Anyone 'cured' prostate cancer with....

[Weezard]

"[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I'd arrived at the conclusion(?) that you are doing a dropper of CBD oil in the AM, another at PM, and a dose of 140-ish mg of THC extract PM only. Did I miss something?"[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Barring memory lapses on my part, that is correct.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You missed nothing. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]And.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Every time you write Hydroxazine I get a little tweaked.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]That is the antihistamine that burned off all my skin and damn near killed me.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Seems to be my only serious allergy.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] And it was not a problem in the past, until it was.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I'd say use great caution with it.
[/FONT]

 

[Guest]

"[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I'd arrived at the conclusion(?) that you are doing a dropper of CBD oil in the AM, another at PM, and a dose of 140-ish mg of THC extract PM only. Did I miss something?"[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Barring memory lapses on my part, that is correct.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You missed nothing. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]And.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Every time you write Hydroxazine I get a little tweaked.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]That is the antihistamine that burned off all my skin and damn near killed me.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Seems to be my only serious allergy.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] And it was not a problem in the past, until it was.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I'd say use great caution with it.
[/FONT]

Most excellent, Weez.

Depending on the strength of concentration in your CBD tincture/oil, and the size of the dropper, I figured I could half-way guesstimate you were maybe doing about 100 mg of CBD in the AM and PM, but that was based on the high potency CBD I have coming, and the size of the dropper in the bottle being sent.

You comment re. Hydroxyzine is helpful. I've had a tight chest from the boxed wine and other things recently, that previously hadn't bothered me, but every and any new addition, from the sulfur issues in the lecithin, or the Rx antihistamine we're discussing, is potentially a suspect at this point.

So thanks for that.

More than a bit ironic. Yes, I know Hydroxyzine is an antihistamine, but they like to prescribe it also as a sedative, because it lacks the physical dependence issues of a benzodiazepine, and CAN help simultaneously with allergies for some.

But now, with your tale connected to the name of the drug (I didn't read where you had named the specific drug of your 'oatmeal nightmare' before), and now will keep an eye.

I had no negative reactions to this Rx in the recent past, but it seems you didn't initially either.

I believe I had read that CBD or THC could interfere with the action of antihistamines, among others, and initially I'd considered that if I was having a reaction to the extracts, allergy-related, then having a 'sedative' that was also an antihistamine sounded like a bonus.

I can say that on rare occasion, I get a little bit dizzy for a limited period of time, which is listed as a potential side-effect f the hydroxyzine, and I've wondered if that was the cause..

I don't look forward to discontinuing even a weak PRN sedative right now, but anything new will have to be pulled and replaced, one item at a time, if this thing recurs with the splotchy rash and bump on the shnoz.

We've got our first batch of coconut flour, almond flour, and ground psyllium husk (Keto) baguettes in the oven now. Wee bit of egg protein in there I didn't want, but otherwise the nutrition on these things damned near makes them like a low carb meal unto themselves, and THEY TASTE PRETTY DARNED GOOD, too!!

CBD oil/tincture ought to be here Monday, and folks around here figure I will be too.

Edit: With strange things happening that appear to be allergy/hyper-active immune system-related, I'm keeping the Epee Pen handy, even if it is nearly an antique.
I'll try to procure another new Epee Pen soon. Always good to keep one around for whom ever might one day require it in a pinch.

---------------------------------------
BIM (also known as Roy Forbes)

From his 1975 Lp 'Kid Full of Dreams'

'You Can't expect Me to Change'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbNeXdX4y-U

(*An old Canadian Lp, from what was representative of a niche market Canadian music scene back then. I recall him being from Alberta originally, but don't remember for sure. Still have this here on a dubbed cassette tape. Music from the Yellow House at the Hippie School in the Yukon Territory, 1977)

 

[Guest]

Too cold for a fuel oil run today. Wait for later. We're not low.

Making fresh tomato pasta sauce for purpose of incorporating lycopene into the diet, an anti-prostate cancer anti-oxidant.

https://joannsfoodbites.com/lycopene/

Have 3 small cases of fresh, organic roma tomatoes, and using the recipe or process linked above, but with a bit more basil, oregano, some white pepper, additional onion and garlic, and some chopped celery. Maybe toss in some organic baby spinach leaves, too.

Going to shred the guts of a baked spaghetti squash to use in place of pasta (works well), and may place some healthier cut up plant-based sausages in the sauce, as well as some nice cubed organic egg plant.. .. Would add some extra-firm tofu, but we're out.

