Prostate Cancer Update..

3eighty

Well, Since a lot of you were so kind as to reply to my first post, I figured I owe you and update..They tell me my cancer is a fairly aggresive kind..They aren't sure how far its gotten but they want to start treatment...Here is the problem..Image a 6'3" guy with the weight to match..Yep, thats me..They want me to take radiation treatments for about 8 weeks, everyday...BUT, they want me to lose 20 - 30 pounds first..Well now, me losing 20 - 30 pounds will be harder than getting a date with Paris..It's been a problem all my life..So, anyway, tommorrow I go for a Hormoine shot...That is supposed to start the killing until I can get the radiation..(My mom was in the hospital when I found all this out, so i went to see her..She asked me what the doctor said, and I told her that I really didn't understand him but it couldn't be too bad because it had something to do with getting a shot of some drug and making a whore moan)..So, there you are..We'll just let time do it's thing and keep on SketchingUp..Thanks to you all..Richard

CraigD

Richard, I did not know... On behalf of the SketchUp team, may I say that we hope the best for you and wish you a full recovery.

Please look into a Macrobiotic diet...this will help you lose the weight you need to lose and will give your body the strength and nutrition it will need for success. I can forward you information on eating/cooking the macrobiotic way. I also recommend green and white teas. My wife and I love this tea shop (we found one of their stores while visiting San Francisco) You can order online, and they have a good sampler. : http://www.tenren.com/

We are pulling for you! You can beat this!

Feel free to PM me any time with questions on tea and a macrobiotic diet.

Be strong my friend, we are wishing you the best!

Sincerely,

 - CraigD and the SketchUp team

pmiller

Richard,
The hormone will be either Lupron or Zoladex (Lupron shot is easier) -- you should also be taking Casodex (little pills) before you start the Lupron since this will prevent a testosterone flare (increase) that is associated with the start of hormone therapy. You will probably only take the Casodex for a month or so.

Common side effect of Lupron is "hot flashes" -- no big deal and a lot better than the alternative. Again I urge you to PM me if you have any questions -- I've got a lot of experience on this subject from my treatments and the radiation regiment sounds exactly like what my brother had. Again he had no side effects from radiation, just annoyance of having to go for treatments every day....

Paul

tomsdesk

Richard, I started wondering about you just the other day (the 10th had stuck in my head)...and was drafting an inquiry in my mind. So thanks for the update, you saved me many of the "be sensitive" worries.

From my readings I believe the Medicos have such treatments and cures well in hand, nonetheless, it is scary just to relinquish control and submit to all that needs to be done. Know my/our hearts and good thoughts are with you! (And thank you as well for sharing your journey, I/we may be traveling the same road sooner than we'd like to think.)

My very best, Tom.

CraigD

Hi Richard, you have some supporters here for sure! My wife and I have visited the Kushi institute in Massachusetts (one of the preeminent Macrobiotic institutes in the States) and have been eating this way for years...sometimes more disciplined and other times more lax (i.e. when going out to dinner with friends/family and holidays)

Here are some good links for Macrobiotic cooking/diet:
http://books.google.com/books?id=tQE2P38IJjAC&dq=macrobiotic+diet&pg=PP1&ots=PJLWMu7pW5&sig=mqX4pNMrcfWNgTRHseqJKG98P3g&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?q=macrobiotic+diet&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPA9,M1
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/popularhealthdiets/a/Macrobiotic.htm
http://www.macrobioticmeals.com/macrobiotic_recipes.html
http://www.macrobioticcooking.com/

Edit: Here are some more links that relate to anti-cancer foods and diets:
http://www.changingshape.com/resources/articles/macrobiotic-diet.asp
http://www.chemocare.com/eatingwell/anticancer_diets_you_may_have.asp
http://macrobiotics.co.uk/cancerreview.htm

I can tell you that you will feel stronger, mentally focused, energized and will sleep better if you follow the guidelines (on what/how to eat at different times of your day) and the recipes are kinda fun.

I have found that the educating myself on the principles of this idea of balanced nutrition is far more valuable then adhering to a narrow or strict diet. Everyone has different needs, so I hope that this information can help you find aspects that can help you.

The SketchUp team wishes you the best and we hope you will return to full health as soon as possible.

You'll beat this by summer!

Cheers,

 - CraigD

3eighty

My deepest thank you to all of you..I will sincerly look into all information supplied and keep in contact with you..Today as the say is the first new day of the rest of my life...

PS

To all you guys reading this...If you haven't ever been checked...Please, think of yourself your family and friends and go DO IT!

Mike Lucey

Sorry to hear that Richard. It isn't a question of how you are going to loose the weight just when it will happen. I'm sure you will achieve this goal once you make up your mind to do it.

As for the date with Paris .... errrr why not give it s shot? Nothing ventured nothing gained

I feel your positive attitude will pull you through this so please keep the faith.

Mike

toxicvoxel

If I can give you any encouragement with regard to losing weight - this worked for me after many years of being substantially oversize.

