Stage 4 Treatments -also using Diet and/or Cannibis

Hi Steve and forum folks. I wrote Steve here a longer response and a welcome, but somehow lost the post. I hate it when that happens! So trying again with a shorter version. Welcome Steve! Bumping your thread to the top because you came to a good place to get good information and others will be along to give you their experience with diet and marijuana.
Beth

The weekends tend to be relatively slow here, maybe that's the reason.

Not much I can offer on stage 4 treatments or cannibis, but for info on diet, here's the definitive thread...

/www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=3515667.

Thanks, Wilderness. Yes doing a sugar war too. No processed foods ever, and only sweetener now is liquid stevia or a drop of honey. Juicing each morning with broccoli carrots apples lemon and golden beets. 100% organic. Trying to hold down urge for gluten free bread and pasta so that doesn’t turn to sugar. Thankfully living in SoCal so plenty of vegan organic restaurants and markets. Thanks again for replies!

I discovered, when I started Taxotere, that diet becomes a chore. A big one. I dumped diet early on. I lost my sense of taste early on, and eating is just different thicknesses of cardboard. Vegetables are the worst in texture, and flavorless for me. Now I'll eat whatever I can taste, regardless of how healthy it is / is not.

The cyclical pukes after the energizer bunny days (two days after chemo, driven by all the steroids, followed on the third day by a massive crash) leave no real interest in pushing down something just to choke it up again.

Thanks, Union98. Appreciate the taxotere info. Did he have hair loss, and if so, did it return? Curious as to what made your husband begin Zytega prednisone after the taxotere... did he see any return of cancer or increase in PSA? Or was that what the oncologist said to do? Thanks SO much for sharing.

Steve55777 - he lost a lot of body hair and some on his head but his hairline was already receding so it wasn't really that noticable. He loves the fact that now he doesn't have to shave as often - at the end of chemo he only had to shave once or twice a week. Even now people comment on his baby face when he hasn't shaved in two days. Also his head hair actually came back thicker and less receding. When we look at pictures from 5 years ago you can see that he has about 40% more hair now than then. Most of the body hair came back but it's much thinner and finer. I also think the Lupron has something to do with the loss of hair as well.

As for the Zytiga, personally I didn't want him to start it this soon. His PSA was 74 before chemo and .9 after. It did look like it was starting to creep up a bit so MO started talking about Zytiga. Although the MO said there was no need, husband started to take Casodex (Urologist prescribed a years supply) and his PSA dropped to .6 which surprised the MO. But Husband decided that that the Casodex was causing too many hot flashes and decided to try Zytiga - his thinking is he can always stop Zytiga and go back to Casodex. I don't think that will be an option but it's his body, his disease and his decision. His hot flashes have decreased but it is winter so...?

Thanks all for the replies-- I REALLY appreciate these. Thanks Chuck, Everton. Union98 - I'm hoping that the Lupron, XGeva and Taxotere will do the trick, without going to Zytega pill. I've been SO tempted to give my cannabis oils (started last week) a couple months to see if that could kill it off. My PSA last week got down to 2.82, down from 30.44 on Dec 6. Only on Lupron, Casodex--but everyone says that PSA trend will eventually reverse, thus the need to do the taxotere now. It's also strange, because aside from the Lupron effects (minor hot flashes and zero testosterone) I have no effects from the cancer, despite a C-11 Acetate scan showing 10-12 spots in lymph and bone (but no organs). But I'll likely start taxotere in the next week or two on the advice of everyone but the Ty Bollinger crowd.

I use canabis oil for the side effects of radiation, that has caused me abdominal issues and rectal issues for 2 1/2 years. The radiation appears to have worked for me for my PCa, and the canabis oil helps me get through the day feeling better. I would not expect the oil will ever be shown to have any cancer healing properties, but the way I see it, if it helps me feel better, why not. Having said that, I hope it doesn't cause any harm.

I don't get it !!! My stats did not print on the previous post.. lets see if they print on this one