Why men need to test for prostate cancer and personally track the results

 

Why men need to test annually for prostate cancer and personally track any change from one year to the next

It seems as though we men are constantly bombarded by articles talking about the fact that the PSA test isn’t perfect and how it does more harm than good.

We hear these arguments despite the fact that the annual prostate cancer death toll dropped significantly following the introduction and widespread use of the PSA test.

The following update comes from a man who was diagnosed after his prostate cancer had metastasized – spread into his body beyond the prostate gland.

As you read this account, think about his situation and how different his story would be had his prostate cancer been diagnosed before it metastasized. By the way, the cost of a Provenge treatment series in 2011 was $93,000.00. Got health insurance?

Begin the story
“Well, got back last night from my follow up (60 day) after my last Provenge treatment. For those who don’t know what Provenge is, I’ll make it as simple as possible. For about 6 weeks before Christmas, I went to CTCA and they would take some of my white blood cells out of my blood and then send them off to be “engineered” or turned into “Transformers.” Then 4 days later inject them back into my blood stream. We would go through this process every two weeks for a total of 3 times. The idea is that my immune system would then attack JUST the prostate cancer cells. I had originally heard about this process while it was still in clinical trial testing over 2 years ago. I believed that this process would provide some miraculous results.

Well, it didn’t provide the results that I had been hoping and praying for. The cancer has progressed, only “slightly” but it has progressed. Since I have been feeling better than I have in maybe 3 years,….. I WAS PISSED!!!  Went through a day or two of “shit, damn, “poor little old me”, FU*K!!!” Didn’t seem to help, so……. I’m going back to my POSITIVE, I’m here for the other guy/gal, it ain’t gonna’ get me down, It ain’t over till the “Fat Lady” sings and she hasn’t even cleared her throat yet, “it’s all in GOD’s hands” attitude.

So, tomorrow (Friday) I start on Taxotere. It’s a chemotherapy that has in the past been used for breast cancer but they have found that it works for prostate cancer too. It seems to work in a couple of different ways. It seems to cause some cancer cells to “self-destruct”. However, it’s main process is to target and interfere with cell division so that the cancer cell cannot rapidly reproduce and grow. The problem is that the drug also effects the other “rapidly growing cells” like hair, nails, gastrointestinal and bone marrow cells. Since I have a bit of a shortage of bone marrow (since the cancer has eaten up a good share of what I had) this is going to be a bit of concern….. at least for me it will be. According to the oncologist, the Taxotere might even help provide a bit of a “chaser” or booster for the Provenge. (WE CAN ONLY HOPE & PRAY!!!) Should be interesting what I’m gonna look like bald, or should I say balder! I thought about getting my first treatment of the chemo at CTCA, but then I thought….. “If I’m maybe gonna puke my guts up….. let’s do it on my home turf.” Going to have to get treated every 3 weeks and then at the end of April it’s back to CTCA for bone scans and see if we can get this cancer stopped for a little while, cause …..CANCER SUCKS!!!!!

Thanks to everyone for your support, LOVE, prayers and thoughts. They DO mean a lot!

Hope everyone is doing well and may GOD bless each and everyone of you.”

What you can do to avoid this situation

Get a baseline PSA test at age 35. Then, test annually and track the values each year, looking for any increase.

Beginning in June 2012, you will be able to use the Prostate Cancer Awareness Project’s free online PSA tracker that will be available at ProstateTracker.org. You can get on the email list to be notified when the site goes live at http://eepurl.com/g6uiA.

Inherited Prostate Cancer Gene Identified – Will this help?

The HOXB13 gene identified as a prostate cancer predictor

A news release from Johns Hopkins on January 11, 2012, reported that researchers have identified the HOXB13 gene mutation as a predictor of prostate cancer development.

You can read the full news release at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_120695.html

How can this discovery help?

If you can afford it, it might be worth exploring the possibility of having the test done. Men who discover they have the gene then could take lifestyle measures to prevent the actual development of the disease, such as dietary modification as suggested in The China Study.

But, what if you can’t afford genetic testing?

