I was asked by several people to summarize my experience specifically with Chemo treatments and their effects. This is my summary. For those of you who have followed my blog, you already know most of what I am writing in this post, so I won't be upset if you skip this post and go to the next post which will be my first post in 2020.
My Chemo Story
I was first diagnosed with Advanced Stage IV Metastatic
Prostate Cancer on Nov 11, 2016. This
preceded a 22 year history of fighting PCa starting with brachytherapy in
1996. I have always been saddled with
low PSA readings, so both a urologist nearing retirement and one just entering
the field did not catch the move into the metastatic phase, so I lost several
years to treat it. My PSA has never been
higher than 4 but the shortening doubling time leading up to 2.89 was the clue
that my then new urologist needed to get me a PET scan.
Being one who tends toward aggressive treatments for my
illnesses, after a second identical opinion I decided with my oncologist to
throw everything at it, including the standard protocol, diet change, and the
taking of many supplements. The medical
protocol said that I should take 6 treatments of Docetaxel followed by hormone
blocking, using a blocker like Lupron.
Instead, we decided to go with both chemo and Lupron at the same time.
Before making the final decision I had started with a low
sugar, low carb diet with supplements like Saw Palmetto and Stinging Nettle
Root. This lowered my PSA by 25% in a month and a half. I also read at least one study that showed
that Modified Citrus Pectin tended to enhance the effect of the chemo on the
cancer. When chemo started, I dropped
most of the supplements and took 1500 mg of MCP per day. About halfway through the chemo treatments I
also read that AHCC (mushroom derivative) was being used in Japan in conjunction
with chemo to lessen the chemo side effects.
There was no evidence of negative effects on the chemo. I then took AHCC along with the MCP.
Early in the chemo treatments I started losing my hair, my
nails turned yellow, and I had bouts of shooting pain seemingly all over my
body. Each pain attack would be in one
specific area. I lost my energy and
started losing muscle mass. I didn’t
have the nausea that many have had. When
I added the AHCC, the side effects seemed to fade. I lost less hair and the pain attacks seemed
less frequent. For this reason I tell
those going through chemo to consider taking AHCC with the chemo to reduce side
effects. I’ll never know whether AHCC
might have headed off some of the side effects like hair loss, but I suspect
that it might have.
Within a few months my PSA dropped to .06, then to .03 with
a more sensitive test. At about the 18
month mark, I had another PET scan with a new isotope and there were no signs
of new growth. At that point, because
the side effects from Lupron are nearly as bad as chemo, I decided to hold off
on the Lupron injections to see if my natural supplements and diet could hold
the cancer off. 6 months later I was
tested and my PSA rose from .04 to .7 with a doubling time of about 4 months. Unfortunately my regimen wasn’t holding the
cancer at bay. I went back on Lupron
three months ago and will be tested in a week.
All this time my symptoms have been pretty tolerable. In spite of my low sugar diet, my glucose
levels are pre-diabetic, so I am taking Metformin, both to lower sugar levels
and for its off-label use to help treat some cancers. Lupron made me lose muscle mass, lose ALL sex
drive, gave me neuropathy in my feet, gave me osteoporosis, and, according to
my wife, has affected my brain function somewhat. I do hate taking Lupron but I don’t want to
die just now.
I have to
thank Dr. Ramdev Konijeti at Scripps, La Jolla for ordering the PET scan and
Dr. Munveer Bhangoo at Scripps for working with me on the treatment.
Les Briney
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