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Anyone 'cured' prostate cancer with....

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G

Guest

"... sincere developmental epiphany"! I 'm laughing. Always amazed at how sudden these epiphanies can be!
Man, I see the pressure on you ...
Thinking of you ...


.

So yeah, what ever lessons in narcissism my 2 oldest kids need to resolve, at this point my resources are pretty well taxed, not just economically, but physically, so we'll be filing the new Wills as soon as possible, not withstanding some sort of clearly sincere developmental epiphany on the parts of my 2 oldest.
 

Gry

Well-known member
Fortunate to be able to speak with Moose Eater, who does seem to be holding up well.
Admiration and respect for the member who met and spent time with him there.
The quality and caliber of some here, not for the first time leaves me in awe.
 
G

Guest

Fortunate to be able to speak with Moose Eater, who does seem to be holding up well.
Admiration and respect for the member who met and spent time with him there.
The quality and caliber of some here, not for the first time leaves me in awe.

I won't identify members for their graciousness, unless they are OK with that. The person in reference drove over an hour to get to where I was staying near the hospital, and rather than decarbing some and trying to find others, they brought me a 10-pack of capsules from a retail outlet (per each cap, 70 mg CBD, 50 mg THCA (I initially misread it as THCV, sorry), and 20 mg of THC... as well as 2 pre-roll cylinders containing two 1/2-gram joints each (each cylinder was a different strain) of some Indica I've never tried.

So the care package additionally included some more relaxing cannabis that doesn't have the 'up' effect that many of my varieties have... (*Guess what I'm hitting the sack with...)

After a day and a half of not sleeping due to flying, showing up to my appointment for a consultation that didn't seem to last much more than 10-15 min. with the Doc, and the rest of the trip's hurdles that I'll describe briefly, the person who attended to my needs was IN-FUCKING-CREDBLE.

The forum member refused any compensation for any of it, then walked with me 7 blocks to a natural food store that was open late, so I could more of the nutes for my 'new diet.'

Truth was, that in our rambling conversation on the way to the store.... I more or less forgot what I was looking for; a small container of distilled H2O, and silverware were on the top of the list.... the forgotten list.. Instead I got the hot dogs, and didn't realize I'd failed to get utensils to eat my avocado waiting in my room...

I phoned home from SeaTac Airport, and asked my wife if she would make a NICE So I arrived home to organic black bean & vegetable soup; another blessing for the end of a long couple days.. After eating out of a gallon zip lock (nuts, crackers, more nuts, more crackers), organic veggie and fruit based protein shakes I'd brought with, and more, homemade healthy soup hot the spot just right..

I had sent charts and intake work down via FAX, in advance (maybe not as far in advance as I had thought), and the records were at the Doc's. But I suspect many clinics don't closely review files until the patient actually appears; lots of folks say they'll do something, and don't.

Upon receipt of the files and my arrival, the surgeon noted that there was a hand-written reference to a shadow that had appeared in a previous scan on the back of my pelvic bone, and there'd been a question as to whether or not this was evidence of the cancer spreading to the bones; the typical path for the specific type of cancer I have (there are a number of cancers that can be found in the prostate. I had thought the issue had been resolved to the positive, indicating there was no cancer there, but the note said otherwise, and it occurred to me that my follow-up MIGHT have been dropped by someone).

They wanted to do yet another CT scan with contrast, but also wanted to do a specific test that I won't name here, because it is given rarely enough that referencing it might be tantamount to a 'tell'. It apparently involves some specific components that are monitored by 3rd parties fairly closely.

Turned out they would've needed 1-3 days to have that specific component delivered, and 7-14 days to have my insurance provider pre-authorize it. Yet another example of the leverage insurance honchos hold over professional surgeons, with the corporatist fucks telling our Docs what care we can receive and what we can't... :moon:.

As a result, the primary medical assistant was set into frustration mode quickly when they found out the particulars of obtaining this test, and the fact that we'd 'purchased' 2 seats each way so I could have at least a little space on the plane, to have the most important or conclusive test unavailable....

