What is it like to be treated for prostate cancer?

[Alan Meyer]

There is an excellent website created by a fellow named Terry Herbert,
originally of South Africa, now living in Australia.

http://www.yananow.org

One of the outstanding features of this website is that 1,092 men (as of
this writing) have posted stories about their cancer diagnosis and
treatment. Many of these men have followed up years later so that the
reader can see what happened years after treatment. The following page:

http://www.yananow.org/query_stories.php

lists all of the stories and allows a reader to filter the list by
treatment and many other criteria to narrow in on specific approaches or
results in PCa treatment.

The men have posted their email addresses so it's often possible to
write to them for further information.

In addition to posting the stories, Terry reads them himself and
summarizes what he has read into a table with a standard format,
enabling readers to get some comparative sense of the different experiences.

Terry has also written some very thoughtful essays about different
aspects of prostate cancer, from biopsies to treatment choices. I
recommend them.

I encourage everyone to use his website and to contribute their own stories.

Alan

[Alan Meyer]

On 04/23/2012 06:24 PM, Alan Meyer wrote:
> There is an excellent website created by a fellow named Terry Herbert,
> originally of South Africa, now living in Australia.
>
> http://www.yananow.org

I looked at the summary of men who had brachytherapy, external beam
radiation, and EBRT + ADT, about 275 stories in all. I was looking for
side effects related to rectal problems.

I saw about two cases of fecal incontinence mentioned, maybe a dozen or
fewer cases of rectal bleeding, and a larger number, perhaps 10% of the
total, with radiation proctitis - which I also had and which, for me,
meant itching together with pain when passing large or hard stools. It
was impossible to tell from the summary whether the side effects
mentioned were short or long term. In my own case they lasted for up to
about a year.

This is hardly a scientific survey but it does involve a pretty large
sample size. I am mentioning it in the context of the various
discussions we've had about side effects of radiation and the notion of
being "tethered to a toilet".

Alan

[Tom Cular]

Alan,
Thanks for posting this, I had a link to YANA and lost it. This may be
useful to a friend and neighbor. Thanks again.

Tom

"Alan Meyer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:jn4lcq$9go$[email protected]..
> On 04/23/2012 06:24 PM, Alan Meyer wrote:
>> There is an excellent website created by a fellow named Terry Herbert,
>> originally of South Africa, now living in Australia.
>>
>> http://www.yananow.org
>
> I looked at the summary of men who had brachytherapy, external beam
> radiation, and EBRT + ADT, about 275 stories in all. I was looking for
> side effects related to rectal problems.
>
> I saw about two cases of fecal incontinence mentioned, maybe a dozen or
> fewer cases of rectal bleeding, and a larger number, perhaps 10% of the
> total, with radiation proctitis - which I also had and which, for me,
> meant itching together with pain when passing large or hard stools. It
> was impossible to tell from the summary whether the side effects mentioned
> were short or long term. In my own case they lasted for up to about a
> year.
>
> This is hardly a scientific survey but it does involve a pretty large
> sample size. I am mentioning it in the context of the various discussions
> we've had about side effects of radiation and the notion of being
> "tethered to a toilet".
>
> Alan

[[email protected]]

On Monday, April 23, 2012 6:24:21 PM UTC-4, Alan Meyer wrote:
> There is an excellent website created by a fellow named Terry Herbert,
> originally of South Africa, now living in Australia.
>
> http://www.yananow.org
>
> One of the outstanding features of this website is that 1,092 men (as of
> this writing) have posted stories about their cancer diagnosis and
> treatment. Many of these men have followed up years later so that the
> reader can see what happened years after treatment. The following page:
>
> http://www.yananow.org/query_stories.php
>
> lists all of the stories and allows a reader to filter the list by
> treatment and many other criteria to narrow in on specific approaches or
> results in PCa treatment.
>
> The men have posted their email addresses so it's often possible to
> write to them for further information.
>
> In addition to posting the stories, Terry reads them himself and
> summarizes what he has read into a table with a standard format,
> enabling readers to get some comparative sense of the different experiences.
>
> Terry has also written some very thoughtful essays about different
> aspects of prostate cancer, from biopsies to treatment choices. I
> recommend them.
>
> I encourage everyone to use his website and to contribute their own stories.
>
> Alan



