You Can Beat Prostate Cancer and You Don’t Need Surgery to Do it
Saturday, January 20th, 2007Bob Marckini, founder of BOB (brotherhood of the Balloon) has delivered a rich reward for men “at risk” and “diagnosed” with Prostate Cancer. His BRAND NEW book You Can Beat Prostate Cancer and You Don’t Need Surgery to Do it, is immediately available at www.protonbob.com.
Bob’s research is absolutely invaluable and his experiences may save your life!, so let’s look at some of his key points. [Notes are mine.]
Become Your Own Advocate
This is perhaps the most important message of this book. You need to take charge of your own treatment decision. No single treatment is best for everybody. In the case of prostate cancer, you have several treatment alternatives, and there is only one person on this planet who is qualified to choose the option that is best for you. You! But you need to do your homework first, so that you are comfortable with your decision.
The most important thing a man can do to ensure early detection is to have annual physical examinations that include blood PSA measurement and DRE (digital rectal exam). [ NOTE: Bob recommends that you start at 45 but when I was treated we had a 40 year old in the group.]
Most of us were brought up to believe the doctor knows best. One of the most common questions a prostate cancer patient asks his doctor is “What would you do if you were me, doctor?” And the doctor will tell you
Doctors in different specialties will often give you different answers to the question, “What would you do doc?” And most are biased to their specialty. [NOTE: Bob in his research tells you that he was “The Poster Boy” for surgery, external beam radiation, and brachytherapy, depending on what the doctor making the recommendation did best or the equipment available.
If you follow these 10 steps, you will greatly increase your chances of catching the disease early. And the earlier this disease is detected, the easier it is to cure.
Equally as important, once diagnosed, there are many things you can do which will virtually guarantee that you make the treatment decision that will give you the best chance of a cure and, most likely, with minimal to no side effects.
TAKE CONTROL WITH THESE TEN STEPS
1. Choose your doctors wisely
2. Monitor your PSA
3. Have an annual DRE
4. Have a Free-PSA test done
5. Manage your biopsy test
6. Evaluate all treatment options
7. Talk with men who have been through it
8. Make your decision based on what is best for you
9. Choose the best practitioner and hospital
10. Maintain your physical and mental health
[NOTE:In his book Bob Marckini goes into great detail on each of these Ten Steps checklist items.]
Summary
Someone once asked me, “What do you call the guy who graduated at the bottom of his class in medical school?” I said, “I don’t know, what do they call him?” The answer, “Doctor.”
Not all doctors are created equally. Even some very intelligent doctors are one-dimensional. They may have great diagnostic skills in certain areas of medicine, and be quite uninformed in others. Many diseases and health disorders have obvious telltale signs that any doctor can easily identify. Prostate cancer is not one of them.
The best doctors may not be located in your community. You owe it to yourself to choose the best family doctor and urologist you can find, even if it means traveling some distance to see them.
Monitoring your own PSA and having an annual DRE will greatly increase your chances of finding the cancer at an early – and thus treatable – stage. The combination of these measurements actually gives you three tools:
1. Absolute PSA number. The top half of the range (2 – 4) is a caution sign. A reading over 4.0 is a red flag.
2. A rise in PSA of 0.75 or greater in one year is also a red flag, even if it is within the normal range.
3. The presence of a lump, hardness, or other abnormality by DRE is another warning signal.
A prostate biopsy should be done if:
A. Your PSA is over 4.0, you have ruled out infection as the cause, and a Free PSA test indicates the probability of PCa. (Prostate Cancer)
B. Your PSA is in the 2 to 4 range, you have family history of PCa, and Free PSA suggests the probability of PCa
C. The DRE test detects a lump or hardness in the prostate (regardless of whether PSA is rising or is elevated).
Insist on a minimum twelve-sample biopsy, preferably twenty-sample, ten in each lobe. With early stage prostate cancer, the more samples, the easier it is to find.
Ask your doctor for local anesthesia to eliminate the discomfort of the test. He or she can’t feel it, why should you?
If you are diagnosed with prostate cancer, educate yourself on all treatment options. Several books are referenced in the appendix. Explore the Internet. Attend support group meetings in your community. Above all, interview prostate cancer patients who have completed the treatments you are considering.
Choose the best option for you. This choice should include the best (or one of the top five) doctors and hospitals practicing this treatment option. If you decide on brachytherapy (seed implant) for example, and select a local radiation oncologist to do the procedure because it’s convenient, you may be doing yourself a great disservice. Seed implant is extremely practitioner dependent. If you cannot have the procedure done by one of the best doctors in the field, choose another treatment option.
Finally, remember that your immune system plays an important role in your body’s ability to fight off the growth or spread of cancer, before and after treatment. Give your immune system every possible chance to do its job. Make selective vitamins and supplements a part of your daily routine, and take positive steps to maintain or improve your physical and mental health.
Prostate cancer is a serious disease, but it does not have to be a death sentence. The earlier it is caught, the better your chance of beating it. With the information presented in this book, there is no reason why you should have to die of prostate cancer, or have the quality of your life significantly impacted by the treatment option you choose.
Remember, the most common symptom of prostate cancer is “no symptom at all.” Don’t wait for a symptom to appear. If you do, it may be too late.
If you follow the advice given in this book, you will die some day – but it will likely not be from prostate cancer.
NOTE: In my note posted in Bob’s book I said this:
“I found Loma Linda and Proton treatment by ‘blind luck!’ Bob removes the blinders and offers sound advice for those who hear the dreaded ‘cancer’ word.”
~H. Jim Tuggey, Trophy Club, TX, Colonel, DMOR, U.S. Army Retired
PSA 0.2, No Side EFFECTS as of January 20, 2007 – Treatment completed on August 27, 1999.
NO MEDICAL ADVICE: Material appearing here represents opinions offered by non-medically-trained laypersons. Comments shown here should NEVER be interpreted as specific medical advice and must be used only as background information when consulting with a qualified medical professional.