The good news, though not entirely conclusive, in absence of the other scan, is the CT scan has shown (tentatively) no spread to the bones; pelvic bone, etc..

I'm home now. Upon re-entering Alaska from travel outside of the State, testing and re-testing are required, so I'm more or less quarantining from my family, wearing an N95 indoors when I'm not in the extra bedroom, and advised them that if I'm out and about, they probably ought to be wearing one too.

A bit strange arriving home, unable to hug and kiss the folks who matter the most, other than for my pups.. they got hugs, etc.

My wife said I was welcome to sleep in our bed with her tonight, but I told her that I had no interest in killing or harming my family members, and especially in light of the existing fragmentation.

Yesterday I received some information about the first surgeon I spoke with via Zoom a couple weeks ago (???); I had no idea who this person was in the bigger world of who's who in this particular niche profession, and I'm hoping they were not severely offended when I'd informed them that I had 2 more consultations to complete before making a decision. But I think, knowing what I know about them now, if they'll still have me, I've made my choice.

This was the surgeon whose recovery numbers for some of my quality of life concerns (specific to their clinic, not generic studies), gave me a FAR better outlook than the fellow in Anchorage, whose numbers brought images of quicker ends. .

Anyway, I'm post-toastied, will head to bed shortly to snooze.

I'm still panicked at times (kids, choices, life, and the pulse occasionally taking off, but it hasn't again reached 127 bpm or more, as far as I know of). I do think the fluctuating pulse also requires some more aerobic exercise than I typically have been engaging in for the last several months. Got to be able to help the surgery and the Doc fix this; they can only do their part; my part is all mine.)

3-5 more days to quarantine in my home, then go in for a re-test in 5-14 days.

Tomorrow I hope to hear from the 1st surgeon I spoke with weeks ago.

BTW, TSA was ramping up security, and they came with about 7 agents to our boarding area, and 'randomly selected' persons for individual searches of their bags/articles. I was chosen with some others.. Walked up, looking them in the eye. Cursory search of the top layer, at which point the one asked me if there was anything fragile in there? "Crackers and more crackers." I said.

No one wanted to hassle me for my treats given by the member here. So seemingly, while formal policy may have been cranked up or trimmed a bit at SeaTac, it was not a lot different than flying out of there about 3 years ago.

------------------------------------------------

Government Mule, Live

Covering Steppenwolf's 'Don't Step on the Grass, Sam'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U87...2ZvaVHQ-jKOHAwm3MAbA5ZOiaEijpcJT3UnKgh9C2f_JQ

----------------------------------------

Joni Mitchell, Live, 'Miles of Aisles' w/ Tom Scott, with the L.A. Express

'Woodstock'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo_X0HNOk-4

"Peace, love, & soybeans."
 
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G

Guest

Fortunate to be able to speak with Moose Eater, who does seem to be holding up well.
Admiration and respect for the member who met and spent time with him there.
The quality and caliber of some here, not for the first time leaves me in awe.

Thank you Gry.

There's been a crew of folks who have endured my angst, vociferousness, and my stressful uncertainties. You and numerous others have been among them.

Thank you.

-----------------------------------------

Poco

'Rose of Cimarron'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF91ul0ZR64

--------------------------------------

Poco

'Dallas'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdicYkXaLIg
 
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G

Guest

Sampling my way through a few plant-based sausages, and thus far there's seems to be a common unifying theme; texture needs improved. Flavor in some is acceptable, bordering on almost really good, or good. For the lesser valued ones, the benefit is that plant-based sausages probably interact in the compost a whole lot better than real sausages. There's always a positive. Just gotta' find it. ;)

Woke up with the (mostly stomach, chest, areas tingling with the electricity of stress, Literally a tingling sensation of unrest or hyper-vigilance. In addition, there was slight pain n the gall bladder area, and it presented without pressure being applied, which is a bit worrisome. I suspect this is the worst my and my body's relationship with each other has been this distorted. I could see this coming to a dissolution for irreconcilable differences.. :)

Trying to be true to the plant-based diet, at the same time as trying to curb the speed of the weight loss, as rapid weight loss leads to an increase in gall stones. At this time, with numbers initially moving backward re. AIC and PSA, I don't want to give this cancer an ounce of food. And the absence of meat proteins and reduction of cholesterol intake will possibly help wit the gall stones, too. Lost another 3-4 lbs. on the trip.

