Hormone Therapy For Prostate Cancer

I am visiting my mother and father in Rockford, Illinois this weekend. My father is a prostate cancer survivor. My mother, Jean, mentioned last evening that she was frustrated by the lack of new advances for the treatment of prostate cancer. "They are still using the same treatments they used fifteen years ago when your father was diagnosed." I found this surprising. Treatment options for my cancer, multiple myeloma, are growing so rapidly it is difficult to keep up with all of the new information. Intrigued, I visited the Mayo Clinic prostate cancer site, located on the right side of our website. As we read through the treatment options, it soon became clear that my mother was right! Most of the treatment options have been around for years. Although it is not new, hormone therapy seems to be the most effective and least invasive treatment. Doctors use a combination of drugs to stop the patient's body from producing testosterone. According to the Mayo Clinic site, hormone therapy is often effective, even in men with advanced prostate cancer. It helps shrink the cancer and slow the growth of tumors. Still, I can't help wonder why there haven't been more therapeutic advances in the treatment of prostate cancer recently. The good news for our family is my father's cancer is still under control after all these years. Surgery and radiation did the trick!

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Happy Thanksgiving!

It can be difficult, but if we look hard enough everyone should have something to be thankful for! I finished my chemotherapy for the month today. Tired, but now I will get two weeks off. My energy level should start to rise next week. I'm thankful for that! I spent a quiet day with my wife and her mother today. Very nice. Tomorrow we travel to visit my family in Rockford and Carol Stream, Illinois. Over a five hour drive, but it will be good to see everyone.

Feel good, keep smiling and drive carefully! Pat

My Vertebral Damage Getting Worse

Before I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in April 2007, the cancer had been causing damage to my bones for years. A number of my vertebrae were seriously compromised. There were tumorous lesions in and around my spine at the base of my neck and lower back. Radiation and chemotherapy were very effective controlling the cancer. Many of my bones started to strengthen. But some of the damage was irreversible. Over the following year the T-12 vertebra in my lower back collapsed and dissolved, leaving me over an inch shorter than before. Today I learned one or more of the thoracic vertebrae just below my neck has started to collapse as well. I can handle the pain. But it is frustrating that my cancer is under control, yet my bone health still hasn't stabilized. This means more tests, more lost hours, more waiting and wondering. Such is the life of a cancer patient!

It is hard for me tonight, but I hope that all of you can feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Some Cancer Rates Down

Brian Williams did a story on NBC Nightly News this evening about cancer rates in the United States. According to the National Cancer Institute Journal, cancer rates are down for the first time for lung, colon and prostate cancer in men. They are also down for breast and colon cancer in women. But rates of kidney cancer, melanoma and some types of lymphoma are up in both men and women. Survival rates are up for most cancers as well. Visit www.cancer.gov/newsletter/ to read the complete report.

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Nordie's At Noon

Nordie's at Noon is the story of four friends, all with breast cancer. Patti Balwanz, Kim Carlos, Jennifer Johnson and Jana Peters tell their own stories from a unique and personal perspective. Four young women. Four parallel stories. Four different decisions about how to treat their cancer. Pat and I both enjoyed the book. We highly recommend it!

Feel good and keep smiling! Pattie

Don't Waste A Minute!

I enjoy writing and helping fellow cancer survivors, but I need to sell real estate to help pay the bills. Realtors often work evenings and weekends. Today, Sunday, was no exception. At an open house, Steve, the owner, quoted an unamed writer: "Life is what happens while you are making other plans." So true! Steve is retired and lives in a beautiful lakefront home with his wonderful wife, Sandy. He is anxious to sell so the couple can relocate to Kentucky. The real estate market is slow. Steve admits that he is frustrated. It makes it difficult to enjoy living day to day. I understand how Steve feels! I, too, have always been in a hurry to reach a goal or be somewhere that I'm not. But I am beginning to realize time is too short, too precious to waste. My cancer diagnosis drives that point home. Thanks for reminding me of that today, Steve! It won't be easy, but I'm going to strive to slow down and live in the moment- to live for today.