The poster who provided some of the information re. lycopene, or the article they provided a link to, emphasized using LOW heat (about 200 f or so, in the sautéing, if I recall) and lots of olive oil, as it apparently speeds the absorption of the lycopene, similarly to fats speeding up the absorption of orally ingested CBD or THC.

Then, more soilless mix to build.

Edit: Sent the third, and hopefully final (for now) message to the radio-oncologist, so when he returns to work-related tasks, there's 3 messages from me waiting. Corrected inaccurate data x's several issues, and referenced my discomfort with the THC-a tx being listed in my records, so informed him that is off the table of current pursuits now. If anyone has any questions about this, please PM me. It's now a topic with weight attached to it.

Note, and another edit: An interweb source states that freezing lycopene for 1 year at -20 C. results in a loss of 30-40% of the lycopene in the fresh tomato/red pasta sauce. So make enough for the immediate future, and maybe enough to store frozen, cold, for a short while. Then mane more. Otherwise, it's a matter of diminishing returns.

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

Joni Mitchell

From the 'Miles of Aisles' Lp
(*Live with Tom Scott and the LA Express, 1974)

'Circle Game'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAbd1PJhOy8

Heavy nostalgia....

 

[Guest]

We made just over 2 batches of the recipe (with some modifications), keeping the simmering down on low, so as to maintain the lycopene, barely simmering.

We increased the oregano and basil, as well as lots of extra 'fresh' garlic, added some white and black pepper, and a dash of cayenne, replacing salt with sea salt, and replacing the brown sugar with a tiny amount of maple syrup and a drizzle of molasses. We added about a cup of cabernet sauvignon, added extra olive oil at the point of food processing, and a little bit more tomato paste.

Came up with all of only about 2-1/2 quarts. Valuable stuff, and I was lamenting the cost of materials for such a small amount, a lot of which was the result of the organic tomatoes, etc. Then I considered the quality, and that this is somewhat intended as medicine. And it seemed a lot less expensive than I had originally thought.

Tomorrow we'll sauté some plant-based Italian sausages, cut up into pieces, with some extra-firm tofu, garlic, celery, maybe some baby organic spinach, add some of this fresh sauce, and have that over a bunch of spaghetti squash that's been stripped from the squash, to appear in its substitute pasta form.

 

[Gry]

Recall having read something years ago about the commercial handling of tomatoes in pasta sauces
and it seemed to me the end result was they suggested that it was best to consume canned tomato products within two years, even though they would be 'safe' much longer.

 

[Guest]

Recall having read something years ago about the commercial handling of tomatoes in pasta sauces
and it seemed to me the end result was they suggested that it was best to consume canned tomato products within two years, even though they would be 'safe' much longer.

I also believe the commercial canned sauces are often heated to hotter temps in the canning process than what some are advising in order to preserve lycopene.

The folks' recipe above doesn't discuss cooking at lower heat to preserve the L, but others do.

I've read the nutrient charts on our frozen veggies, whether organic or not, and all of them seem reduced in value by the processing and/or freezing..

 

[Guest]

Managing Diabetes and Cancer Treatment..

https://www.mdanderson.org/cancerwi...ancer are,vegetables, fruits and whole grains.

 

[Guest]

Mild rumbling in the gut this AM; not a hunger thing, but some sort of unsettled sort of affair. not as electric as days before, so I'm counting it as progress.

No Hydroxyzine yesterday or last night, and now that Weez's horrid experience years ago has had the involved drug named in here, and it's the one I was given by my local Doc, between those tidbits and my rash and recent issues, I'm wondering if the rash and skin issues yesterday (taken care of with Hydrocortisone Cream) are related, as well. The excessive flaking skin sure seemed similar, though Weez's was pervasive, and mine was limited to the area described..

What was the dose of the Hydroxy you were taking Weez? Frequency of it? Sorry to resurrect horrid memories.

Short of that, eating some guacamole for breakfast, with the almond, coconut, and ground psyllium husk (Keto) bread. Awesome stuff.

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

Guacamole to finish, then maybe rest some more before continuing knocking out necessary and over-due chores. I was up several times last night, and have no real memory of the cramps/spasms in the left lower leg or ankle, last night, or much the night before.

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

From Alejandro to his son, at a time of lack of understanding, and from me to mine.

