Prostate Cancer - Detroit,MI

Hearing the word CANCER gives such a scare but remember it can be fought. Actually prostate cancer is a VERY common type of cancer for men. There are many ways for treatment and reviewing the situation will help with treatment and the decision of what option is best. This is a very common form of cancer and will have a change in lifestyle for a while but should recover.

Most forms of prostrate cancer grow very slowly. My dad was diagnosed almost 12 years ago, had surgery and is now a happy, healthy, cancer-free 70 year old. There is a new, recent recommendation that depending on age and type of cancer men not be treated for prostrate cancer because of the side effects. I'm not a medical professional, but personally that confuses me. I am GLAD my dad had the surgery. He did have a friend who was diagnosed about the same time, although I think his cancer was a little more advanced. He opted for radiation instead of surgery and ultimately died. I don't know any other details of his case and this was at least 10 years ago, but I just use this as an example that my family is personally glad my dad had the surgery. I don't know the extent of his side effects. As I told another poster with a similar question about a month ago, it's my dad after all. TMI. (-: Best wishes. All should be fine with early detection and proper medical care.

prostate is one of the easiest cancers treat if caught early, and even sometimes in somewhat advanced stages. My husband worked maintaining a proton generator, their number one patients were prostate cancer. I strongly recomend finding a way to get to a treatment center, there are not many of them, but it is by far, and hugely the safest treatment available. Check out the one at Loma Linda, for more information. There is one in I think Houston. and a few others in the nations. But Loma Linda is where it all started.

My dad is a survivor. Also caught early. Extremely high survival rate when caught early. Treatment options are surgery or radiation pellets (forget the technical term for the treatment). My dad had surgery and knock-on-wood, has been cancer-free well over the five-year mark.

The American Cancer Society's website has a great overview of this cancer, treatment options, survival rates, etc.

Best of luck to your friend's dad! So glad to hear it was caught early.

Your friend's dad should be okay if they have found it early meaning it has not spread anywhere.

There is no reason for you to be scared. People live with cancer every day some knowing and some not knowing.

Educate yourself by researching and asking questions. The Cancer Society is a good place to start.

Men are the hardest people to get to the doctor early for check ups. So do make sure that all the men in your life over 40 get screened and checked to keep this silent killer from killing. I am dealing with the aftermath of finding out after the cancer has spread to other parts of the body and what can and cannot be done. It would have been nice if hubby had had the check ups but he was "too" busy to do so and is now paying the price. Enough said.

Be there for your friend. Be strong for your friend. Be normal every day for your friend.

The other S.

My Dad just completed his 6 week radiation therapy treatments for prostate cancer and is doing very well. He had surgery in the early spring to remove his prostate and they did hormone and radiation therapy as "insurance", so to speak. So far so good.

Right after my Dad was diagnosed, we read (among LOTS of other information) that more men die *with* prostate cancer than *from* it - meaning, if it's caught early and doesn't spread, the prognosis is very good. It's those men that do not get physicals to catch it in the first place that have the cancer spread to other organs and then have a much harder time beating it.

Best of luck to your friends dad and lots of strength to the whole family!!

Molly---Prostate cancer is actually an overtreated condition. As someone has already stated, most men die WITH prostate cancer, not OF it. Many healthcare professionals actually recommend a watch and wait period. Depending on his age and type of prostate cancer, he can do a lot on his own with diet and lifestyle changes to slow and even reverse the disease.

The prostate HATES dairy. That's right. Dairy increases the risk of prostate cancer in men, and lowfat/skim products increase that risk even more. Go to www.pcrm.org to learn more about the diary/prostate health connection. You can also learn a lot more about the dangers of too much animal protein for increasing the risk of all degenerative diseases at www.thechinastudy.com.

So a healthful cancer fighting/preventing/surviving diet consists of mostly plant based foods: lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains, legumes/beans and nuts and seeds. Eliminate dairy and minimize if not eliminate animal protein for the best possible outcome. This diet will help his body fight those cancer cells all by itself.

I also recommend a consultation with Dr. Susan Silberstein of CACE, the Center for the Advancement of Cancer Education. She is located in Philadelphia, but she consults all over the world, no charge but a donation is appreciated. She will offer advice on treatment options and complementary support for cancer survival, which includes diet and believe it or not, how attitude and relationships and spiritual beliefs all have an effect on treatment and survival...and most importantly, preventing recurrance. Go to www.beatcancer.org to learn more.

Good luck...and feel free to contact me for more info. I am a Health and Wellness Educator and have lots of resources that may be of help to you and your friend. D.

There are different prostate cancers. Some are agressive and dangerous, others very slow-growing, and an older man can often live with the cancer and eventually die from something else. So it really depend a great deal on the form of cancer.

I'm sending a prayer your way.

My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer 9 years ago. Same situation, found really early. He went in for the radiation implants (radiated seeds specifically targeted at the cancer), which was about a 45 minute procedure, had to stay in the hospital overnight, and went home the next day...sitting on a bag of frozen peas the whole way, lol. He's had his PSA levels checked every 6 months for the first year or two, and now he gets it checked annually. It has never came back.

Hello: Please do not worry, my dad had prostate cancer for 20 years. He was treated with both radiation and later with hormone treatment. My brother just got diagnosed with prostate cancer 2 years ago and was told the cancer is slow growing and that some people do not even have treatment until the cancer advances, which can take some time. So my brother has not been treated for it yet. He will have the surgery when the doctors recommend he do it.

There as so many advances now with cancer. Since it appears they caught it early, IMO he will make it. It will be a long, hard road, but with help and support, hopefully things will work out Hugs to your friend!

My dad had it a few years ago...40 15-minute, very-specific radiation treatments later over 8 weeks at the University of Michigan, and GONE!!
They check his PSA's more than annually, but that's about it.
So, what did we learn from this? It's not a life sentence, if you catch it early. There are some pretty cool medical advances these days....if I remember correctly, they implanted a little radio seed right where the cancer was and then aimed the radiation at the seed. If the radiation strayed even a millimeter from the seed, the machine stopped and they readjusted it. This did the least amount of damage to surrounding tissue.
Pretty amazing stuff.....