Monday, April 15, 2013

A Miracle In the Making?

I have been to the mountaintop to consult with the recurrent cancer guru Dr Snuffy Myers. His office is located in the north western region of Virginia; thus the need to ascend the mountain to benefit from his wisdom.
Dr. Myers is a stately, grandfatherly, soft-spoken gentleman. It does not distract that he is super intelligent and possesses a near perfect background for treating prostate cancer. For most of his career he served as a cancer research scientist. When waylaid by a particularly aggressive form of prostate cancer nearly ten years ago, Dr. Myers converted to his current practice to serve out the remainder of his productive life. He has survived much longer than his doctors thought possible. He appears healthy at present following the protocol he now prescribes for his patients. Generally speaking his approach is as follows:
(1) Maximize one's health to enable the immune system to countract cancer
(2) Encourage a healthy diet ; eliminate foods that promote cancer and increase  foods known to have anticancer qualities.
(3) Prescribe medications to restrict and/or eliminate the progression of cancer.
In my case Dr. Myers proposed the following treatment plan:
I. Prescription Drugs
 A. Casodex--An antro antrogen. It works by preventing the actions of male hormones. It keeps testosterone away from the androgen receptor in the prostate cancer cell.
 B. Avodart--interferes with the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone a hormone known to foster the growth of prostate cancer cells. Dr Myers indicated this drug may cause (1) a 30% reduction in my libido and (2) tenderness of the breast tissue.
 C. Losartan--intended to bring my moderately high blood pressure into the normal range
II. Diet, Over the Counter Drugs and Supplements
 A, Mediterranean Diet--as described in a 306 page handout with the definitive title"The New Prostate Cancer Nutrition Book" and as supplemented by a single page listing of foods to consume and foods to avoid.
 B. Vitamin D3--the bloodwork submitted as a prerequisite for my initial appointment showed that I was marginally low on this vitamin which controls the absorbtion of calcium, phosphate and magnesium.  As I understand it this deficiency interferes with the optimal function of my immune system. Accordingly this prescription is a corrective measure.
 C.Full Spectum Pomengranate extract--this product has been clinically proven to dramatically reduce the doubling time  of PSA in most cases
 D. Super Biocurcumin--an anti-inflammatory antioxident that promotes good health
 E. Optmized Reveratol--an anti-inflamatory antioxident that promotes good health
 F. Lecithin--supports normal cholesterol levels.
This treatment plan looks far superior and is substantially more user friendly than the "full-blown" hormone therapy regimens recommended by oncologists #1 and #2. I am anxious to get started. I am in the process of filling the prescriptions and ordering the supplements. Dr Myers estimated my chances for a favorable outcome at 90% and thought it would be three to six months before we knew one way or the other. He intends to monitor my progress with monthly blood analyses including PSAs. I will update periodically as events indicate.

An afterthought. What's good for this goose may not be appropriate for any other goose. One of the characteristics that attracted me to Dr Myers initially was his individualized approach to the treatment of recurrent cancer. It is necessary to be seen by him to benefit from his expertise. In my particular case, too, the passage of time is necessary to determine the effectiveness of the above-described plan for me and my circumstances,




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