Alejandro Escovedo (w/ Bruce Springsteen)

'Down in the Bowery' (*From the Lp, 'Street Songs of Love')

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZnrCT2wH2s&list=RD-ZnrCT2wH2s&index=2

 

[Guest]

"[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I'd arrived at the conclusion(?) that you are doing a dropper of CBD oil in the AM, another at PM, and a dose of 140-ish mg of THC extract PM only. Did I miss something?"[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Barring memory lapses on my part, that is correct.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You missed nothing. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]And.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Every time you write Hydroxazine I get a little tweaked.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]That is the antihistamine that burned off all my skin and damn near killed me.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Seems to be my only serious allergy.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] And it was not a problem in the past, until it was.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I'd say use great caution with it.
[/FONT]

A friend from my adolescent years died about 16 years ago. He'd had asthma, and the Doc(s) put him on steroids for it. He maintained his many outdoor activities; bicycling, hiking, etc.

He ran a sound studio he'd built in his garage, with a catchy name, and friends would congregate there. Lots of music went down there.

Every 10-15 years or so, when I would blow through the area, he would organize a party in the studio, to keep it away from his daughters and wife, but we would rejoice in the spirit of our youth.

He was 44 when his wife woke up to find him cold and blue, laying next to her.. The steroids they gave him had blown out his heart in his sleep.

There's LOTS of stuff coming out of Big Pharma, for DECADES, and approved by the FDA, as well as 'course of treatment' approved by the profession in general, that AIN'T always friendly to the recipient, and sometimes barely achieves the intended purpose.

 

[Guest]

Due to the number of empty seats on the planes I flew to and from appts on, the airline I use most often has had a policy, since ending their 'blocked seats' C-19 program a while ago; if there were greater than X number of empty seats when a flight departed, and air miles were used to procure an empty seat, those air miles can be refunded via Customer Service.

Between us, we just received the number of miles we burned for the empty seats both ways.

I now have re-deposited enough air miles into our accounts for an empty (saver award) seat both ways, next flight down, which will hopefully be for forward movement on one form of treatment or another..

Every win helps. WOO HOO!!!

Edit: Another tentative win; one more erroneous billing put on hold, while it's re-coded for more accuracy, and maybe another couple hundred dollars that doesn't need to leave the accounts. Again, organize and tab your billing, insurance statements, coordinated to/with billing, and benefits, (if you can do a spread sheet, then do so, my wife took care of my SS). If you don't closely watch the mounds of paper flying through the air, and money going out, a person will likely be giving stuff away they'll need later. Don't let that happen, if you can help it.

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

John Hiatt

'Comes Alive, at Budokan' 1994

'Paper Thin'

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

 

[Guest]

December, 2008, NIH/NIM review/study re. antioxidants as both helpful and potential hindrance.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6316255/

A key statement in the abstract;

>>""In fact, reactive oxygen species play a dual role in dealing with different disorders, since they may contribute to disease onset and/or progression but may also play a key role in disease prevention.""<<

I and many others take different types of these (researched individually in my case, but also know that when taking 3 different things that provide similar effects, it's good to examine how much is enough).

Another somewhat informed effort to locate anything that MIGHT be casting things into imbalance

 

[trichrider]

Murphy must've slept late...for those perks to get past him.



will you be able to get customer service of that airline to reimburse for the empty seat on your return to Seattle and then back home? that would be righteously proper.



your demeanor seems like it's improved and positivity is good medicine.


hang tough.

 

[Guest]

Murphy must've slept late...for those perks to get past him.



will you be able to get customer service of that airline to reimburse for the empty seat on your return to Seattle and then back home? that would be righteously proper.



your demeanor seems like it's improved and positivity is good medicine.


hang tough.

Thanks trich.

I'd been informed of the opportunity for reimbursement of the air miles via that specific policy, but had no clue what the time-lines were, how long the policy has been in effect, or when it ends.

Adding some lack of closure (Murphy sometimes shows up late), the reimbursements were supposed to specifically go to my wife's mileage account, as her miles had purchased the 2 empty seats, down and back, this last trip.

But the CS person was probably in a rush, and despite my wife trying to explain the technicalities, the Agent went ahead and deposited miles for one seat to my wife, and miles for the other seat to me.

How long we'll be able to roll the dice on this policy's benefit, is unknown to me at this time, but money (or miles) in the bank for now, is way good.

I see it as this particular airline's trying to balance perception of risk, (perception versus reality of safety aboard their planes), and the fact they ended their blocked seats program while the newer more questionable mutations of C-19 were coming out in the media.

(*My wife and I had read the impressive number of 'studies' linked in their home page, and there's some interesting sources, as well as notations of limit to significance of the studies listed. There were some eye-opening admission s buried in those studies, for those who dug in, and we did).

