Men living in wealthier zip codes in the United States live longer with advanced prostate cancer than men in lower income zip codes. Creighton University, Omaha, NE researchers studied income levels and overall survival of men diagnosed with stage IV prostate cancer. Lead author Sabra Ahmed and his team looked at 50,639 men in the National Cancer Database diagnosed [...]
Advanced prostate cancer will eventually end, barring another cause of death, with the demise of the individual survivor. Knowing that you suffer from a terminal illness is hard, it is hard on the family and it is hard on the individual. Many of us don’t think about it, but it is also hard for many [...]
Somehow I have been negligent and not let people know that I have written and posted a major update of my “Guide to Advanced Prostate Cancer.” As in the past, it is available as a free download from the Malecare web site. Helping me to update the book was prostate cancer survivor Craig Pynn and [...]
Becoming a full time 24/7 caregiver for someone with any chronic illness, including advanced prostate cancer is overwhelming. Most caregivers find that they stop their own personal activities, including those that give them personal pleasure. Caregiving means subverting personal needs in favor of the needs of the patient. This situation often leads to the [...]
Suzanne Somers is a well known actress and also a well known cancer survivor. Her book, "Knockout: Interviews with Doctors Who are Curing Cancer and How to Prevent Getting it in the First Place" has made a very positive impression on many people, including many doctors who have strongly objected to her writings. I want [...]
Advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNP) had been integrated into the oncology team at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida with the purpose of discussing palliative care intervention for persons newly diagnosed with metastatic cancer. The team found that this type of intervention improved emotional and mental quality of life (QoL) for those patients who participated [...]
It is important to remember that confronting our feelings and giving them appropriate expression always takes strength, not weakness. It takes strength to acknowledge our anger, and sometimes more strength to curb the aggressive urges that our anger may bring and then to channel them into nonviolent outlets. It takes strength to face our sadness [...]
It is important to learn to use as many resources as possible as we take our trip through the treatment processes for advanced prostate cancer. Many of us limit ourselves to just our doctor and perhaps their office nurse or Physician Assistant. The reality is that there are many other individuals who can make out [...]
Is it a subtle form of healthcare rationing with the goal of saving money at the expense of lives? Maybe that is what is going on. Older men are not economically as valuable to society as other individuals, in many people’s eyes they are actually a burden. Can a solution to the problem be to [...]
An AP medical writer, Mike Stobb, wrote an interesting and unusual article about a survey that was conducted asking if people would be willing to spend everything they have on aggressive treatments that might prolong their life. The survey concluded that blacks and other minorities with cancer are more likely than whites to say they [...]
