A very sincere msg from IRGuy

[IRGuy]

Gentlemen

During the past 6 or so months I have been dealing with a personal health issue, and with my fortunate outcome I want to encourage each of you to read below and heed my suggestions.

Late this past summer, following a routine 2x a year physical exam I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

This disease strikes one man in six in our society. It is slow growing and many men have it but do not ever know it, but the other side of the coin is it is the second most common cause of men’s death due to disease. I have been told that if a man lives long enough he will eventually contract it.

Our family doctor referred me to an excellent urologist and the presence of the disease was confirmed. There are several commonly used forms of prostate cancer treatment used today, depending on the man’s age and the severity of his situation. After further tests and based on my feelings that it is always best to face adverse situations in my personal life head on it was decided to remove my prostate surgically.

About three weeks ago the urologist along with a team of medical professionals did in fact remove it along with two nearby lymph nodes. These were all sent to a specialized laboratory to determine the extent of cancer in my prostate along with analysis of the lymph nodes to determine if the cancer had spread to any other parts of my body.

While it was determined that the disease had invaded my prostate to a significant extent it was contained there, and had not yet moved to other parts of my body. I am a very lucky man! In 6 months or so we went from ignorance to suspicion to confirmation to removal to more testing to finding I was cancer free. While I always had absolute confidence in the medical team that was involved, the mental swings we went through in this relatively short time were extreme to say the least.

I take this opportunity at a time when we all are celebrating the wonderful things we have been blessed with over the past year to ask you guys out there, especially you who are over 50, to have a PSA (prostate specific antigen) test performed regularly if you are not already doing so (mine was every 6 months) and monitor it’s changes as you age.

This post will probably be read by 50 or so of you, meaning that there is a good chance that 6 or 8 of you will encounter this disease sooner or later.

Please.. Be proactive! Let my example be a reason for you to be tested. The longer you wait the less likely it is that you will be as fortunate as I have been.

[ranjr13]

Frank, great news, thank you for sharing. Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season and many, many more wonderful times on Phoenix.

[Tommy]

Frank, first of all I'm glad to hear they caught yours in time to stop the progression. Second, thank you for caring enough about the guys here on this Forum to to encourage us to be proactive. May your recovery continue to go well my friend!

[John Nardi]

Bravo Frank!! Well said and thank you...All the best on your recovery my friend...John

[Charlie J]

frank is correct, gone un checked it can be a killer
but caught in time very curable
I came down with it 13 years ago at age 49
don't wait to get tested
frank you sounded great on the phone the other night
your recovery will go smooth

[Joseph Fikentscher]

Great to hear you're ok Frank.

I'm going for a biopsy soon due to a significant change in my PSA. Not real high but the change is from 2.1 to 3.9. Doctor has concerns. Also, I need to know about cancer before I get the Roto-Rooter for BPH (enlarged prostate).

Get the test guys. It's just giving a blood sample. Ask your doctor, if he hasn't already recommended it.

[IRGuy]

Thank you guys for your kind words. I am surprised at how many men I have heard from who have experienced some form of prostate problem since I started talking about mine.

The "normal" BPH numbers vary from man to man because each of us has his own physiology, but it is the increase of each man's level over time that is the signal Drs use to determine what might be happening. There are several treatment options available based on each man's situation. As I suspect with all medical issues, finding out early is very important, and the test is simply another analysis done when a man has a blood test done as part of a regular physical exam. If you don't get regular exams you are gambling against a stacked deck.

I am lucky because my family Dr was on the ball and saw an early warning sign.. as part of a regular checkup. Had I not had checkups I could well have developed cancer in other organs.. and not find out until it was too late.

Guys... we are all family here.. and we look out for each other.. BE PROACTIVE!

[mike ohlstein]

Glad you had a good outcome. I get checked every year.....

[neil]

I will start getting mine checked this winter,for the first time in a while,wife has been after me for a while to have it checked.but hearing it from one of the faithful really hits home, thanks buddy and we will see you at another rendezvous in the near future

[IRGuy]

Neil..
The whole process is somewhat uncomfortable, with no real pain, but well worth it to know where you stand. The best news is it isn't there, the worst is that it is present but treatable. Prostate cancer is slow growing and my urologist told me early on that if I had it he could with treatment get me another 15 years or so... not too bad for me at 76, but not so great for a guy at 50. But on the other hand who knows what medical developments they will come up with in the next 15 years?

It is sort of like hearing a strange noise in your boat's engine.. you know it isn't good, and it surely isn't going to get better on it's own, so address the problem before it gets worse.

[TailhookTom]

Frank:

I'm so glad you had a good outcome. I get checked every year as well. Cancer sucks, we buried my mom on Saturday - lost her and my dad to cancer.

Tom

[IRGuy]

Tom...

So sorry to hear about your mom.. when my mother died from breast cancer, which led to cancer getting to other organs through her lymph system, it really threw me for loop. All I can say is stay strong and live the life she wanted you to live.. you honor her memory that way.

Will remember you and her in my thoughts and prayers.

[MarkS]

I am sorry for your loss Tom. Condolences to your family.

It was great talking with you the other night Frank! Hopefully we will see you soon.
-M

[Tony Meola]

Frank

I am glad it turned out OK. Not a good thing. Lost my father to leukemia and my nephew to a brain tumor.

As my late cousin who headed up a liver transplant team used to say, the longer you live the better chance you will develop some type of cancer.

Just remember keep on getting those check ups. A very good friend of mine had prostrate cancer. They removed it, but he has had recurring issues even though it was contained. Last year they found it in his breast bone, but they are telling him he is ok know after further treatments.

One never knows with this disease.