Bottom line is, they're watching their bottom line, as are most corps/businesses, and persons now.

Being able to do this again would be great, but at this time, no way to count on that.

My positivity has been pushed forward by some lessening in some symptoms (list of possible causes for these), and yesterday, after finding the significant flaking skin and rash on my bridge of my nose, between my eyebrows, and knowing the wild cards to be dealt by auto-immune/allergy issues, I tried hard to ignore or contain any symptoms of panic. (Weez's info re the drug that shall be named no more, owns a part of that decision. If I get into a serious scrape involving pulse rates, etc., I have other backup, more potent, and limited in supply).

I think the forward movement in making things happen here, even if I continue to over-state my ability and fall short of completing the things I laid out to do, is a part of the positive energy.

And the mental block, largely of OCD and stress issues, that has often had me procrastinate to the point of non-productivity and increased stress, took a back seat, due to (some what ironically) the greater or more significant issues putting things like mixing soilless mixes and such into perspective, so there's not a barrier there as much within my own psyche.

No clue if that makes sense to others, but I have often been, at least in part, a stress-motivated guy, and that tends to be a double-edged sword; one level motivates, and another paralyses progress.

For now, each day of no racing pulse, no suspect drugs, and no major fuck-ups, is a good day. And the energy while doing chores here, what ever they may be, has (as a result of the dynamic described above), been more of a 'take it as it comes, with less pressure when doing so' sort of affair.

My heartache involving the relationship with my older son, and daughter, in different ways, still fluctuates from panic to hope, to letting it go and knowing that I can't control the outcomes any more, to grief and loss, to confrontation with reality and knowing that any mental conclusions are not necessarily anything but trying to solve or end it for expedience. And in reality, with some knowledge about developmental issues, and specific knowledge about my older son, the fact is that if I want to give it a chance to work, I have to let go for the most part, at least for the time being, and wait for him to find his heart and soul somehow. Maybe I can help with that later, but for now, I am kryptonite to his Superman..

Hard to let go of meaningful relationship, especially for an OCD guy who has avoided the pitfalls of humanity and PTSD by controlling, or trying hard to control variables in his life to the 9s, but this seems to be Buddha and Murphy teaming up for one major lesson in struggle that goes back 6 decades of my life.

Learning, for some of us Irish-German folks, can come at a stiff price sometimes. But as long as it comes..

In short, life seems to have taken away some portion of my stress in motion, while providing a shit-ton of others.

Your input and observations are appreciated. Thanks again.

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

Another Bruce Cockburn instrumental for you; a bit longer than the last.. More of a classical guitar piece.

From the Lp 'In the Falling Dark' (originally on True North Records, Ontario, Ca.)

'Water Into Wine'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLmu8VnGLPI

 

[Guest]

trich, It also occurred to me that this time is a holding pattern of sorts, allowing the reality of circumstances to sink in, and for some more answers from the various Docs.

But I think it's quite probable/possible, if not a 'given', that I'm going to lose some aspects of my quality of life as I've known them, with the hopes, (and no guarantees), that I'm also losing the cancer permanently.

No guarantees on either side of that proverbial sword. And I've been told, tentatively, that I have some time to think, and the radio-oncology fellow even offered simple monitoring or 'observation' as one of several courses. (with risky surgeries or treatments, they almost always state the offerings as patient driven, so if there's a major issue, ":Hey, it's what YOU wanted to do!") (My spine surgery was categorized as 'elective surgery', in part, for this very reason.

Knowing something about the final days of many terminal cancer patients, the prospect of 'merely monitoring the tumors' wasn't too awfully attractive.

So the down time, waiting for answers, can be a source of frustration ("Hurry up and get me my answers; I want this gone!"), but is also a safety zone of sorts for now; for the moment, if I wait to decide, I lose little but time.

And if the trend of my PSA continues declining by virtue of nature, the Cosmos, diet, sulforaphane, or the other things introduced to date, maybe by the time we move on this, it's (as a person once told me about a nightmare)maybe/hopefully "turned my bison into a field mouse."

Lots of stimuli for now in my body. And it's more clear, even right down to the reactions I just had to the vegetable minestrone I ate for lunch, that my immune system is acting up on all kinds of input right now; ready to bark at anything coming in. And that -does- have me a bit worried.

The radio-oncologist figures my hyper-active immune system of late is a good thing for suppressing cancer (a tool to be used), and maybe that's partly why it's so 'vigilant' at the moment (it's working HARD), but man, he ought to spend a bit of time in this body, and I suspect he'd revise his encouraging remarks).