It’s not perfect, but the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test still is the best tool to early detection of prostate cancer.

Although I am not a medical doctor and can not and do not provide medical advice, I believe that we men should begin testing annually for prostate cancer at age 35.

Just like women know they need an annual PAP smear and mammogram, we guys need a PSA test to see if our risk is increasing.

How can I track my PSA results?

Beginning in April 2012, men will be able to track this information online at www.ProstateTracker.org and receive an email reminder when their next test is due.

Follow this site for information on how to create your free ProstateTracker account.

Will you have any of these regrets?

The five most common end-of-life regrets
I just ran across the following points on a prostate cancer bulletin board. Listed below are the top five regrets people express on their death bed as reported by a palliative care nurse.

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

[You can read the full article at the following line: How you can deflect some of this regret
March 17th marks the beginning of the PCAP Prostate Cancer Pony Express. Between March 17th and September 9th, a series of riders will ride through all 50 US states to raise awareness for prostate cancer and become part of the first ever national prostate cancer awareness event in our country’s history.

You can be part of the 2012 Prostate Caner Pony Express, by riding in it, supporting it, telling your friends about it, following the riders live on the Internet, and by being at the White House with us on Sunday, September 9, 2012.

Visit our blog at http://prostatecancerponyexpress.wordpress.com for details.

Helping us bring attention on prostate cancer lets you pay it forward and save the lives of men who otherwise would be diagnosed too late for effective treatment.

Warm regards,

Robert

Stretching the Legs of my Elite T-Class Time Trial Bike

How to win a free pair of Sock Guy cycling socks

Today was my first ride of 2012 on Zonker, my time trial bike. I posted this morning on my Strava.com profile [http://strava.com/athletes/robertwhess] that I’ll send a free pair of Sock Guy cycling socks to the first person who can tell me why I named this bike “Zonker.” Just post your answer here or on my ride profile at Strava.com.

Why I bicycle

I’ve always enjoyed cycling, but I refocused my energy to it following my diagnosis and treatment for prostate cancer in 2012. My intuition told me that nutrition and exercise would help me keep the cancer from returning.

There still is no definitive, double-blind study proving the correlation, but evidence is mounting. I’m working my way through The Definitive Guide to Prostate Cancer by Dr. Aron E. Katz, and he makes clear the benefits of good nutrition and daily exercise. Bicycling is great aerobic exercise and it’s easy on the knees. You still need weight bearing exercise, but cycling is a great deal of fun.

Join me on Strava.com

If you’re a cyclist and would like to help with prostate cancer awareness, follow me on Strava, http://strava.com/athletes/robertwhess and join the 29000Men club on Strava.

You can create a free account on Strava. I think you’ll love it; it’s very motivational.

My 2011 Cycling Report Card – How I’m Trying to Keep Prostate Cancer at Bay

How I’m keeping my prostate cancer from returning

As most of my readers know, I’m a prostate cancer survivor, Class of 2003.

As you can imagine, one of my key goals in life is to “Stay in the Picture.” Staying in the picture means preventing the return of my prostate cancer for as long as possible.

The two levers of control I have are: 1) what I eat and 2) how much I exercise. Recent medical research is producing more and more evidence that these two factors account for as much at 30% of risk for prostate cancer.

Eliminating unhealthy food and exercising helps prevent prostate cancer, but it also improves every other element of our health. Now there’s a big plus.

So, how did I do in 2011? Here are my stats:

Miles ridden: 2,395.1

Vertical feet of climb: 100,977

Time spent on the bike: 137 hours

Calories burned: 110,400 (calculator at http://www.ultracycle.net/coach/total.php)

Pounds of fat burned: 31.5

Total percentage of the circumference of the earth ridden since my surgery in 2003: 79.78% (19,866.4 miles of the 24,901.6 miles around the earth. I expect to complete my journey sometime in 2014).

Want to join me in 2012?

If you are a licensed USA Cycling rider, you can list 29000Men as your club.

