Post Brachy and Alternative Therapies

...and the follow-up is that one day later, I feel fine. I've come to understand that as blessed as I am to have an easy passage here, there are still going to be what I now regard as "Cancer Days". That's fair...well, insofar as we can call any of this, fair. I did mix up a fresh batch of essiac tea, though. The battle continues...

Hey Johnny:

It's quite a roller coaster ride isn't it?  We've experienced the same thing and had the same pale-face reaction.  Glad to hear you're going well.

JustJulie

It should lessen at least it did for my husband.  Remember you cannot control when your seeds "radiate" and you can't shut them off so there's no rhyme or reason to anything so you just have to strap on your seatbelt and ride the ride but it will settle down eventually.

I must say you sound like you're doing great at only two months out - congrats and please keep posting - we need more positive influences like you around.

JustJulie

We're all different in how we handle the catheter -- but I think it is fair to say none of us actually like it

I had a catheter for seven days and found it uncomfortable at times -- no more than that. A careful slight rearrangement of the tube and my anatomy from time to time was all it took to ease the "suffering". I was able to walk for an hour each day with the catheter in -- but not as briskly as usual.

At bedtimes, I was initially concerned about rolling over and pulling things apart -- fears that turned out to be groundless. One advantage of the catheter is that you don't need toilet visits during the night

Ref the post by Paul1949 . . .

 

So, while I am an advocate of holistic and alternative meds, I would strongly urge you to investigate the Budwig Protocol further. There is a lot of research that goes so far as to state that the flaxseed oil is harmful and promotes cancer growth.

 

I would like to point out that Johanna Budwig herself said that flax seed oil on its own is harmful and must be combined with protein (from cottage cheese). I think the research undertaken to date has been with flax seed oil without the protein, so it's not surprising the results indicate it may promote cancer growth.

On the other hand, as far as I know, there is no research which proves the effectiveness of the Budwig Protocol, although there's some anecdotal evidence.

For myself, I am trying to follow the Budwig Protocol and modified my diet to avoid refined sugar, transfats, processed food, red meat, while eating more vegetables.

 

Steve

 

PCa diagnosed June 2007.

PSA 19.2, DRE negative, Gleason 3 + 3 = 6, T1c.

Started Intermittent Triple Androgen Blockade Therapy in July 2007.

Current PSA 0.057.

 

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Thank you both for the support and information. Hopefully it will not be the 6 week side of the prognosis. His doctor says he has a 70 percent chance of not having catheter complications.
It is good to know that it is doable. The question is can you drive with a catheter? My husband is a farmer and is heading towards wheat harvest 4 weeks after the operation. If he has a catheter will he have to stay at home? I know he cannot drive the combine!! But could he bounce around in the pick up over the hills and direct operations?
Also..what is the value of Essaic tea?

With brachytherapy, I think a long term requirement for a catheter would be the exception. My husband only had one overnight, and even with it was out doing gardening (not quite the same as harvesting wheat, though!) the day of his procedure. He also drove with it. (Stubborn.) ;)

I have read this post with great interest and feel some of my own experience here may be of benefit.

I was diagnosed with a PSA of 96 in Mar of this year and then 'fast tracked' through the NHS in the UK.
I had a biopsy within 2 weeks and given a gleason of 8 but my PSA had risen to 110.
I took a bone scan which showed nothing and this was followed by MRI which again showed nothing.
The tumour was diagnosed as a T3B

This took about 4-5 weeks altogether to go through the system. I was then referred to the cancer hospital near us with a 'curative' outlook. I was offered radiotherapy along with hormone treatment. I did not want radiotherapy at all and 'negotiated' (with some strong talking) an alternative offering from the NHS.

My thoughts from the first time I was diagnosed was that I was not going to take this lying down and was going to fight it all the way.

I scanned the internet for alternative treatments to begin the 'cure' from day one and well before traditional medicine was offered. I found essiac tea, some aloe vera and saw palmetto based options, also found some things to cut out rapidly and as much as possible like cows milk and sugar. I also changed my diet drastically, cutting out most fatty foods and increasing tomato and fish based foods along with more vegetables.

If one of the questions originally asked in the post was 'does alternative medicine work' then for my particular actions it is a very big YES.

After only 7 1/2 weeks from being told I had Prostate cancer and a PSA of 96, it had dropped to an amazing 1.7 YES ONE POINT SEVEN!!!!

I have also enrolled in a 'trial' to see if offering chemo earlier than is normally offered will benefit sufferers. I started chemo last week and will have 5 further chemo infusions along with a bone strengthener for upto 2 years.

My personal thoughts are that I have a good outlook and I truly believe it is down to assitance from alternative medicine(s). No one person could say what has caused the dramatic PSA drop but everyone from the nurses to my own GP are amazed at the turn around........