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Cancer Treatment Options

Now, more than ever, a cancer patient must understand and review his or her treatment options. I know it is hard. You are newly diagnosed. Confused, disoriented, upset. All you want is for the doctor tell you what to do. Big mistake! Most cancers today can be attacked in a variety of ways. Radiation, surgery, chemotherapy, steroid therapy, biological therapy. Often, a combination approach is chosen. More options. Clinical studies, experimental drugs, naturopathic medicine and nutritional therapy. Step back. Read, ask questions. Get a second or third opinion. Early on in my treatment, I didn't know enough about the steroids I was taking to question the dosing or long term effects. It has taken me over a year for my body to recover! There were other options. At the very least, I should have had my dose adjusted and/or discontinued. I will never make that mistake again!

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Help With Neuropathy

Many cancer patients suffer some form of neuropathy. It can be as simple as an annoying tingling in the feet or hands. Often it is more serious. Neuropathy is a common side effect of chemotherapy. In my case, the chemotherapy aggravates an already existing problem with nerve compression caused by damage to my vertebrae before my myeloma was controlled. There are a number of drugs and supplements available that may help. Go to www.neuropathy.org to learn more about your treatment options.

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Insights From Oncology

I spent the morning in oncology for my monthly three hour IV yesterday. I received treatment in a small Wisconsin town, Osceola, located along the St. Croix River, just east of Minnesota's Twin Cities. The facility was brand new. The ward was clean, bright and friendly. I shared the room with two other patients. One was a middle aged ovarian cancer survivor who contracted leukemia during chemotherapy. The other a twenty-five year old woman suffering from Hodgkin's lymphoma. Years of treatment have left her without much hair. She was reluctantly anticipating a transplant using stem cells from donated umbilical chords after the first of the year. I tried to write, using my lap-top, but found myself distracted by conversations between the women and Cathleen, our oncology nurse. I always had my own room in the old facility. At first I was annoyed by the lack of privacy. I wasn't getting my work done. But as the hours passed, I began to appreciate the communal setting. Had I been alone, I would never have met two brave women living their lives with cancer.

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

DNA Maping Starting To Help Treat Cancer

Pat and I met and listened to Dr. Brian Van Ness today at our myeloma cancer support group. Dr. Van Ness heads up a world wide research group called Bank on a Cure. This group of research scientists is applying DNA mapping to cancer research. By collecting thousands of DNA samples from multiple myeloma patients, the group isolated several specific genes that can help doctors identify which drugs may work best when treating a patient. Complex but fascinating stuff! The potential applications for this research are amazing! It is showing so much potential that research is starting for a number of other cancers as well. A fellow blogger, Beth, from North Carolina featured information about Bank on a Cure several days ago on her site. Click on this link to learn more about the study:
Predicting Early or Late Mortality in Multiple Myeloma?

Feel good and keep smiling! Pattie

Why Book Reviews?

Why are we reviewing books about cancer? Knowledge is power, especially when fighting cancer! If we can help identify books that can help, we will. We have just started our Help With Cancer. Org Bookstore. There are only a few books available for purchase now. But soon we will begin adding to our cancer library. Books will always be discounted to help you save.
100% of the remaining profits will be donated to groups that help fight cancer!

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie

Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time

The newly published, Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time- Practical Advice For Preventing Cancer, was a disappointing read for me. That is probably a bit unfair. It is just so basic. Avoid tobacco. Test for radon. Don't gain too much weight. Not exactly ground breaking stuff! Yet the book offers a number of positives, including detailed lists of household chemicals alongside safer, natural alternatives. The text is nothing special. But the charts, graphs and statistics are amazing. Doctor Lynne Eldridge and her brother David Borgeson have written a book that is not strong from a literary or stylistic perspective, but it offers flashes of brilliance and insight if you take the time to look. For example, I didn't realize that crushed and cooked tomatoes release more lycopene than raw tomatoes, making tomato sauces an ideal super-food for men that want to prevent prostate cancer. Who knew? Bring on the pasta!

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Can A Book About Breast Cancer Be Fun?

Gail Konop Baker's newly published book, Cancer is a Bitch or, I'd Rather Be Having a Midlife Crisis is a fun read! At least, fun by cancer memoir standards. The book feels real and has well timed dialogue. I have never met the author. But if you read her book you will feel as if you truly know her. You can buy Cancer is a Bitch in our Help With Cancer Bookstore here online. 100% of the profits from the sale of this, or any other book purchased here will be donated to organizations that help fight cancer.

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Is Myeloma Curable?

