Conquer Prostate Cancer Now

If you or someone you love is a prostate cancer patient or survivor, you’ve come to the right place! On this site you can:

• Get physical, emotional and spiritual guidance to improve your health
• Find ways to cope with sexual or urological dysfunction, pain or stress.
• Learn about coping with prostate cancer (see Good Morning America interview) and what to say when your doctor doesn’t listen (see ABC-TV interview)
• Get personal prostate health coaching from Rabbi Ed.
• Be inspired by uplifting quotes and humor.
• Inquire about research and treatment updates.
• Share your views and concerns by leaving comments.

Here's to your health!

Sexual Intimacy - Blogs versus Books and Magazines

A couple of days ago I started to write an article on intimacy which I'm "pitching" to  a national men's magazine. My new article offers ten tips for enhancing intimacy after prostate cancer. I've begun to address that topic at this blog and will share more details of same at a later date!

Prostate Cancer, Sex, and Tiger Woods

Tiger Wood's marital infidelity has taken many people by surprise. There's no question, though, that throughout history various men of stature have strayed, leaving the framework of marriage to "sow their wild oats."

Prostate Cancer Treatment and Sex

After prostate cancer treatment many prostate cancer patients and survivors are grateful for being alive and in most cases “cured” of this disease. But to be quite candid, a lot of us continue grieving that our lives are no longer as “charged” as they once were, physically or emotionally.

Prostate Cancer Treatment versus Prostate Cancer Prevention

Most forms of prostate cancer treatment are generally effective but can't be used to prevent this disease in the first place. This includes ADT - androgen deprivation therapy to suppress testosterone.

Yet some individuals confuse prostate cancer treatment and prevention.This came across recently in some misplaced comments I read on another blog. Its author imparted some accurate comments interspersed with views that misinform rather than enlighten. 

Prostate Cancer Treatment Side Effects and Related Concerns

Prostate Cancer treatment side effects can be devastating for many men and the women who love them. This is often the case physically and emotionally.

This realization is a concern of one of my Canadian acquaintances, Dr. Richard Wassersug, and his colleague Dr. Irena Rot. Currently these two neurobiologists at a Nova Scotia university are conducting research about what non-specialists know about reproductive system diseases like prostate cancer and their treatment side effects. 

The broad gamut of their concerns ranges from prostate cancer and testicular cancer in men, and breast, uterine, cervical and ovarian cancer in females. Among other things the researchers want to know what you know about such cancers and whether you feel there is a stigma attached to treatment side effects such as ED or scarring. 

One of their hypotheses, which has been true in my experience, is that women are more aware of such health concerns than men. That’s because we men tend not to disclose our health problems or seek care as much as women do.

Please consider filling out their anonymous, multiple-choice questionnaire at SurveyMonkey.com. It will take you only a few minutes to answer these questions.

It’s my hope that this study will ultimately help social scientists clarify what troubles you most about prostate cancer and other reproductive system cancers that impact on men and women. After the researchers determine how people like you feel about such matters, clinicians including doctors or sex and health educators like me will be even more effective in addressing your prostate cancer and related concerns.

A Prostate Survivor's Thoughts

Thanksgiving is a time to wax a tad nostalgic as we count our blessings and recall what we’re grateful  for. So here goes:

First and foremost, I’m grateful to be alive and breathing. As one of the nearly 90% of almost 200,000 men a year, whose prostate cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, I got IT before it could get me. Not a day goes by when I fail to silently thank my outstanding robotic surgeon and contributing author, Dr. Robert Carey, for making this possible. I’m truly thankful for my relatively good health.

I’m grateful for our readers and those of you whose shared concerns and experiences make for our common bond. I’m thankful that I can share my thoughts and views with you in an upbeat, informative way, and that some of you have expressed your thoughts here in return.

I’m grateful for my innate optimism, despite occasional depression due to personal issues and this high-stress economy that has derailed all too-many folks. The capacity to see a glass filled at mid-point as half-full and not half-empty is a gift I have given myself. It’s one I try to share with others online and in person.

I’m grateful for my family, starting with my wife, Yvonne, whose comments from a woman’s perspective grace my book, published only a year ago. She has been my life-long partner for over 37 years, through various ups-and-downs. We’re fortunate to have each other to jointly confront serious individual illnesses. On the other hand we’re both grateful for sharing times of joy like this Thanksgiving Day.

I’m grateful for our daughter, Elana, and our son, Dan, and his wife Deb. Through them my family name won’t stop with me. (My daughter’s still single and thus far is a Weinsberg too. We hope her status and perhaps her last name, will change, if and when she’s ready!)

My wife and I are both grateful that our son Dan’s in-laws are not “out-laws.”  He gets along great with them and so do we. What a relief!

I’m grateful for my only granddaughter, Cayla, who objectively-speaking is the smartest kid on two feet! More importantly she has a great sense of humor for someone who is only 3 years and 5 months old. For instance when I recently had a chance to video her she was atypically quiet, so I said, “Say something like, ‘I’m a good girl.’” Smiling she responded aloud to the camera, “I’m NOT a good girl!”

I’m grateful for my family’s twin cats, Oreo and Taski. At age 7 in human years, they may be overweight, but they return the love we bestow on them more than they know! As an example, before I was wheeled into the operating room prior to my radical prostatectomy, I imagined stroking the soft fur while hearing the soft purr of one of these little guys. It’s as if he was right on the gurney with me. This was so soothing it helped me face surgery without fear, augmenting other types of visualization I applied.

Last I’m grateful I can give back nearly as much as I receive. I’m still working on giving MORE than I get, but frankly that not happened…yet.

Happy Thanksgiving…and may you too count your blessings today and every day. 

Prostate Cancer and ED- Emotional Ways to Recover

Prostate cancer and ED are like love and marriage. One often follows the other. Still, it takes more than standard medication or devices to recover from ED, and more than good health habits too. 

Prostate Cancer and Sex: What If He Doesnt Have ED?

Every day, even if we're not aware of it,  we encounter men who have had issues with prostate cancer and sex. After treatment a majority will experience ED, though not all. Fortunately there are various medical and psycho-social techniques that can offset this prostate cancer treatment side effect, as noted elsewhere. 

At any rate, unless you're privy to a man's personal health history, you can't assume how well his private "equipment" is functioning or if he's confronting ED. After all, while 1 of 6 men will have prostate cancer in their lifetimes,  5 of 6 won't! Besides a minority of prostate cancer survivors simply won't experience ED. 

It's evident that the woman featured in the following anecdote assumes a certain game warden, who briefly approaches her, is fully functional.  Considering his response to her comments, she's probably right. 

I hope you enjoy this bit of humor. It's adapted from Boodrow.com, a prostate cancer website I recommend for your viewing pleasure.

Prostate Cancer Treatment: Watchful Waiting is Not a "Shoe-In"

The prostate cancer treatment debate about the value of watchful waiting after a diagnosis of prostate cancer keeps going around and around.

For instance a couple of days ago I came across an article in the online Toronto News at a Glance. It boldly proclaims that according to a new study, watchful waiting for a man diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer is quite safe. (See http://tnews.ca/watchful-waiting-for-prostate-cancer-is-safe-study/). 

This deserves further scrutiny and has prompted me to write the following comment in the form of a letter-to-the editor.

Screening for Prostate and Colon Cancers is of Equal Importance

On these pages I've made prostate cancer treatment my primary concern. But we have to worry about other forms of cancer too.

Recently I saw Harry Smith interview Katie Couric on a CBS broadcast. They reviewed how colon screening is so important, in orderto detect possible polyps and the presence of cancer. This should be of concern to all of us no less than prostate cancer.