G'day Bluefin57 Gleeson 9 - that's not good news. Even if the lymph nodes are negative. Urologist I think are incurable optimists. My original one told me that I had a 95% probability of being cancer free fifteen years after diagnosis, with a Gleeson 9 tumour and PSA at diagnosis of 6.0. Well I'm still alive twelve years later but my cancer is still with me. Did he put you on hormone therapy as well as doing the prostatectomy? Make sure that you have regular PSA's done and also do you have enough PSA measurements over time to get an indication of your PSA doubling time? Have you been given a copy of the brown covered book : Localised Prostate Cacner, a guide for men and their families. It is all evidence based and approved by the NHMRC as a consumer guide to go along with the clnical guidelines. It has some really useful stuff at the end in terms of probabilities and what you need to look out for. You can get a copy from you cancer voucnil, or download it from www.prostatehealth.org.au. Cheers Sailor ... View more

G'day KymG I am now at the stage where people assume that I am worse than I am and because I say I'm doing well, that I must be covering up. You just can't win on this one! When people ask me how I am doing, I usually try and make a joke of it - "I'm still warm and vertical - Ha Ha" Like you my wife will tell our real friends anyway. Those who really want to know do not ask me inane questions, or socially nice questions. They will quietly ask how the last week has been, and if I seem to facile, will ask further. If I say again that things have been OK then they rejoice with me. If things are bad then they lament with me. Like you I have blockages and have had to to go in every two months for a cystoscopy and dilation for the past five years. I haven't had a suprapubic yet! When it gets to the stage they can no longer dilate, then it will be suprapubic time. Funny, they never seem to tell you that this could happen before they recommend the procedure! Cheers Sailor Out in mid-sea, by guidance of the stars. George Elliot, Middle March ... View more

Dear Jodielee12 I am sure drinking an infusion of lemon grass won't hurt you so if you wish to then go ahead and if it helps you to feel in some control that is even better. However, if I had a $ for every substance that kills cancer cells in a test tube I would be a very rich person. One of the reasons is that it is called in vitro, not in vivo. Cells that will grow in a test tube are rather specialised and usually bear little resemblance to cancer cells growing inside a person or an animal. Normal cells will not grow in test tubes for any significant time. Scientists do have established animal and human cell lines that will grow in test tubes and they are used to tell us a lot about basic biology, particularly of cancer cells. They can also be useful as a very crude screen to see if substances will kill cells, i.e. if they are cytotoxic. It is interesting that they have been able to show that the cells are dying as a result of restoration of apoptosis. I am surprised that this has not been published in a mainstream scientific journal - after all many of our current cancer drugs come from natural products were discovered as a result of routine testing, starting with cancer cell lines in culture - test tubes if you like - the taxols, the vinca alkaloids are two that spring to mind. However, what goes on in a test tube bears very little resemblance to the what happens in a living body, which is why drugs have to be tested in animals. Unfortunately, the animals typically used, mice, metabolise things differently to humans in many cases, but they are a better predictor that cells in test tubes. That is why, after a long process of testing in animals we eventually have to test them in humans and phase I trials are the first step. These look for toxic side effects and what doses can be given to a human. Phase II trials look for activity against specific cancers, and phase II trials compare activity of new drugs against existing treatments to see if he new drug is better. The above is a bit of a simple explanation of very complex phenomena. There obviously are many pages that could be written. But, just because something kills cancer cell lines in a test tube, does not say it will do so inside a human body. I have a great recipe for beef done in a sauce containing lemon grass. Cheers Sailor So we sailed on to the sun
 Till we found a sea of green, Beatles, Yellow submarine ... View more

Hi There Mrs Elton Like Samex I would consider another oncologist. Some years ago the very gentle soul who was my surgeon and went out of his way to explain things to me, was diagnosed with leukemia, closed his practice and died within the twelve months. His case notes and patients were passed onto another surgeon (interestingly the patients were never consulted about this!). This second surgeon, I described in my Blog "Sailor you are Remarkable!" as a good plumber but with the people skills of a demented cockatoo. Technically he was good but from a communication perspective he was hopeless. So I sacked him, made lots of enquiries and found another gentle person who takes my, and my partners, enquiries seriously and tries to answer them. A person of few words, but who treats us as intelligent human beings. Another some years ago I was in a workshop on something or other to do with cancer and communication. We were in a small group and some researcher was prattling on about the need for evidence and was there any evidence that better communication was linked to better patient outcomes. My response as the token consumer in the group was "even if you could do a double blind trial on providing information to patients and that showed that there was no benefit, I would still say that it is one of my fundamental rights as a human being to know what is going to happen to me". So be brave, change your oncologist, but make sure that he knows why. Cheers Sailor He who studies medicine without books sails an uncharted sea, but he who studies medicine without patients does not go to sea at all. William Osler ... View more

Hi Jodielee12 It really was great to log onto the site, first time for a few days, and to read your article. I'd had a day with lots of irritations and was becoming a grumpy old man. It is also good to know that you are doing well. I hope that you continue to do so as you finish the radiotherapy. You have all those things to look forward to. Not good news about your friend, but good that she was happy to see you and to have a chat. Cheers Sailor Ah to throw off the shackles and fly with the seagulls To where the green waves tumble before a driving sea wind. Eric Bogle, Safe in the Harbour ... View more

Hi Larn75 Contact your local Cancer Council about your husband wanting to help people in rural areas. Start with the Helpline 13 11 20. They can also put you in touch with other groups such as Cancer Voices. Cheers Sailor At sea a fellow comes out. Salt water is like wine, in that respect. Herman Melville ... View more

G'day Graham As Harker says, you do not have to have an answer. Your family and friends will be having a lot of trouble coping, we all like to behave as if we are immortal but this thing called cancer reminds us that we are not. There are going to be a lot of decisions that you will have to make over the next few weeks - decisions about the future and a future that may not involve you. You will need to get some good professional advice on that. You may also want to some counsellors, be they secular or religious as you, nobody else, wish. You will probably want to put in place things like medical power of attorney so that if the time comes that you are not able to give instructions, your wishes will be carried out. There is no reasons for there being any pain or hurt in your journey. Good palliative care is available and you should ask your specialist to inititate this. Remember, palliative care is not about dieing, but about ensuring a good quality of life for as long as there is life. I have used before a quote that I have on the pin board in my study at home: "There are times in life when we have to face the big questions, to look death squarely in the face adn then affirm the sheer gift of life" It is attributed to Tim Costello. Regards Sailor ... View more

Amazing, incredible, - how do you manage to keep it all together? Hope you have a ball on Saturday night, and hope things start to be a bit less chaotic for you. Cheers Sailor ... View more

G'day Folks, I don't think that I used the term "sexy cancer", but if I did I don't apologise. No cancer is sexy in one use of the term. The side effects of cancer are anything but sexy. and there are cases of men out there who have committed suicide because of the side effects of cancer on their sexuality. But "sexy" in the sense that they get a lot of attention, then there are some sexy cancers. There have been studies on the media attention to certain cancers and one in particular does get far more than it's incidence or mortality would warrant. I am in no way suggesting that resources should be taken away from those cancers that appear to get their fair share of resources and attention, it would just be nice of some of the other cancers had their level of resources sharing lifted a bit. Regards Sailor The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea. Anne Morrow Lindbergh ... View more