Tim's wife from New Jersey responded to yesterday's post with a question about multiple myeloma cure rates. I am not a physician. But my understanding is that a small percentage of myeloma patients could be considered "cured." In most cancers, five years cancer free is considered cured. Not so with myeloma. It almost always comes back. Note "almost!" The book 100 Questions & Answers about Myeloma deals with this issue at length. It doesn't give percentages, but does refer to allogeneic transplants as a possible cure. The oncologists that wrote the book state "Patients who have undergone an allogeneic stem cell transplant may in some cases be cured if their disease has not recurred after 5 years..." Tandem autologous transplants also seem to meet this standard as well. What about a single autologous transplant? Or Revlimid? Or Velcade? Who knows? But it is a fact that some patients remain in complete response, or remission and never relapse. Is the myeloma cured? Do you believe in miracles? Anecdotal evidence and the latest stats I read reveal that 10% of myeloma patients are still alive ten years after they start therapy. And as many as 10% of patients that achieve complete remission stay there for at least five years.
You know what they say: Plan for the worst but hope for the best!

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Appointment Day-After

My appointment day has come and gone. Great news! The pathologists report reveals no monoclonal protein in my blood. Translation: No cancer! There are doses of reality. I take a monthly chemo drug called Revlimid. Very expensive. (Insurance is covering most of the cost so far) For me, very effective. I have been taking it on and off for fifteen months now. Working like a charm! But back to reality. There is no cure for my cancer. Unless I am one of the extremely lucky 5%, the cancer, the multiple myeloma will return. Not helping my chances are my chronically low white blood counts caused by the chemo. I have been forced to take an extra week or two weeks between 21 day cycles to allow my counts to bounce back. But they are less and less resilient. My oncologist, Dr. Anderson, has recommended that I cut my dose each month for the second time this year. Eventually the myeloma will adapt to the chemo. Or my body will force me to stop using enough Revlimid to remain effective. Then the cancer will return. In the meantime, my bone pain is becoming more problematic and chronic. Dr. Anderson has ordered a full body x-ray series to help look for new damage caused by the myeloma. I will also be starting a new medication designed to minimize the pain and effects of the tingling in my hands and feet called neuropathy. I'm OK with all of this! Today the cancer is gone and I'm alive! I hope all of your upcoming appointment days go at least as well!

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Appointment Day

Appointment day. A day that all cancer patients/survivors understand. The blood tests are complete. MRI results or x-rays are back. Long lived survivors endure appointment day once every six months. Or, if it has been at least five years since remission, once each year. The rest of us see our oncologist every month or two or three. Today is my appointment day. Things have been going well, so I only need to see Dr. Anderson every two months. Lately I have been experiencing more bone pain. Is it the cold weather? Is the cancer back? May all of your appointment days reveal good news and a bright future!

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Doctors Are People Too!

My new book, Living with Multiple Myeloma, is back from editing and waiting for final revisions. It should be published before year's end. One of the chapters is titled "Doctors Are People Too!" The chapter highlights a number of mistakes and misteps made by my physicians while I was hospitalized last summer with blood clots in my lungs. I write that doctors make mistakes, get distracted and have bad days. Ultimately, we, the patient, are responsible for our own health care. It's not fair. We are sick. The doctor is supposed to have all the answers. Just tell me what to take and what to do and I'll do it! But as each of us moves through the "health care maze" and becomes a more experienced patient, we soon realize no one knows or understands our medical needs better than us! Listen and learn my fellow patients! Listen to your doctors and nurses carefully. Take notes. Read about your cancer and therapy options whenever possible. Communicate! Make sure that health care professionals from different departments understand your situation and have the updated information that they need to make good decisions. Most importantly, try to stay positive!

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

www.HealthTalk.Com

Health Talk. Com provides a unique and valuable service to cancer patients. Membership is free. You simply register at www.HealthTalk.Com. Once you are registered, you can select a specific area of interest from a large, drop down menu of options. For example, colon cancer. You will then receive e-mail newsletters with relevant articles of interest about colon cancer every two weeks. Many of the features are about how nutrition and lifestyle can help prevent cancer or improve the condition and quality of life for the cancer patient. My favorite section is called "Ask the Doctor," where a specialist in the field that you select answers questions from patients. There are also a number of blogs available to members on a wide variety of topics. I became a member four months after I was diagnosed with multiple Myeloma. I have been using the site for over one year. I can highly recommend it!

