Breast and Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

Discussion in 'Health & Fitness' started by Stoniphi, Oct 19, 2019.

  1. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,256
    Since this forum appears a tad slow these days, I am bringing this topic up again. There is some confusion about when this 'awareness' is really supposed to happen, so I am disregarding that and going with now.

    Guys should have their Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) measured via blood test beginning at age 40 - earlier if there are symptoms of any kind. You should then get it remeasured pretty much every year and watch for any upward trend. You should be aware that your age divided by 100 = the chance that you have Prostate Cancer (PCa). If there is an abrupt, steep or rapid increase in PSA, you will need to get checked for prostatitis (a local infection of the gland, often with urinary problems) or a biopsy (once an infection has been ruled out). If you have PCa there are a lot of interventions to avail yourself of.

    Women should do self breast exams, as many breast cancers are found by the patient herself. They should also start getting regular mammograms starting about age 40. As with PCa, there are many interventional options.

    Both of these cancers can be hard to detect, both can be 'sneaky' in that they can go unnoticed or undiscovered until it is too late to stop them.

    Current surgical practices like Da Vinci robotic surgery minimize the physical impact of removing the cancers, radiation treatments have become vastly more minimal and efficient as have chemical treatments. There many new drugs and treatments under study at this time and the advances are almost daily now. The current state of the art in fighting cancer allows for much longer survival times as these new treatments come on line. Some of the new treatments even hint at a possible cure for these diseases - like Lutetium 177 and Actinium 255 PSMA therapies that actually kill the cancer cells involved.

    Like other health issues, it is imperative that the patient be their own advocate. You must be proactive and observant. If you don't really trust the first doctors judgement or conclusions, move on to another doctor. No harm in getting that second opinion we all know we should get.
     
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. Gawdzilla Sama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,864
    Not participating! I no longer have a prostate. PSA is "undetectable."

    nehner nehner.

    Oh, and FUCK CRYOABLATION. Just sayin'.
     
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,256
    No prostate here either thanks to Da Vinci, but the PSA just hit 3.3 so I am back on leuprolide chemo next week and waiting for word on more radiation. Found 2 pelvic lymph gland mets with an Axumin PET scan.
     
  6. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. sculptor Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,466
    I had a friend who got prostate cancer.
    ("had" being the operative word here)
     
  8. Gawdzilla Sama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,864
    G'luck.
     
  9. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,256
    Thanks, I think I am going to need some.
     
  10. Gawdzilla Sama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,864
    Be sure to be an informed consumer of medical care. You don't have to make up your mind on ANYTHING that doesn't involve spurting blood.
     
  11. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,256
    Right you are. Have spent an incredible amount of time in the last few years studying this topic. Am following the course that seems most profitable by way of 'kicking the can down the road' in the hope that one of the many studies currently going on ('Visions' lutetium 177 PSMA, actinium 255 PSMA, Provenge immunotherapy etc) will give me a shot at a cure. If not, there is a list of treatments to go through yet and I am over-the-top healthy so will likely hang in there for quite some time yet.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!



    30 day Firmagon injection this morning after my 7 mile run. In a month it will be a longer-lasting chem.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
    Gawdzilla Sama likes this.
  12. Truck Captain Stumpy The Right Honourable Reverend Truck Captain Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,263
    whereas medical groups don't always agree one should do a self-exam, I advocate for them and men should also do weekly or monthly self-breast exams
    See links below:
    https://www.verywellhealth.com/male-breast-self-exam-430634
    https://malecare.org/male-breast-cancer/check-yourself-for-male-breast-cancer/

    additional information:
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030573720600003X
    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/bcr2930
    https://wjso.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1477-7819-6-58
    https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/cncr.21353
     
  13. Gawdzilla Sama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,864
    I remember a comment back in the days of Usenet: "If men got breast cancer there would be a cure by now." The blizzard of replies included "They do, little lady, they do!" and "Moobs kill men!" Didn't hear from her again in that group.
     