Tom

My condolences on your mother. I will say a prayer for your family.

[Rawleigh]

Frank: I get checked every year. My father died from it in 1999 at the age of 76 after fighting it for 8 years. I am glad you caught it when you did and are having a good outcoem. We have had enough sad news on this site to last us a while!! And Merry Christmas! You can't get a better present than that!

[Dug]

Frank,

I am glad it turned out ok. I'm pretty young, but not as young as I used to be and I get checked pretty regularly. At least I think that is what the doctor is doing back there... and I am not trying to be funny.

Sitting here on the couch with my 18 month old, preparing for the holidays and all the magic, it impresses on me even more how important it is to pursue health. I want to be around to see my daughter light up at every experience for a very long time.

Dug

[IRGuy]

Thank all you guys for the nice comments.. this place is special and while I know I might post too often here I would hate myself if I stayed quiet and one of you had a bad outcome because I kept quiet. Regular checkups are the key.. for this as well as bunch of other problems.. be proactive!

Dug..
I admit early on when there were more questions than answers in this ordeal, I started to think about what was so important in my life.. a new truck and some more tools seemed frivolous, seeing my two grandkids graduate from college and get married and present us with great grandkids were at the top of the list.

In a strange way I think I might be a better person now than before.. I never really stopped to sort a lot of things out before. This might sound sappy but things suddenly became a lot more clear in my life.

[Dug]

Not sappy at all. I will be the first to admit that Olivia has changed me in so many ways, mostly good. I think. Its funny, some due to age, some not, but I could care less if I ever get that Porsche 911 I thought was so important when I was in high school/college. Not to knock that goal, but now I want to pay off the mortgage and ensure her education costs are fully funded. Funny how things change.

And I truly, deeply and entirely want for her to be healthy happy and enjoy life. If I can help make that happen, damned sure I will. And I hope having her dad around a long time is part of that. :)

[Tony Meola]

Not sappy at all. I will be the first to admit that Olivia has changed me in so many ways, mostly good. I think. Its funny, some due to age, some not, but I could care less if I ever get that Porsche 911 I thought was so important when I was in high school/college. Not to knock that goal, but now I want to pay off the mortgage and ensure her education costs are fully funded. Funny how things change.

And I truly, deeply and entirely want for her to be healthy happy and enjoy life. If I can help make that happen, damned sure I will. And I hope having her dad around a long time is part of that. :)

Dug

You will just be like the rest of us old farts and get that Porsche when you are 75.

[Dug]

Hahahahaha!!! That is probably true!

[neil]

Dug the only car that you are going to get is for your daughter she will have a nicer car then you ever did and she will also get the keys to the Bertram, ask me how I know,jars truck is much nicer then mine and he has had the keys to the Bert for many yrs. enjoy her while she is young because they grow up faster then we get old

[Navatech]

Of course, regular checkups and testing are important... But if your worst fears are confirmed there's still hope... And this new treatment doesn't cause ED or incontinence problems...

One would think that such good news would be without controversy... Unfortunately the good news was publicized by the BBC and the new treatment originates from, shock & horror, Israel...

Soft boycott: How the news of a revolutionary new cancer treatment was spun to hide its Israeli origins

The news of an amazing new treatment for prostate cancer shot around the world this week - but it was missing one important detail...


Medical laser iStock

The past 24 hours have seen wall-to-wall coverage of an amazing breakthrough on prostate cancer. Newspapers, TV, radio and social media have all carried reports of the research.

According to the BBC report:

“Surgeons have described a new treatment for early stage prostate cancer as ‘truly transformative’. The approach, tested across Europe, uses lasers and a drug made from deep sea bacteria to eliminate tumours, but without causing severe side effects. Trials on 413 men - published in The Lancet Oncology - showed nearly half of them had no remaining trace of cancer.”

And when I heard the report on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, I thought it does indeed sound amazing.

But let’s leave the science aside and look at another aspect of the story.

Guess where the breakthrough happened.

I say that not as a figure of speech but as an instruction – because from almost all the coverage, you would indeed have to guess where the research was carried out: the Weizmann Institute of Science, in Israel.

Not once in the Today programme report was it mentioned.

And in this BBC report there is a throwaway line right at the end detailing the originators of the science.

I wish I could believe this is just an honest mistake – that, purely by chance, the Israeli origins of a medical breakthrough had been left out. But I’m afraid I don’t think that – and I don’t think you will, either. It happens too often and too regularly for it to be pure chance. It’s what I call the soft-boycott strategy.

The campaign for BDS is so obviously racist and antisemitic, singling out the Jewish homeland alone in the world for boycott, that some of those who would rather Israel doesn’t exist choose an alternative approach – ignoring anything remotely positive about Israel and focusing only on bad news that fits their anti-Israel agenda.

And it is an unfortunate fact that many of those Israel haters work in the media and have the ability to shape perceptions.

So the huge and entirely disproportionate number of Israeli scientific breakthroughs are reported as if they have simply happened by magic, with their Israeli origins ignored.

The Weizmann Institute itself is in little doubt about this. As they told the JC: "We were naturally disappointed that the media coverage of game-changing treatment for prostate cancer managed to avoid any reference to Israeli scientists' fundamental role in this breakthrough treatment.

The discovery of this drug called TOOKAD – meaning light in Hebrew - was the result of over fifteen years of painstaking research by Avigdor Scherz and Yoram Salomon at Israel’s Weizmann Insitute of Science. It was disappointing, but not entirely surprising, that the news providers should consider that fact unworthy of a mention."

Not entirely surprising - a classic piece of British understatement from an Israeli. It means, of course, entirely predictable. Which is why this latest egregious example was far from the first, and will certainly not be the last.