I have absolutely no idea what to write about today? So should I even bother?
Though the doc at MD Anderson said “Go home, live your life for a few months” I can’t help but wonder? At times I think we should be doing something and by something I mean treat this more aggressively. Then I begin to justify our actions or lack of action. My mind is a whirlwind of thoughts at times.This is hard, it’s not very enjoyable at times, most of the time. I don’t let it bother me for more than a few minutes here and there, this just happens to be one on those times.
I can’t believe it’s been two months since we were in Houston? Seems like yesterday.
The Simple Facts
* Prostate cancer is a complex and problematic disease that affects not only the male patient but also his wife or partner and other family members over many years.
* Each year about 28,000 Americans die from prostate cancer — often a slow and painful death as the cancer spreads to their bones and other organs. (Only lung cancer causes more cancer-related deaths in American men each year.)
* In addition, every year, up to 70,000 men learn that they have potentially incurable forms of prostate cancer that severely impact quality of life and may lead to their deaths.
* By 2020 the number of men being diagnosed with prostate cancer may be as high as 320,000 per year because of aging-related demographics of the American population.
* African-American men have one of the very highest rates of incidence and death from prostate cancer anywhere in the world. They are 1.6 times as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 2.4 times as likely to die of this disease as (non-Hispanic) Caucasian-American men.
* In nearly every state in America, men who are un- or under-insured are at very high risk for diagnosis of advanced or late-stage prostate cancer.
* Despite recent data and media coverage about PSA testing and prostate cancer mortality, the early detection and appropriate treatment of clinically significant prostate cancer remains a critical priority, especially among men at high risk because of family history, ethnicity, or other factors that define such risk.
* We urgently need better tests for early stage prostate cancer – tests that can discriminate between potentially aggressive cancers that need prompt treatment and indolent cancers that can potentially be managed with non-invasive treatments.
* Continuing innovation is imperative if we are to meet the urgent need for treatments that can save the lives and prevent the progression of this disease in men with aggressive and advanced forms of prostate cancer.
* No form of treatment has ever been shown to extend the survival of patients with advanced forms of prostate cancer by more than a few months.
* Every man has the right to know whether he is at risk for clinically significant prostate cancer that might lead to his death.
* Regardless of his age, every man should discuss his individual risk for prostate cancer with his doctor (i.e., his primary care physician and/or his urologist), and request the appropriate use of PSA and DRE tests until better options are available.
* Guidance issued by the American Urological Association in April 2009 (a) emphasizes that “The decision to use PSA for the early detection of prostate cancer should be individualized” and (b) suggests a “baseline” PSA test for well-informed men at age 40.
* Many other professional organizations, as well as the American Cancer Society, encourage discussion about PSA testing between a man and his doctor(s).
