This delightful phenomenon can happen with a severe stomach bug to anybody....
A G9 wife chiming in. Zytiga is likely to give your family a significant amount of time, it seems. Radiation can cause fatigue, but as TA said, if it was just a few treatments it’s unlikely. It would...
Hi oceanfisher My husband was also very concerned about biopsy, it was somewhat painful and certainly unpleasant, but over fairly quickly. I wouldn’t call anyone stupid for worrying about it. But do...
Especially for you advanced PCa guys who have wondered whether insurance will pay for genetic testing of a solid tumor biopsy, here’s some recent good news:...
Mr. Curious, Interesting - sounds like the nonviolent communications thing....
This article in Science is too weird not to share: “Gut microbes shape response to cancer immunotherapy” Basically, a couple recent human studies with PD-1 blockers are showing that what type of gut...
Hey Mrs. jkoRN and all Just wanted to say hi, another G9 wife here. My DH was diagnosed three years ago. It’s been a huge change in life and we’re among the very lucky ones: he hit the genetics...
Thanks for the ehealthinsurance link. In our area, the only major medical plans offered are on the exchange. The other things offered ("medical insurance packages") are fixed indemnity and explicitly...
Hey J They’ll sell you coverage, but your preexisting condition is explicitly not covered. In our case, that means we’d have to pay for treatments for prostate cancer. Whether this is legal or not, I...
What planet do you guys live on, that with a preexisting cancer diagnosis you can get individual health care coverage off the marketplace? Yes, I’ve tried, based on your suggestions - never had such...
Probably most of you are on Medicare or VA if US, this is for those who aren’t. Have you looked at 2018 plans yet? We’ve been signed up with a local Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliate here in east...
Lots of excellent comments here. I want to second Froggy88 and TA's ideas even though they may be uncomfortable - they are on the subject of class, and those of us who are Americans hate the whole...
I finished the audiobook a few days ago. It's a really painful story because of the depth and frequency of miscommunication that happened. It's also painful because of the background of actual evil...
16.5 years, wow. Remarkable. You must be really good at dealing with doctors. Funny story about the support group. Best of luck with the current plan!...
Thanks for your wonderful post. My husband has a good story too (so far!) after a similarly very upsetting diagnosis. I think (just my opinion not a doctor!) that Provenge may have contributed to his...
Here's a link to the FDA approval notice. My husband had MSI-H in a lymph node biopsy - that basically means the DNA is really messed up (also referred to as hypermutated). The dMMR the article...
Both chemo and radiation are way less horrible than they were even 10 years ago, especially for a very healthy guy your dad's age. I can only speak to my husband's radiation treatment - he was...
Best wishes for a good response like my husband has had! Do you know whether your husband's cancer has the genetic signature that would have gotten him Keytruda outside the clinical trial (like...
So....in the grand scheme of things, if men who chose other forms of treatment than surgery did follow up with their urologists, it might help bring more urologists up to date on treatments outside...
Still all good so far on the Keytruda front. Dave's PSA continues undetectable and his first post-Keytruda scan results just came back. Bone scan showed stable disease - (doctor said that bones would...
My DH is still seeing a physical therapist for the same sorts of reasons, though your symptoms sound a bit worse. He is doing both aerobics and resistance, and feels like it is really helping, though...
My DH has said he would have had no problem doing so, but at the time, the company (Dendreon) was actually providing drivers. The Benedryl they gave him with the infusions did make him a tad sleepy,...
My husband developed ONJ after just three monthly xgeva shots, and stopped them then on suspicion. He felt something snap while eating a peanut butter cup......probably a bone fragment from his lower...
My Dave's at 3+ and also doing much better with hot flashes after real trouble with them a year or so in. I would be surprised if it had anything to do with cancer response. They tell us women that...
Charles Sorry to hear of your loss. At least you have done the best thing a child can do, which is to outlive your parents. (Interesting - I was also a Math/Physics major, and I also loved the Godel...
Love to hear it. What a great anniversary! Enjoy yourself!...
Welcome to the forum. It does sounds like you are getting good advice from your current team. My husband was over the other side of the metastatic line when diagnosed, which of course meant large...
Thumbs up to halbert. Great post....
Big error bars. I know, I know - it doesn't help. But I teach math, and here is a case where understanding math would really help you guys interpret your own data, which would help you suffer less...
Hey robot You've put a lot of effort into this. I think the take home is: large error bar. On top of all the good info about how various things affect the PSA. Rather than look for a more precise...
No matter what the numbers are, those small moves can lead to lots of anxiety. With you on that for sure. Dave had his PSA done a couple days ago so we've just been through that. Mildly funny story:...
Just want to echo what Prato said. Most prostate cancer is slow growing, and with the kind of monitoring that your husband will be getting, in the very unlikely event that it does spread later,...
Well, I read it (actually I listened to it). It was ok, I guess - I kind of resent any book that makes me sniffle. All the insistence on how perfect and important the (fictional) book was to Hazel...
Fox Chase Cancer Center, which is a hospital. Scans scheduled for mid - September- will post w/results....
Just something else to consider: Medicare A and B (plus a supplemental plan) generally do better at covering needed therapies like physical, occupational, speech. My DH has lots of experience with...
Things are fine so far! Heading out for an infusion today. It's every three weeks, and yes, it's my husband's regular medical oncologist (though I've stopped thinking of him as at all regular, since...
SO Biopsies can always (in my experience) be sent out to third parties for testing. Maybe Pulmonary was just saying that they don't do it in house. But a doctor can order it to be sent to a third...
Sr Sailor That's an area of research interest (there was a recent article in Science). So I don't think anybody knows. My (extremely limited understanding based) guess is that that might explain some...
Hi Joanne Very interesting answer to a great question - thanks for posting! If you do get the testing done, make the doctor give you a copy of the report. Even if it doesn't help, (which I certainly...
Redwing, Try snpedia. (I did not have much luck, but then I was looking for brca1/2 - which at least at the time was claimed by a company...)...
Hey SO, Been there, felt that. I remember those days and how squeaky high it made my stress level. For what it's worth, some major medical centers do have care coordinators who are supposed to do...
Italitin8, Sometimes when procedures get denied it's because some underpaid person in an office somewhere messed up a code. This happens more than people realize- and in the meantime you're stressing...
WifeofPie, I finally got around to reading this thread, because it hits too close to home. I hate Lupron too. I hate it so much that we went down to JH to try to get into a bipolar androgen therapy...
Hi! Perhaps I don't have standing to weigh in here. But I will anyway. It would be ideal if we all were maximally sensitive and carefully crafted our words to avoid all possible offense. Do I really...
Hey JoJoLA I don't know and you should talk to your doctor. But, maybe the answer is yes, it's ok, because this: "Tissue that has been previously irradiated can be biopsied without significant excess...
The estimates I've seen are in the 5% range too. But I also think we don't really know. The mutation only needs to be in the cancer (not necessarily in the rest of the man). How many advanced well...
Hi! I'm posting as a separate topic since there is great interest on this forum about whether insurance in general approves new fantastically expensive FDA approved treatments. Recap: Keytruda was...
Hey, that's the best. Hoping you both can put this piece of your life completely behind you. At least the bad parts. -- Carolyn...
Thank you. I like her much better (for what that's worth). Her work that I found was in mice, but here's a link to a small phase I study in humans: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28437190 Bottom...
His-so, It never hurts to ask! Well, I guess it could hurt if you asked the wrong person. (Just my opinion, but Thomas Seyfried (PhD) sounds exactly like the wrong kind of person to ask.)...