrow suppression and then he was given radium 223 and that was the end ot if.

Do not surrender your life to the hands of someone you don't completely trust - you need to know why you are getting one line of treatment over another, the sequencing of cancer treatment protocol, the shrot and long term impacts to overall health and question whether the treatment is worse than the disease.

 

I wish you and every other person suffering with cancer, their carers, and their families the best of health.

 

Anna.

There is so much here.  First, positive atitudes even in the most hash circumstances.  And then Anna's post about treatments that kill.  Few people realize the negative side effects of pharmaceuticals and treatments and doctors are more into selling them than discussing side effects, and perhaps the doctors themselves do not even fully know the side effects.  Often the death certificate of cancer patients reads:  Death due to cancer and the side effects of Chemotherapy.   

        Most see life as happening between two events - birth and death, as if there is a beginning and an end.  Birth and death are merely markers, NOT the beginning and end.  If you look at the soul, or spirit, there is no death.  Think that life is from eternity to eternity and live that way.  Einstein proved that time does not exist except in the mind of Man.  When you think of life in terms of time, there is  a tendancy to be in a hurry.  One day, and you do not know when, your life is going to expire.  So, you often feel  a need to hurry, to get on with it.  You do not have forever - but that is false - you DO have forever and forever.  Think of eternity to eternity and then you have time to enjoy the moment, to pause and smell the daisies, to be grateful for any time you have had in this realm.   It is never about how LONG you live, it is always about How you lived.  I have often suggested to read, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Hemmingway.  Saint Paul said, "The ONLY purpose of life is spiritual growth."   There are two paths to spiritual growth:  Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done" and "My kingdom come, my will be done".  Spritual growth means moving from My will to Thy will be done.  When you totally surrender to Thy will be done, then Celebration happens even in death.  However, spiritual growth can only come from the inside, and never from the outside.  You can memorize the Bible and nothing will change.  Change happens only IN THE MOMENT, and happens because you find the inner wisdom already inside of you that is your birthright.   Life is about spiritual growth; cancer is about spiritual growth, death is about spiritual growth, not just for the one dying, but also especially for those who are left behind.  Being reborn does not mean saying words like, I accept Jesus as my Saviour.  Being reborn means leaving the world of Man and Adam of My kingdom come.  Being reborn means listening to St. Paul the only purpose of life is spiritual growth.  And then you can celebrate it all because it is all "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done".  Love, Swami Rakendra