If you read my recent posting, "Crazy, Funny Cancer", you will know that I consider humor to be an essential part of every cancer patient's (or caregiver's) emotional "diet". And there is some evidence that laughter actually boosts the body's immune system. So have you had your minimal daily requirement yet? I am feeling a [...]
I think everybody who is living in close quarters with cancer develops a kind of personal relationship with it and this can influence how they cope. Some treat the barbarian invader with reverence and imagine themselves as warriors doing battle with it. They are knights in shining armor, getting ready to slay the mighty dragon. [...]
This is an excerpt from a medical abstract I received today. The article is short on details but affirms that penile rehabilitation does work. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Division of Urology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston 18 September 2008 "Post-prostatectomy erectile dysfunction affects a considerable number of men and is a significant [...]
At the moment, if you have surgery for PC and it does not work, the usual course is to try salvage radiation therapy. That is what my husband underwent last year. Fortuntely, his first post-treatment PSA reading was undetectable. But our next appointment with the doctor is in October, so I am already getting a bit weak-kneed. [...]
I am including an excerpt from a blog post written by Dr. Michael Glode, an experienced genitourinary oncologist. I highly recommend his site because what you get from Dr. Glode is straight talk. Dr. Glode writes that he's had reservations about robotic prostate surgery for a long time. He acknowledges that it is now seen by urologists as the [...]
There is an article in today's New York Times in which the author describes his thought processes as he went about first choosing a treatment and then a doctor after he was diagnosed with PC. Trouble is the guy is a newbie who doesn't know anything but thinks he does . But didn't we all?? I think [...]
Recently, I responded to a complaint from a PC patient who felt that many of his friends had abandoned him after he was diagnosed with cancer. (Read the last two postings.) But there are also patients who push others away, and in my opinion, add to the stigma of cancer in the process. Here is a story about [...]
For me the silver lining in my husband's illness and also in my father's year-long hospitalization for a stroke was discovering the kindness of strangers -- now that's something I can write a book about. We tried to keep a 24-hour vigil by by Dad's bedside because the care at the hospital was so bad. [...]
A man, Jerry P., wrote in one of the PC forums how, after he'd been diagnosed with prostate cancer, some of his friends suddenly vanished. This is a common complaint. So I wrote Jerry a letter I want to share with you. And it would nice to hear of your experiences. Sometimes friends and acquaintances do [...]
I initially posted my previous message about depression and PC treatment on a site I have been frequenting which brings together people from diverse backgrounds. You might be interested to read the responses I got, which came from a broad spectrum of the PC community: patients and their partners, a surgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist, a number of patient advocates and [...]