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Fast Way To Identify Clinical Trials

Clinical Trials. Gov was launched eight years ago to form a centralized directory of available clinical trials throughout the United States. It is a very impressive site! Go to http://clinicaltrials.gov/ and type in the type of cancer you, or a loved one, has. Instantly hundreds of clinical trials, in various stages, will appear on a comprehensive list. The site was developed in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. I typed in "breast cancer" and 2727 studies appeared. I tried "multiple myeloma" and 906 studies were found. Check it out!

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Colon Cancer

Mosby's Medical Dictionary lists the two main causes of colon cancer to be a poor, high fat/low fiber diet and genetics. Colon cancer is often curable if caught early. Early detection is the key to stopping this cancer. Surgery is often enough in early cases. Once tumors have penetrated the serosa or entered the lymphatic system, radiation and/or chemotherapy is usually necessary. We have all heard that a collonoscopic exam is a good idea after a person reaches the age of fifty; earlier if colon cancer runs in the family. There are clinics in and near large, metropolitan areas that do nothing but colonoscopies. To learn more about colorectal cancer, click on the link that is located on the lower right side of this page.

Feel good and keep smiling- Pat & Pattie

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Hon-Hodgkin's Lymphomas are the second leading cause of cancer deaths in patients ages fifteen to thirty-four and the third leading cause of cancer deaths in patients ages thirty-one to fifty-four. An estimated 63,190 new cases of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma were diagnosed in the United States during 2007, according to the book Everyone's Guide to Cancer Therapy. This is a difficult type of cancer to cure. But depending on the specific type of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and how early the cancer is identified, patients often can live many years with good treatment and follow-up care. For more information about Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, click on the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society link on the right side of the page.

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Your Body Has An Amazing Ability To Repair Itself

Harvard Doctor Julie Silver gives us three basic steps to follow if we want to help our bodies maximize their amazing healing potential. Step one is "Don't Neglect Nutrition". Dr Silver feels that skipping meals can delay healing and hinder a patient's return to health. Step two "Makes Sleep a Priority". This one is so hard for me to do! I have so much to do and, partially because of my prognosis, so little time to do it. Step three is "Get Yourself Moving". Lots of exercise is important! Three basic things that we can all do to help us become and stay healthy. You can read the details in Dr Silver's article in November's AARP Magazine. Or simply click on http://www.aarpmagazine.org/health/super_healing.html. Her book is called Super Healing. Good stuff! It isn't available yet in our Help With Cancer. Org Bookstore, but e-mail me and I will help get it for you and add it to our inventory. (At a discount, of course!)

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

November Is Lung Cancer Awareness Week

November is Lung Cancer awareness week. According to the non profit group, The Lung Cancer Alliance, we are making some progress extending life expectancy for Lung Cancer patients. "The good news is that we are finally seeing slight improvements- but make no mistake, the overall grades remain unsatisfactory," said Laurie Fenton-Ambrose, LCA President and CEO. Ms Fenton-Ambrose and the LCA are encouraged by an increase in clinical trials and targeted drug therapies for Lung Cancer Patients. We know from our reading that progress in treating Lung Cancer has been slow, especially when dealing with Small Cell Lung Cancer. Researchers have had much better luck attacking blood and bone marrow cancers, which tend to respond better to available chemotherapy agents. To view the complete 2008 Report Card on Lung Cancer, visit http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/.

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat & Pattie

Cancer By Any Other Name...

Writer/producer/celebrity Michael Crichton died today. CNN and several local Minneapolis/St Paul news outlet carried the story here. Mr Crichton died of cancer. No details were reported. Is that enough? Seriously, I'm asking. I wanted to know more. What type of cancer. When was he diagnosed. Where was he treated. Is it just that I am more interested in cancer since I am a patient/survivor? More and more this is the way that such reports are handled. I'm glad that the media sometimes chooses to respect a patients privacy. (Probably not often enough!) But it is hard for me to accept such a general explanation. I am interested and concerned. I feel for and care for any brother or sister that is also affected by this disease. There are so many types of cancer. Some cancers, like mine, Multiple Myeloma, aren't even called cancer at all. Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Multiple Myeloma? Why isn't it called Bone Marrow Cancer or Monoclonal Cancer? I'm not sure that it is even appropriate to use such a non specific, general term. You might as well say that the patient died of a long term illness. Cancer describes so many different types of disease. Well over one million people are diagnosed with cancer in the United States each year. Considering the fear and negative feelings associated with the word, maybe we should drop the use of the term all together. I Googled Mr Crichton's name tonight and no details were forthcoming. That's OK. Of course we should all respect his and his family's privacy. My thoughts and prayers are with them. Pat