Spoke with my primary care Doc's nurse a bit ago, and covered the tingling morning (and other times) stress, as well as my reasons for desiring to keep my gall bladder.. other than for the fact that it's mine.

My wife researched while I was in the air, and there is a bile salt pill (Actigall) that can dissolve cholesterol-based gall stones, but not the stones from gall pigment (or whatever that was). Fortunately the nurse states the vast majority of gall stones in the US (maybe N. America?) are cholesterol-based; a statement of lifestyles, I suppose. And the drug referenced can allegedly take months to years to do its job.

There is some humor in projected fictional conversation, persons standing around the memorial after a person's gone, and saying "yep, good thing he whipped those gall stones before the cancer nailed him."

Have 1-5/6 jars of 220mg/gram CBD flower and about that volume in THC flowers that are decarbed from a couple days before I left for SeaTac. No massive Chinook winds on the forecast as of last night, but for 1 of 2 of the coldest months in Interior Alaska (January and February, per averages and historic data), we're pretty balmy. We've been above 0, way more days than not. so while I would like to have some 32+ f weather to extract, it looks like early to mid-week next week there's a couple days of +20.

Haven't checked the very angry mothers I transplanted since I got home last night. Typically I'd have been down there last night, upon arriving home. Energy has been shifting hard.

Quarantining at home, dogs a bit curious about the mask, etc.

Agenda holds exercise and soilless mixes to make the next go of THC flowers for what I need, though what I really need is to decide which of my moms is the most tranquil in effect and run with that as a primary source for the THC end of things, until I can get another girl to add some Indica roots to the buzz,. I have 3, maybe, distorted seeds I got as freebies with an order a few years ago, 'Tora Bora', or something like that. Supposed to be a solid Indica, but growing, sexing, sorting and such is even more time consuming than I can handle right now; maybe a side project with more immediate Indica alternatives in between..

Hate to bring another shop-purchased plant in, and possibly invite more crawlers and flyers into what is now pretty clean again, but...

-------------------------------------------

Joni Mitchell's Christmas River Song

(Can't recall the correct title)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpFudDAYqxY
 
G

Guest

Welcome home.

Thanks buzz.

Just got off the phone with the scheduling person for the surgeon I'm apt to go with. If so, we're looking at mid-March, perhaps.

Not sure what their notes say, as they're not in front of me, but there was no order for surgery at this time (I told them that when we had last spoken, the Doc had said when I was ready to schedule to phone).

I have suspicions that with the position and esteem this Doc holds, I hope he is not too resentful of my obvious stress and anxiety the day we met via computer.

Got the info mostly straightened out about who saw what in which scans, but in he process mentioned that another clinic in their area did a CTscan, mentioned above, and hope this Doc doesn't take any offense at that.

Bottom line; I hope the 'aura' of my personality and communication, as well as other factors, doesn't lead this Doc to say, "No longer interested; find someone else." Fingers crossed.
 
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buzzmobile

Well-known member
Veteran
I would venture a guess that you were not the first wound up diagnosed and not treated patient the Doc above has dealt with in his career.
 
G

Guest

I would venture a guess that you were not the first wound up diagnosed and not treated patient the Doc above has dealt with in his career.

No clue. Just that he is not a person who speaks much or lightly, keeps a straight somewhat blank face, and has a history, that when my local urology Doc told me who the guy was, I was both impressed to no end, and horrified that I had pushed away perhaps the best option for me (or one of them) simply by being me.

I'd already told the esteemed surgeon that I needed 2 more consultation appts before making up my mind, and, again, had no idea who he was, specifically, at that time.

Days a person walks away, into the void, muttering, "I'm a dumbass... I'm a dumbass."
 