On Monday, April 23, 2012 6:24:21 PM UTC-4, Alan Meyer wrote:
> There is an excellent website created by a fellow named Terry Herbert,
> originally of South Africa, now living in Australia.
>
> http://www.yananow.org
>
> One of the outstanding features of this website is that 1,092 men (as of
> this writing) have posted stories about their cancer diagnosis and
> treatment. Many of these men have followed up years later so that the
> reader can see what happened years after treatment. The following page:
>
> http://www.yananow.org/query_stories.php
>
> lists all of the stories and allows a reader to filter the list by
> treatment and many other criteria to narrow in on specific approaches or
> results in PCa treatment.
>
> The men have posted their email addresses so it's often possible to
> write to them for further information.
>
> In addition to posting the stories, Terry reads them himself and
> summarizes what he has read into a table with a standard format,
> enabling readers to get some comparative sense of the different experiences.
>
> Terry has also written some very thoughtful essays about different
> aspects of prostate cancer, from biopsies to treatment choices. I
> recommend them.
>
> I encourage everyone to use his website and to contribute their own stories.
>
> Alan



On Monday, April 23, 2012 6:24:21 PM UTC-4, Alan Meyer wrote:
> There is an excellent website created by a fellow named Terry Herbert,
> originally of South Africa, now living in Australia.
>
> http://www.yananow.org
>
> One of the outstanding features of this website is that 1,092 men (as of
> this writing) have posted stories about their cancer diagnosis and
> treatment. Many of these men have followed up years later so that the
> reader can see what happened years after treatment. The following page:
>
> http://www.yananow.org/query_stories.php
>
> lists all of the stories and allows a reader to filter the list by
> treatment and many other criteria to narrow in on specific approaches or
> results in PCa treatment.
>
> The men have posted their email addresses so it's often possible to
> write to them for further information.
>
> In addition to posting the stories, Terry reads them himself and
> summarizes what he has read into a table with a standard format,
> enabling readers to get some comparative sense of the different experiences.
>
> Terry has also written some very thoughtful essays about different
> aspects of prostate cancer, from biopsies to treatment choices. I
> recommend them.
>
> I encourage everyone to use his website and to contribute their own stories.
>
> Alan



On Monday, April 23, 2012 6:24:21 PM UTC-4, Alan Meyer wrote:
> There is an excellent website created by a fellow named Terry Herbert,
> originally of South Africa, now living in Australia.
>
> http://www.yananow.org
>
> One of the outstanding features of this website is that 1,092 men (as of
> this writing) have posted stories about their cancer diagnosis and
> treatment. Many of these men have followed up years later so that the
> reader can see what happened years after treatment. The following page:
>
> http://www.yananow.org/query_stories.php
>
> lists all of the stories and allows a reader to filter the list by
> treatment and many other criteria to narrow in on specific approaches or
> results in PCa treatment.
>
> The men have posted their email addresses so it's often possible to
> write to them for further information.
>
> In addition to posting the stories, Terry reads them himself and
> summarizes what he has read into a table with a standard format,
> enabling readers to get some comparative sense of the different experiences.
>
> Terry has also written some very thoughtful essays about different
> aspects of prostate cancer, from biopsies to treatment choices. I
> recommend them.
>
> I encourage everyone to use his website and to contribute their own stories.
>
> Alan



On Monday, April 23, 2012 6:24:21 PM UTC-4, Alan Meyer wrote:
> There is an excellent website created by a fellow named Terry Herbert,
> originally of South Africa, now living in Australia.
>
> http://www.yananow.org
>
> One of the outstanding features of this website is that 1,092 men (as of
> this writing) have posted stories about their cancer diagnosis and
> treatment. Many of these men have followed up years later so that the
> reader can see what happened years after treatment. The following page:
>
> http://www.yananow.org/query_stories.php
>
> lists all of the stories and allows a reader to filter the list by
> treatment and many other criteria to narrow in on specific approaches or
> results in PCa treatment.
>
> The men have posted their email addresses so it's often possible to
> write to them for further information.
>
> In addition to posting the stories, Terry reads them himself and
> summarizes what he has read into a table with a standard format,
> enabling readers to get some comparative sense of the different experiences.
>
> Terry has also written some very thoughtful essays about different
> aspects of prostate cancer, from biopsies to treatment choices. I
> recommend them.
>
> I encourage everyone to use his website and to contribute their own stories.
>
> Alan

I was treated for prostate cancer with proton beam therapy in Jacksonville.I finished in March 2011, and during the following year wrote a book describing the experience in great detail. Sadly, proton radiation is often not even mentioned as a treatment option, despite its advantages over other methods of treatment. My book is personal, non-technical, easy to read, and will tell you exactly what proton beam therapy is like. Be warned: there is agood dose of humor in the book, too (it's important to keep a positive attitude)! Regards, Ron Nelson http://www.ProtonsExposed.com (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0985082305).