    Truck Captain Stumpy likes this.
  14. Truck Captain Stumpy The Right Honourable Reverend Truck Captain Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,263
    wow... I just realised how old we were! LMFAO

    the thing that irritates me about that comment (not you, mind, just people who use the comment) is this: "cancer" is a vague term that includes a variety of issues.
     
    Gawdzilla Sama likes this.
  15. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,256
    True, that. I believe the one thing they all have in common is that they begin as genetic transcription errors.

    The most common breast cancer, like the most common prostate cancer, starts in glands. Many of the drugs used to fight breast cancer are also used to fight prostate cancer, and both have an affinity for spreading into the bones.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!



    I had Da Vinci surgery 12/2012 + 70 Gy IMRT radiation 4/2012 + 2 & 1/2 years of 'androgen deprivation therapy' (leuprolide acetate chemotherapy) 2013 - 2016. Blood tests showed as I recovered from the therapies that they had failed to stop my G 7 acinar adenocarcinoma

    The injection hurt quite a bit, still burns and itches quite a lot 2 days out. 1 long, slow shot on each side of the belly. Painful from the very get-go, just begining to get tolerable though. This injection is good for 30 days, have to get a 2 week blood test to see if it is effective. A week later I will find out what drug/chemicals I will be trying out.....
     
  16. Gawdzilla Sama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,864
    [personalexperience]Cryoablation is literally a pain in the ass.[/personalexperience]
     
    Truck Captain Stumpy likes this.
  17. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,256
    Father-in-law would agree, if he was still around.
     
  18. Gawdzilla Sama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,864
    I sometimes wonder if I'm still around.
     
  19. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,256
    I think so......
     
  20. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,256
    Now we are in 'Movember' when men are encouraged to grow out their mustache or beard in order to draw attention to prostate cancer and the need for men to get their PSA checked.

    I cannot grow out a 'stash' or beard as I need to wear a respirator and those do not work if you have any facial hair at all, but I encourage guys to do so if they can.

    However, I will continue to try and bring awareness of this disease to the fore, however, as my contribution to the cause.
     
    Truck Captain Stumpy likes this.
  21. globali Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    292
    Minimizing the burden of the disease with the addition of abiraterone acetate or enzalutamide might overall increase the chances for a cure and help you hang in there longer.

    But your doctor knows better!!
     
  22. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,256
    My doc has put in an application for Xtandi (enzalutamide), we are waiting for approval or denial. If they don't approve it, there are some alternatives to consider.

    I have still not heard back from the radiation oncologist about spot radiation of the pelvic lymph nodes. He had to get the telemetry from the first radiation center that did me 7 years ago so as not to cook anything vital.

    At this time, my testosterone is 2.5 ng/dL and PSA is 1.02 ng/dL, down from 3.3 ng/dL a month ago. The side effects aren't too bad yet this time around. The first week of Dec I get a 3 month dose of Eligard leuprolide acetate.
     
  23. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,256
    In the interest of science and keeping topic awareness, an update.

    Just got Medicare approval for Xtandi (enzalutamide), heard from the compounding pharmacy yesterday. Xtandi is a testosterone agonist. That means that it will take the place of a testosterone molecule in a testosterone receptor and lock up that receptor so it cannot take up any testosterone. It also prevents the testosterone receptor from completing the job it would do if it was actual testosterone in it. The cancer cell's growth and progression are slowed. If all of the testosterone receptors in a cancer cell are thus occupied, hypothetically it will just sit and do nothing. Expensive chemotherapy and I will need to get that second pneumonia shot before I start Xtandi as it weakens the lungs, among other things.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!



    A couple of weeks ago, My Radiation Oncologist and I went over radiation dosages, CAT scan x-ray pictures & diagrams of my initial 2013 radiation treatment and images from my 2019 Axumin F18 PET scan. The Radiation Oncologist believes he can treat the 2 'hot' lymph nodes with x-rays without endangering anything critical. Will likely see him in Feb when he is happy with the math.

    I am tolerating my current leuprolide acetate chemo well enough.
     
    globali likes this.

Share This Page