G

Guest

new study just released:

Adherence to the Mediterranean diet and grade group progression in localized prostate cancer: An active surveillance cohort
from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cncr.33182

Hey BT,

I went back and read your link; to some degree, though less rigid, they're giving support to Dr. Fuhrmann's whole plant-based diet.

In the one case, (this link):

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5573712/

They mention the limits of red meat, versus white meat, and fish. Red meat they say can increase risks of PC if well done. (made me feel better for having eaten rare steaks most of my life, though with wild game we tend to cook red meat more toward medium rare or medium).

Shrimp are common in the Med Diet, and some battle with cholesterol; I've improved mine pretty well for most counts, but also have gall stones that thrive on weight loss.... and cholesterol.

But overall, I think what's being said in the two different links (an abstract and an overly technical NIH link above) is that red meat is not good for PC.

The 40% vegetable base in the diet is not too far off of Dr. Fuhrmann's whole plant-based diet criteria, either.

Also, I believe dried, cured, smoked, etc., sausages, apparently are more cancer-causing. We knew that more or less, right? Still disappointing.

But whereas the whole plant-based diet says "NO MEAT OR DAIRY PROTEINS!!!" the MD is more like harm reduction; "don't overdo it, but enjoy yourself."

Thanks. I still would feel quite guilty at this point, eating more than a single bite of the smoked turkey leg in the fridge, but I can take one nibble if it strikes me.

At this time, seeing the progress in numbers I did, limited and anecdotal as they may have been, I'm going to try to stay in my plant-based lane.

By the way, they said that if we're to eat fish on a limited basis, it ought to be oily fish. I'd have to go back and see if they specified white colored oily fish, but if not, I have a stash of Copper River red salmon in the freezer now that needs to either be smoked, baked, grilled, or ???
 
G

Guest

Meant to add that they report a key component to the efficacy of the Mediterranean diet where these maladies are concerned, is a component of tomatoes (licopene? spelling?), when cooked, keeping it to low heat in order to avoid converting the olive oil toward something less healthy, and if done at low heart correctly, the tomato sauce is key to their diet as an anti-carcinogen.

-----------------------------------------

Mark Knopfler

'Brothers in Arms'

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=EMRJT2ebvAk&list=RDAMVMefFo-Clq844
 
G

Guest

When you're tapped, tried, and crispied, you'll still need to (as written before) categorize, organize, and catalogue ALL of the incredible flow of bills from such endeavors.

The fact that your energy is such, will only make it easier to make serious financial errors, such as paying incompetent book keepers for services already paid for.

Today we received a bill from the local radiologists group for nearly $900. Trouble is, we have the electronic transfer numbers from the insurance payment to these folks, and the insurance folks had already paid them well over $500, and my contractual obligation for in-network from this otherwise already compensated bill is a measly $230... NOT almost $900!!

Clinics and hospitals are hurting since COVID began, sometimes new book-keepers, etc., and if you sent these people money in a situation that amounts to double-billing, some (way far from all, but some) WILL SURE AS THE GRASS IS GREEN, pocket that, right up until the insurance company or the patient catches it, which is unlikely, because they've already done their gig on the original billing.

Catalogue your bills, insurance statements, and stubs showing date, method of payment, if possible, who -specifically- took the payment, every detail imaginable, written on your stubs, and it may or can save you a lot of headaches.

It's likely this was merely a mistake. I hope so. But I'll be calling them Tuesday (Monday's a holiday) and ask them what they might be able to tell me about persons in serious struggles, battling multiple comorbidities, and what might they tell me about such persons' levels of energy for sorting out such unnecessary nonsense? I mean, the patient sure as hell isn't being paid to do the book-keeper's job for them, but the incompetent bastages sending the bills ARE being paid to do their jobs properly, and the patients, all too often, have to do the paid accountants jobs for free.

"Come the revolution...."

Heightened stress has not always caused me to be more like Gandhi, or even Mr. Rogers, as often as such lessons in humility might've..