Search well, seek what you feel you can stick with, find what fits your budget and then go for it....

Good Luck to all

I also am unsure of the long term benefit of radiotherapy. A colleague was in a similar position to me some 5 years ago and took Radiotherapy as a 'curative' offering. Now he is having chemo as it has gone systemic. If they had searched better or perhaps if he had gone down the alternative path at that time, then maybe he could have kept it under control

Hello Robbie98,

 

Just wanted to ask you why you wanted to join the chemo trial, since your PSA showed a dramatic reduction from 96 to 1.7 in 7-1/2 weeks with your diet changes?

 

Of course, chemo will weaken the immune system which is exactly opposite to what you're trying to do with the diet changes.

 

I think it's best to avoid anything with artificial additives, preservatives, pesticides, growth hormones, and trans-fats. Best to stick to organic produce wherever possible, although I must admit that I don't do that in Thailand (except for organic flax seed oil for the Budwig Protocol) but maybe I should.

 

Here's what Wikipedia says about IGF-1.

I only have a couple of tbs of fat free milk a day mixed with the flax seed oil / cottage cheese mixture. I do take a multivitamin which contains 200 mg of Calcium, plus Beta-Sitosterol (300 mg), Saw Palmetto (160 mg), Vitamin D3 (1,200 IU - I had my Vit D3 tested and to my surprise fouund it on the low side), and Acrapaba liquid (a Japanese plant supposed to help the immune system).

Regards,

Steve

Since November 1993, with FDA approval, Monsanto has been selling recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST)--or rBGH--to dairy farmers. Additional bovine growth hormone is administered to cattle in order to increase their milk production, though the hormone also naturally fosters liver production of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1). The deposit thereof in the milk of rBGH-affected cattle has been the source of concern; however, all milk contains IGF1 since all milking cows produce bovine growth hormone naturally. The IGF1 in milk from rBGH-affected cattle does not vary from the range normally found in a non-supplemented cow.^[39] Elevated levels of IGF1 in human blood has been linked to increased rates of breast, colon, and prostate cancer by stimulating their growth,^[40][41] though this has not been linked to milk consumption. The EU has recommended against Monsanto milk.^[42] In addition, the cows receiving rBGH supplements may more frequently contract an udder infection known as mastitis.^[43] Milk from rBGH-affected cattle is banned in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan due to the mastitis problems. On June 9, 2006 the largest milk processor in the world and the two largest supermarkets in the United States--Dean Foods, Wal-Mart, and Kroger--announced that they are "on a nationwide search for rBGH-free milk."^[44] No study has indicated that consumption of rBST-produced milk increases IGF1 levels, nor has any study demonstrated an increased risk of any disease between those consuming rBST and non-rBST produced milk. In 1994, the FDA stated that no significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rBST-treated and non-rBST-treated cows, and that no test exists which can differentiate between milk from rBST-treated and non-rBST treated cows.^[45]

Amazing - it still came out incorrectly when I know I typed it correctly.
The name is A-S-H-I-T-A-B-A
Steve
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Hi Robbie98,

 

I must admit that I didn't realize you are also on hormone therapy which is no doubt the reason for the dramatic drop in PSA. I've been on INTERMITTENT Triple Androgen Therapy for the last 11 months, which has reduced my PSA from 19.2 to 0.033. I stop taking most of the hormone medication in another month and then just monitor the PSA every 3-months.

 

There are some people who believe that cancer is a systemic disease from the get go. If correct it means that the usual RP, RT, Brachy treatments are unlikely to work in the long term. If they did work, why hasn't survival increased with conventional treatments for most cancers? Finding the disease and treating it earlier doesn't mean the overall survival rate has improved. Chemotherapy cures about 3% of cancers, mainly blood and lymph node cancers. In a recent survey, most doctors would not accept chemo for themselves -- shows you how confident they are about it!!

 

I don't think it's possible to tell if the cancer has metastasized by MRI or Bone Scans unless there's a significant amount to see. The tests just aren't sensitive enough. My own scans are negative, but the chances of my PCa having spread are quite high according to the online calculator at http://www.prostatecalculator.org/

Suggest you plug in your own numbers in the above link.

 

I agree with your comments about IGF-1.

 

All the best,

 

Steve

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Rob,

 

Looks like we are walking the same road with our approach to alternative therapies.

Dr. Liebowitz has posted an update on Intermittent Triple Androgen Blockade Therapy at . . .

 

http://www.compassionateoncology.org/pdfs/THB-UPDATE-051508.pdf

 

Personally, I'm not totally convinced of his prescription of low dose chemo if there is a significant rise in PSA values after the first round of hormone therapy, and my own doc is not convinced either, but hopefully the situation will become clearer if I get to that stage.

Cheers,

Steve

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