CBD is in; a family member is on the way to retrieve it.

I'm going to be taking in the first dose VERY cautiously, perhaps 25-40mg or 50mg and see what the hyper-vigilant immune system says about it.

Trying to minimize the roller-coaster rides.

 

[Guest]

1 entry this evening. Trying to curtail a number of things at the moment, and posting is one of them.

I was wrong to mention someone else's needs, even anonymously, without first clarifying their words.

I ate a capsule of my own THC extract at perhaps about 2:00 P.M., from my decarboxylated hodge-podge of flowers from the last harvest. No ill effects, other than a brief and minor up-tick to heart/pulse rate, which went away fairly quickly.

CBD arrived from the shipper, sourced from Lazarus Naturals, whom 1 or more members had spoken highly of, and Healthline had rated them among the top 10 CBD sources for last year(?). Did 1 dropper of that (50mg to 1ml dropper). No significant effects noted. Maybe a bit more tired and weary than I already had been..

Effects of the THC cap were sufficient 2 hours later, that a nap became mandatory, and I was borderline out for the count. Rested REALLY WELL!!! Even if relatively briefly.

None the less, the capsule of THC was not so debilitating that I couldn't get up and sauté a bunch of veggies, mushrooms, and plant based sausages in coconut oil with seasonings, and add them to the fresh ^ Lycopene sauce we made from fresh organic tomatoes last night ,being careful not to get it up to 200 f.. Served over discombobulated baked spaghetti squash guts, which served surprisingly well as a lower carb pasta, even if spaghetti squash is one of the lesser 'hard' squash, where nutritional value is concerned. But it's not high in carbs, like whole wheat flour noodles, either!!

The taste was AWESOME!! My younger son had earlier raised eyebrows, grimacing, threatening to "cook (his) own REAL noodles." He had no reservations about shoveling it down after that first bite.

Laid out sticky traps in the one box that has the moms in it, in recovery. Thought I saw a couple flyers the last several days; breaking out fresh organic soil often brings something back to life that needs shot down. They're greening up nicely, with only a couple of them still showing the embarrassing evidence of neglect under lower leaves, from the last 4 months.

I see a thorough spraying of Spinosad in the near future, and then some Gnatrol WDG at a safe time period after the Spinosad.

None of the antihistamine/sedative today, and certainly not worse for the absence of it.. Not yet, anyway.

Had no outright sense of allergy or sinus issues today, other than very briefly when I was processing organic celery for the sauce. Ironic. I'm not typically allergic to celery, or anything else. Briefly felt a tightening again, center of upper chest and lower throat/neck. More evidence of my immune system being very vigilant, hoping it gets its shit together soon.

I thought (in gallows humor), this is how I go out, "found with a stalk of celery, not breathing."

Anyway, for the moment, which I hesitate to project into any sort of solid belief it is going to last, I feel ... almost normal. Seriously. In fact, I feel pretty darned good at the moment, like I am getting 'me' back. I mean that.

I'm hoping it lasts, and if not, I can get it back. It feels good!

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

John Hiatt

'Have a Little Faith in Me'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ub6ZkgTvYs&list=RD4GhCwf-iX94&index=18

 

[buzzmobile]

Every win helps. WOO HOO!!!

I'm hoping it lasts, and if not, I can get it back. It feels good!

That counts as another win, moose eater.

 

[Guest]

That counts as another win, moose eater.

Thanks buzz.

Sometimes they seem to be rolling in, buzz, and other times, seems they need some help getting stitched together.

But as you pointed out, paraphrasing, counting every win, even if they're the little fellers, adds up, and gets appreciated.

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

Had another moderate dose of the THC capsules, and another dropper of about 50mg of CBD at bed time, late last night. Definitely felt a little thick in the throat after the last dropper of CBD, but considered it was also maybe the 'thickness' or viscosity of the stuff, and my sensitivity of late, for anything in the airway at all. So I tried to initially sleep sitting upright in a chase with an extended platform.

Still, if any feeling of tight chest after that 2nd dropper, I can't clearly recall it.

I did wake up with munchies a couple times last night, and during this time, looked up sinus issues, as they had returned, and found some less-than-conclusive references to potassium and sodium deficiency being linked to inflammation, but, some of it looked pretty flakey... downright 'comically Cosmic' in one site's case. (*As in 'star dust and space shit').