I'll be informing them (since this is NOT the first time some of these folks have screwed up my often sizable bills) that if I have to do their jobs for them, I insist they compensate me with a percentage of their salary. At least buy me lunch in separate locations, or provide sexual favors or something? But before that call, I'll be bringing this to the attention of their bread-basket; my insurance provider. A whole 'nother pit of grinning vipers. Have the snakes battle each other, while I eat artichokes or something.
--------------------------------------------
Earliest the best surgeon I've found can get me in is mid-March. On the bright side, my younger son's and my trip to the mountains in March is slated for March 8 thru 12, so we could beat feet home, get a day or 2 of rest, pack my stuff, and go to get sliced and diced, prepped for (hopefully) about 3 months of diapers.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Welcome to the Jungle'

https://www.bing.com/search?q=guns+...ad424430c9ff1a26c6c7363d1&FORM=ANAB01&PC=DCTS
 
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dramamine

Well-known member
Meant to add that they report a key component to the efficacy of the Mediterranean diet where these maladies are concerned, is a component of tomatoes (licopene? spelling?), when cooked, keeping it to low heat in order to avoid converting the olive oil toward something less healthy, and if done at low heart correctly, the tomato sauce is key to their diet as an anti-carcinogen.

-----------------------------------------

Mark Knopfler

'Brothers in Arms'

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=EMRJT2ebvAk&list=RDAMVMefFo-Clq844

Man...what a version of that tune. Amazing.
 

trichrider

Kiss My Ring
Veteran
that was a fast trip.
sounds like you have made the best choice and course of action.


losing the gall bladder is no big deal, body adjusts well after. you just don't want the inflammation because it IS painful to let it fester. best of luck with that diet...it came on me so fast and harsh no diet could or would have ameliorated effects/damage. it wasn't day surgery but in a week you'll be the new normal....


K+ to the member who shepherded your goodies, Karma returns favors.


are you not of age for medicare? with a 17yr old son, i'm guessing not, but that's a guess.



anyway, welcome back!
 
G

Guest

that was a fast trip.
sounds like you have made the best choice and course of action.


losing the gall bladder is no big deal, body adjusts well after. you just don't want the inflammation because it IS painful to let it fester. best of luck with that diet...it came on me so fast and harsh no diet could or would have ameliorated effects/damage. it wasn't day surgery but in a week you'll be the new normal....


K+ to the member who shepherded your goodies, Karma returns favors.


are you not of age for medicare? with a 17yr old son, i'm guessing not, but that's a guess.



anyway, welcome back!

Thanks trich.

Yes, the forum member who came through is a very kind and generous person, with their own past and present troubles. They were very appreciated.

Irony? Our 17 y.o. was our unintended straggler, and I was in another place of contemplating departure from terra firma when that news came.

I had grown up initially not knowing the truth of my father's death, but clung on, before and after I was told the truth, to the vanishing hope that he wasn't dead, and would do magical kid-thinking things like checking phone books for him when we'd move. I was not going to do that to my younger boy, if I could help it.

My wife had terminated a pregnancy one time before I met her, and she stated that though she adamantly believes in the right to choose,she can never personally opt to terminate a pregnancy again.

So I committed to not go permanently astral-plaining, so he wouldn't grow up with the hundred questions that such circumstances bring. Are they still alive some place out there, really? Was I not good enough to cause them to hang around? And many, many more.

His next oldest sibling is 8 years older, and the next one, 10.

With the heartache and contentions involving the 1st 2, (some of which involved circumstances cultivated by another less thoughtful adult in the earlier years of rearing, and each of us exacerbating the outcomes with our own deficiencies), despite the glaring bias in the statement, my younger son proves the old adage re. "Third time's a charm." Or so I state cynically and (only half-playfully) some times.

The gall bladder would simply make digesting of fats, meats, etc., easier on the body, and the THC/CBD extract thing, to some degree, might be affected by such a move, due to added fats for absorption.

Unsure of the Rx med for this (Actigall). I don't have routine pain, but rapid weight loss and cholesterol are apparently key ingredients to the building of these stones at a faster pace, and I'm checked green on both of those counts. Normally, there are times that pressure creates discomfort or pain there, but it's lower than on the right than many of the descriptions say the sensation ought to be, so I'll defer to the numerous ultrasounds that say they're in where they say they are.