Post Cancer Check-Ups

Just over six years ago I was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. My ovaries were removed and I underwent six months of excruciating chemotherapy. It worked! Today I returned from my semi annual trip to Eau Claire, Wisconsin (about 90 minute drive each way) with good news. No cancer! I share this because, even though it has been six years since my treatment, I still see an oncologist twice yearly. Most patients would be more than happy to go back only go once each year at this point. But that is what I was doing following my first successful battle against cancer (Uterine/Cervical) eleven years ago. I started yearly check-ups after my fifth year. My Surgical Oncologist, Dr Larson with Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin, figures that my Ovarian Cancer started growing shortly after I completed my yearly check up. As many of you know, Ovarian Cancer tends to be very aggressive and grows quickly. That is one reason that it responds so well to chemotherapy. Had I been back to see Dr Larson after six months, we all believe that he would have detected the cancer and we could have stopped it in its tracks through surgery alone. I would not have needed the chemo. And my chemo was very difficult. Especially the last two months. The moral of my story? I now insist that I return for labs and a quick check every six months, even after more than five years cancer free. Once a year we do the more complete exam, mammogram, etc.
The time and cost is well worth our piece of mind!
Feel good and keep smiling! Pattie

Find Purpose, Live Longer

In an article published in the November issue of AARP Magazine, Dr Harold G. Koenig of Duke University Medical Center states that "People who feel their life is part of a larger plan and are guided by their spiritual values have stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure, a lower risk of heart attack and cancer, and heal faster and live longer." The article sites a number of large studies that support the Doctor Koenig's statement. "Those who felt their lives had meaning had significantly lower rates of cancer and heart disease than did those who didn't feel this way." I absolutely subscribe to this theory. When I was first diagnosed with cancer, I was relatively passive about the process. I was already in a great deal of pain even before I started my radiation and chemotherapy which left me weak and disoriented. It wasn't until later, after I decided to begin writing and to dedicate my life to helping others with cancer that I began to fight. To feel that I must defy the odds and live! After all, I had so much to do and so much to say and so many people to help... I wanted and needed to live! Now, I can't prove that my revelation, my epiphany is extending my life. All I can definitively say is that, pain or no pain, it is a lot easier to get out of bed every morning now that I have a purpose and a cause bigger than myself, my family or my friends. Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Miracle In A Bottle

A friend forwarded me an article titled "They Found Miracle in a Bottle!" that was published in Woman's World Magazine this month. The article is about a new cancer wonder drug that turned a family's life around. The name of that drug: Revlimid. That's the oral chemotherapy drug that I am taking! How exciting for me! And yes, it is working for me as well. There is only one catch. Revlimid is not considered a cure. It works for many Myeloma and Lymphoma patients for one,two or three years before its effectiveness starts to fade away. This begs the question: Can a drug really be considered a "miracle in a bottle" or a "wonder drug" if it really isn't a cure? I'm not sure. Do you have an opinion? All I know is that it is working for me now with only a few, manageable side effects. As long as Revlimid keeps working. As long as my insurance company will pay the over $6000 a month for twenty one capsules, it truly is a wonder drug for me! Miracle or not, I'll take it!
Feel good and keep smiling! Pat

Childhood Cancers

The most common type of childhood cancer is Leukemia. About 60% of all childhood cancers are either Leukemia, cancer of the nervous system or Lymphomas. Brain and bone cancer are also not uncommon. But to use terms like common when referencing childhood cancer is technically not correct. Cancer in children is actually rare. But this is little comfort if it is your child that is diagnosed with cancer. You can access a wide variety of statistics and information about childhood cancers by going to http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/childhoodcancers. This National Cancer Institute Web site will provide you with a number of links to clinical trials, treatment options and other related information. The good news is that the overall cure rate for childhood cancers is now over 75%. This is one of the highest cure rates for any category of cancer today! Feel good and keep smiling! Pattie