My vacation blog post

Great blog, and my absolutely favorite photo of the dancing couple...it must have been even more beautiful before the lens.

Nobody does it, or writes it, like you Brother. So happy for you guys.........

Nicely done, as always Todd. Great pics and a very good read.

Sonny

Good post. Glad to see you had a good time.
Andrew

Hi Todd - Thanks for the blog which always lifts our spirits.

Though our PSA histories are totally different, I sent you an email explaining how I hope to follw your lead in taking Provenge.

I suspended taking my new Zytigs meds to show a PSA increase on paper tomorrow and on July 24, and then will resume Zytiga/Prednisone and my medical oncologist will apply for Provenge so I can take it concurrently with SBRT to leverage what Tall Allen tells me is the "Abscopal effect"

LupronJim

Great story and pictures Todd. A bucket of Corona for $10.00? Hope you loaded up and brought some home with you.
Michael

Your writing is very inspiring and has really helped me put some things in perspective as to what may be going thru my hubby's head-he is a very quiet person and keeps so much to himself in a way i believe to "shelter" me from the cancer. We are heading to MDAnderson in Houston in a couple weeks to get another opinion regarding treatment and I think the ride there will be the perfect time for Charlie to read your blog. I thank you for sharing your story and ask that you please keep writing! God bless you & your family.

Thanks brother. The way you and Mandy live and communicate is very inspiring. Lee and are blessed to enjoy your friendship.

Jack

Todd -

I won't be joining you in Provenge alumni but am following your lead on Zytiga and responding well, PSA down to <0.04.

See this thread for details. I had been trying some gamesmanship to get two consecutive PSA increases from prior 0.07 to qualify for Provenge to leverage the so-called "Abscopal effect" during SBRT (Tall Allen still trying to get me to word things properly under his tutorship) though you warned in your blog that Dendreon and insurance approvals are not as automatic as one might think.

www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=2897641&p=3

LupronJim

Todd,

Just saying hi to you and Mandy, another great blog. Our friends Shari and Lee follow and enjoy your blogs as well. I'll make sure they know of the update.

All our best!

Todd -

I don't imagine you and Mandy and the rest of your beautiful family would ever even be interested in doing this, assuming the opportunity ever even presented itself, but if you ever did want to do a TV reality series on your life and PCa journey, it would be a winner.

If you ever really did want to pursue it, maybe your contacts in the pharmaceutical community could be approached with the idea, which they might fund for the advertising aspect? (Here's a real live example, world, of what our medication can do for a real live person and his family).

Okay, okay, a little crazy, but it sure would outclass all the other so-called reality shows out there.

Todd1963 said...
Jim,
Here's the deal. Provenge has a label and insurance will not pay even if a doctor prescribes it off label. To meet the criteria you must be asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic metastatic crpca. Castration resistant is gauged by no longer responding to hormone therapy. Therefore it will not be covered or prescribed until you fail Lupron. I recommend Provenge before zytiga but whatever makes the numbers fall

Todd,

based on yours and Tall Allen's and Jerry L's advice, I have decided I cut and ran too quickly from the Provenge gimmick we had devised.

I ran it by Dr Jeffrey Turner at Scholz/Lam in Marina del Rey and he agrees the optimal plan is Provenge before SBRT to leverage the abscopal effect, which as you say implies Provenge before ZYtiga too.

So after 2 days on it, I am suspending the Zytiga again until I fail Lupron on 2 consecutive tests at least 14 days apart. Should be that much easier now that I am <0.04 rather than = 0.07 two weeks ago.

Dr Turner agrees that even if this takes a couple of months worth the wait.

The hard part was convincing my spouse who just wanted to get this chapter behind us since PCa has been an unwelcome guest in our lives the past 18 months,nothing compared to what you and Amanda have been through but you know where we are coming from per your blog.

Even if my PSA were to bounce up and down we can pick and choose which 2 to notify Dendreon about.

LupronJim