Its a question of maths:
You need about 2400 cals per day to sustain yourself (ie not add additional weight) - you use about 800 of that to sleep believe it or not. If I remember correctly every 3600 cals that you take in below what you need will lose you about a pound in body fat. That means you have to design your diet in such that you maintain a deficit intake of about 500 cals per day to lose a pound in one week. This all means that you need to understand what the calory impact of every item is that you're eating in order to be sure that you're staying on target. You can find booklets that will give you the cals associated with different portions of food. Stay away from pizza and any fried food and replace your nibbles with the best quality fruit you can find (so that it's enjoyable). Think quality and not quantity - that helps you look forward to the next meal. Your metabolism may slow down substantially so make sure you take in fibre.

THATS half the story. You will find it very difficult to lose weight through diet alone. In fact you may find that your body will try to preserve it's fat stores if you suddenly change your eating routine dramatically. You will need to burn some cals through exercise.
Think of it as a fire; food is the fuel and exercise is the flame. You need some of both to burn the fat stores. An hours walk will burn about 200cal, an hours run about 700.
Walk 2 - 3 kilometres in the morning and again in the evening and 400 cals have been eliminated from you total daily intake.

So the formula is Weight loss(in lbs per day)=
[2400cals-(Food cals - Exercise cals)] / 3600

Of course you wont see the results immediately give it a couple of weeks and you will see that this actually works. And I can tell you as improve you start to feel a lot better generally which will help you in coping with the other problem.

I want to encourage you not to give up mate. Go for it, I know of many people that have come through OK.

Look after yourself.
Toxic.

Roger

Mike, sorry to hear about your cancer. I had a lump removed from my leg they thought would be non cancerous. Unfortunately "they" were wrong. Turns out to be a rare form and I had to do a second operation. Now they want to do a little radiation therapy too. This morning they told me they had me scheduled for a PET scan, but I told them my dog would not stand still for it.

No question, this stuff is hard to deal with.

gata

How's the forced diet thing going? That's a lot of weight to drop in a short time.

Another benefit to drinking green tea is that it gives you something to touch and prepare instead of working with food when feeling like munching. Whether hot or cold, a good brand of green tea has a round, full taste that makes the mouth feel like it's ingesting something consumable. And the tummy feels like it's being filled. And all that anti-oxidant stuff is thrown in for good measure.

I've been drinking green tea only for several years now. Now I'm going look for some white tea when I go shopping tomorrow.

3eighty

Thanks again to all of you..I remember another post where a tea was mention called something like Roybal..Is that the correct name for it?

CraigD

Some of the best teas out there: http://www.tenren.com/

There's very good info on the site and they ship anywhere. The store itself (San Francisco) is amazing!

They have a sample kit if you'd like to try a variety of green/white teas.

If you have time to read about Chinese Medicine and Qigong (Chi Kung), there are a few books I can recommend. One of them is called "Qigong Empowerment" by Master Shou-Yu Liang and Wen-Ching Wu.

Others can be found here, by my previous Sifu, Grand Master Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming:
http://www.ymaa.com/publishing/books/qigong

Qigong breathing, mental imagery, and mastery of the body's energy can be extremely powerful.

Cheers,

 - CraigD

gata

A few weeks ago I picked up this cast iron teapot http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HBPLKQ to help keep my tea warm. It makes about 3 mugs. It looks and pours nice, and it's one of the cheaper ones around.

boofredlay

@3eighty said:

Thanks again to all of you..I remember another post where a tea was mention called something like Roybal..Is that the correct name for it?

Rooibos was the name of the tea discussed Here

Please know I have been praying for you in your situation. A verse that always brings me comfort is Philippians 4:6-7.

cdubea

@3eighty said:

Well, Since a lot of you were so kind as to reply to my first post, I figured I owe you and update..They tell me my cancer is a fairly aggresive kind..They aren't sure how far its gotten but they want to start treatment...Here is the problem..Image a 6'3" guy with the weight to match..Yep, thats me..They want me to take radiation treatments for about 8 weeks, everyday...BUT, they want me to lose 20 - 30 pounds first..Well now, me losing 20 - 30 pounds will be harder than getting a date with Paris..It's been a problem all my life..So, anyway, tommorrow I go for a Hormoine shot...That is supposed to start the killing until I can get the radiation..(My mom was in the hospital when I found all this out, so i went to see her..She asked me what the doctor said, and I told her that I really didn't understand him but it couldn't be too bad because it had something to do with getting a shot of some drug and making a whore moan)..So, there you are..We'll just let time do it's thing and keep on SketchingUp..Thanks to you all..Richard

Richard,

I'm a newbie here, but please accept my wishes for a full and speedy recovery. Good luck on the weight loss. I know where you're at with that one.

And as indicated, to ALL those men out there ... get yourself screened. NOW!!!!

chris

3eighty

Welcome Chris and Thank you...I look at it like this..In the end, there will be either GOOD news or me maxing out my credit cards...