Back to bed for a brief period, then up and at 'em, again.
--------------------------------------

Bruce Cockburn

From the 'In the Falling Dark' Lp

'Gavin's Wood Pile'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GhCwf-iX94&list=RD4GhCwf-iX94&start_radio=1

 

[Guest]

Well, Andyo's passing casts a degree of light on the path of untreated or late-treated prostate cancer. The spread is unpredictable, so, even if the stated 3% risk of mortality over 15 years, if untreated, is accurate, who would want to be in that 3%?

How often would you buy a lottery ticket if the odds were 3:100? Usually they're a lot less hopeful (or in the reverse case, dismal) odds than that. 3 in 100, in my book, while a long shot, isn't all that long.

I didn't communicate with Andyo here more than maybe 2-3 times that I can remember over the last 12-14 years in and out of ICMag. But I hope he and his loved ones have peace in this.

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

Note back from the radio-oncology Doc; he confirms his numbers:

35% chance of recurrence with seed implant and external radiation, together. CyberKnife for site-specific radiation, post-radiation tx. in the event of recurrence.

65% risk of recurrence with surgery alone.

Said he seldom/rarely sees encopresis/bowel incontinence after radiation in those patients who began radiation with good bowel control. (*Words like 'seldom' and 'rarely', though I use such descriptions loosely myself, do not provide a solid basis for statistical interpretation or risk assessment. I don't want to wear any communication thin, but may later push for more accurate numbers re. this risk).

Following hormone suppression tx., Palladium seeds (brachytherapy), and external radiation tx, at the 15 year mark, he reports a 1% risk of radiation-induced cancer from the seeds therapy, etc. Again, 1:100 sounds pretty safe. But would you buy a lottery ticket that had 1:100 odds of winning? I would. Bought many with much stiffer odds.

Testosterone drops within 30 days after the first hormone suppression injection.

3 to 6 injections (I had heard 3 earlier, with no mention of the other numbers, but apparently it is a case-by-case needs thing).

Following radiation, as with surgery, semen is no more.

3 months after initial hormone suppression shot, scan for custom build of Palladium seeds, which are implanted 3 to 4 weeks later, in a 1-hour (+/-) surgical procedure, from which I'm told a person walks out on their own, after the anesthetic has worn off.

25 sessions of external radiation treatment over a 5 week period, 10 minutes of actual exposure per day, 5 days per week, beginning about 2 months or less after seeds are implanted.

So, no word on the lab or medication corrections in the chart yet, but I noted there was a message about meds not being in the chart, and to call my (primary care?) Doc if I needed to know something. That may or may not have taken care of some of the concerns re. listing 'non-conventional therapies'. I think it did, and if so, he was savvy enough not to say, "Hey, I pulled this out for you."

Edit: Seems a patient buys a ticket to open a proverbial door to one passage or another, and the passage they get may be 10 feet long, or 1,000 miles, and there's little guarantee, other than generic stats that aren't unique to the patient, as to what that tunnel will look like. But they'll damned sure have to buy the ticket to find out.

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

So, 'Shake & Bake', or 'Slice & Dice'?

Time for some thoughtful contrasting of risks and benefits, and then some thoughtful decisions.

-------------------------------------------------
Bruce Cockburn

'Incandescent Blue'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwD3iWrIQIs

 

[buzzmobile]

So, 'Shake & Bake', or 'Slice & Dice'?

A two headed coin would help.

Go head first when you decide.

 

[Guest]

A two headed coin would help.
View Image

Go head first when you decide.

Still waiting on a couple more answers from the radio-oncologist, then having a meeting of sorts to discuss the options with my wife and younger son.

Shopping for short-term studio apartments near the hospital in Seattle (if radiation is done entirely there), OR short-term studio or 1-bedroom apartments in Los Anchorage, if it proves true that the external radiation component is really a non-issue, as to who does it, as the Doc down there stated.

In which case he could do the scan for building seeds, and I would go back to him for the implanting of seeds, then get the longer term radiation in Anchorage, where I can likely save a fair bit of money on a studio or 1-bedroom apt., and drive home on week-ends.

If surgery, then a 10-day stay at one of the convenient hotels close to the source.

I'm skeptical when I hear someone say, "That part can be done anywhere." Sounds like famous last words, that fail to consider the continuum of care, professionalism, and capacity that most humans are represented on... and I've found that to be a fairly broad continuum, no matter the profession..

We're on course, have the 2 Docs arranged, (surgeon and radio-dude), and need to make the final-final, then plan for necessities like housing at that point.

But finding out what is available also figures in there, and I'm not about to spend a couple grand a month on a studio apt.