If you use Strava.com, we can list 29000men as your club and you can join in the King of the Mountain (KOM) competitions we will be staging in 2012, and win great awards like cycling socks, KOM jerseys, and other prizes. Click this link to join us on Strava.

Watch for information here on this blog, at http://MyBikeInfo.wordpress.com, and on FaceBook – “Prostate Cancer Awareness Project”

Have a wonderful 2012!

Why a Bowl of Cereal and a Banana for Breakfast will Make you Fat

Why the traditional bowl of cereal with milk and a banana may be the worst thing we can eat!

The following link will take you to a recent video by Dr. Snuffy Myers on metabolic syndrome and why our traditional eating habits cause us to gain weight and, for some men, increase the risk of prostate cancer and diabetes.

Dr. Myers talks about nutrition and the need for exercise, both weight training and daily aerobic exercise.

This short video is definitely worth listening to and integrating into our 2012 habits.

Metabolic Syndrome, Diabetes, and Prostate Cancer

Questions for this Post

We’ve all been taught that these two food groups are critical to our health.

1 – How important to you is eating animal protein dairy products?

2 – If they were actually unhealthy, do you think you could change to a whole foods eating program?

Veganism – Why I’m a Vegan “Lite”

The “Isms”

If you’ve been following my posts over the past several months, you know that I have been reading and researching about vegetarianism and veganism -everything seems to be an “ism” – as a tool in my prostate cancer recurrence prevention program.

Changing habits isn't that hard - we just need to do take on little step every day

I spent a career in the US Army – I’ll be updating my LinkedIn account with these details in the near future – and we Army people are pretty well training in planning and developing contingency plans.

As I’ve noted before in this blog, the only prevention tools I have under my personal control are what I choose to eat and how much and when I exercise.

Over the past year I worked on increasing my bicycling activity level and got into a Monday evening yoga routine. For 2012, I plan to continue those programs – including more velodrome time – while adding weight training at least once per week.

That’s about all of the exercise I can squeeze into my schedule – perhaps I can get back to early morning walking with my wife. Ops. I forgot the monthly golf tournament, but we ride in the cart so I probably should not count that.

Julie and Julia – How Julia Child may Prevent my Cancer Recurrence

Two weeks ago, not long after finishing Colin Campbell’s book, The China Study, I watched this delightful movie about Julia Child’s life. The main character in the movie, Julie, becomes enthralled with Julia Child and decides to cook one of Julia Child’s recipes each night for a year.

I won’t tell you the plot line but I will recommend this movie.

But, you ask, what does this have with preventing cancer? Especially since anti-cancer eating means avoiding all dairy and animal protein products.

Well, in my mind, it’s pretty simple. We eat the things we eat because they are simple and don’t take any preparation.

If you;re a guy and you;re hungry, you open the refrigerator and go after the first thing in sight. If there’s nothing in the frig, we tend to go after something packaged and ready to go – chips, etc. And those prepackaged foods are loaded with stuff that unhealthy and makes us fat.

Can Moosewood get Guys to “Fresh and Easy?”

Fresh and Easy is a UK grocery chain that it just making and entrance into the US market. In this case though, I’m talking finding and testing recipes that guys can make that are quick, easy, and made from whole foods; no dairy and no animal protein – and taste good!

My basis is going to be the Moosewood cookbook that my sister gave me for my birthday.

The Motorcycle Gourmet writes the Moosewood Chronicles

I’ll be posting my “good eating” escapades while riding my Dave III (my Harley Low Rider) periodically on this blog and at TheMotorcycleGourmet. Let’s just see what I’m able to accomplish over the next 52 weeks.

First up? A vegetable curry.

What’s a Vegan Lite?

I did mention this in the post headline so I’d better provide a definition. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas and turkey is indelibly imprinted in my holiday mind.

So, I;m going to make two exceptions during the year to my animal protein ban- organic turkey at those two holidays, That will be just a little extra holiday treat until I arrive at the point where I just don’t care for it anymore.

I’ve had my Christmas sandwich so It’s back to my normal diet. Just 364 days to turkey!

Happy Holidays Everyone!