Again, Actigall can reportedly take 6 mos. to a year, sometimes more, to dissolve gall stones.

I'll have Medicare in a few years, and need to make arrangements to afford the monthly augmentation insurance when I get there (about $250-$300/mos currently) to cover the 20% that Medicare doesn't cover.

Even as you're crawling out the door on your hands and knees, the fuckers are intent on going through your pockets and wallet. ;)

Dealing with another respected member where trying to undo the panic of high-thc, adolescent children, and all the rest is concerned. They had recommended citicolene to address that part of the contributing or suspect variables.

When I researched citicolene, seems WebMD believes it can have side-effects for those with depressive disorders and type II diabetes. I apparently have 2 strikes on me, and I haven't yet swung the bat. Killer pitcher.

So I'm quarantining at hoe until I get results form my first test since home, and then need to re-test for C-19 within 5 to 14 days of the re-entry.

Hopefully extracting CBD and more THC flowers on Monday, MLK Jr. Day, as NOAA says we're to be between +23 and +33 f. on that day.

Last night I ate one of the caps the member provided for me (70mg CBD, 50mg THCA, and 20mg THC) and added to it, about 1 gram of 220mg CBD decarbed flowers, and maybe a 1/2gram of my own decarbed THC flowers, felt the tightness in my chest ever so slightly coming up, and had already taken a 25 mg hydroxyzine (under-powered and unreliable fucks that they are.

Most GUARANTEED anxiety moments of tingling electric stress are on waking after X amount of sleep, and the best comparable sensation I can come up with would be the morning after multiple doses of acid, when you feel completely wrung out, what we used to call feeling like Gumby, the play figure, with wires running through his body, and almost like there's a half-dose of amphetamine in your gut, with skin gone mildly electric, especially across the chest/front torso, but the whole body gets to share the moment to some degree..

"I want my money back!!!" :biggrin:
------------------------------------

One of the better cuts of EC doing 'Badge'

The Staples Center, L.A., August, 2001

(Incredibly tight and creative band, as it should be).

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=xSAwlhrMWkU&list=RDAMVMefFo-Clq844
 
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G

Guest

No! No! No! "I am Loveable, Beautiful and Worthwhile ... before, during and after ... dealing with Medicos."

Thanks.

I'm aware, but in this case, it was somewhat deserved.

I'd had this guy's name in my gear for a while, had done enough research to know he's listed among the who's-who of the Seattle area urology/oncology surgeons, but when the rubber met the pavement, up until AFTER I'd already met with him via computer, I had NOT CLUE WHO THIS GUY REALLY IS!!

I wish I could say who he is, and the history he possesses, but that would be over the line..

And there I was, staring into a computer screen, with no idea at that time of the proverbial gift horse's mouth I was staring into, and my response at the end, in naivete' and ignorance, was, "well, I still have 2 more consultations to complete before making a decision."

If I'd have known then what I discovered later, I'd have stripped naked, sanitized my body, and crawled through the ethernet cable to ask him to cut me right them.

Man of these true original gurus of what ever very technical and skilled profession, are well aware of who they are and the esteem they hold among colleagues, and unwittingly, I basically took Christ, set him in a room with Pontius Pilate, and told them I viewed them equally. For lack of a better term, they sometimes have great egos, and are often Asperger's Syndrome and/or borderline autistic; they're often not people-persons, and they do sometimes demand respect.

My moment of ignorance shit all over that, and I don't know the guy well enough to know how forgiving of any perceived sleight, real or not, he might be.

That's the long-hand version.

So I guess I'll find out next week whether he is still willing to slice and dice in my case, or if my uninformed remarks may have cost me one of the best surgeons of his type on the West Coast.

So for that moment, and several thereafter, maybe even today, there is still a bit of a voice in there muttering, "I'm a dumbass."

But me and myself will eventually reconcile with each other. Hopefully with him, too.

--------------------------------------------------------

Joe Bonamassa, Live

Royal Albert Hall, London, UK,

'Mountain Time'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiMqvPYPvQ0
 
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