David update

A couple of weeks ago David had his 3 month post operative PSA test, and on Thursday 10 Sept we went to the first follow up with the urologist.

The not very good news is that his PSA reading was 0.15 - that is about 3 times higher than it should be at this stage (i.e. less than 0.05 - basically undetectable), with no prostate gland in situ. It apparently is unlikely to be lingering in the blood this long after the operation. 

Instead the urologist says it is more likely to be micro metastatic foci, i.e. cancerous cells still in the body that will have escaped from the prostate, as the tumour was right at the boundary of the prostate and there were tumour cells on the outside wall. He says it is most likely now in the bone or a lymph gland. When I said to him 'but it’s quite slow growing isn’t it', he said (very seriously) 'mostly, but not always.' 

Bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger!!

Anyway what happens from here is:

• another PSA test in a couple of weeks,
• a phone call with him in the following week
• regular tests - I think he will say 3 monthly, however David wants monthly
• if the PSA gets up to between 0.2 and 0.5 David will have a PSMA PET scan to see where the cancer cells are located
• the urologist suggests radiation treatment - spot welding he calls it, to minimise its severity when they can see where the cancer cells are.
• if it has to happen, then David would reluctantly accept radiation treatment, but he doesn’t want it and nor do I for him because of its effects on the body.

However, we have a plan already in motion, but not as soon as it should have been, dammit!

David is now totally vegan - no dairy, eggs, meat, fish, bread. And mostly he is eating raw fruit and veg, not much cooking happening! 

We had given up meat a few months ago, but did not give up the dairy, eggs, fish, bread, and I am really extremely fucking angry with myself for being complacent - we believed the urologist when he said he would get it all out in surgery and that there would be no reason why there would be any ongoing issues, apart from likely loss of potency. And after the surgery he said it had all gone very well - so that led to more complacency on our part, dammit!

So David is now intensively following the diet recommended in the book Chris Beat Cancer - the food, not the christianity bit:

• veg juicing with lots of carrots, a raw beetroot, a green apple, a lemon, lots of mint, lots of parsley, root ginger, turmeric root, broccoli, caulk, silverbeet, celery, …
• big salads twice a day, with lots of green stuff: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, silverbeet, and any other salad veg and fresh herbs we have, plus a dressing of lemon juice, a little honey, wholegrain mustard and turmeric powder. 
• nuts and seeds in the salads and separately
• And his favourite beetroot and carrot salad is a staple every day.
• and yesterday, he started off with a smoothie that will become a daily event with whatever fruit we have on hand:
• coconut yoghurt, a banana, frozen berries (boysen- and blue-), 1/2 an orange, 1tsp wheatgrass powder, 1tsp turmeric.

Based on guidance from our friend Jaq Biggs who is a herbalist, I had recommended this to our dear friend Lesley when her ovarian cancer reared its head again as secondaries and she was unable to have chemo, told ‘no further treatment, just wait and see’. (Go home and wait to die was how she interpreted that!) So she was keen to try an alternative if the other alternative was go home and grow the cancer some more.

Lesley’s CA125 marker was 51 when she was diagnosed with the secondary cancer, 35 after a few weeks on the diet, and after 9 months it was down to 8. Considering that at the time of the first test at diagnosis of the secondary cancer, she had no ovaries and hadn’t had for about 5 years, that CA125 rate was very high. She has had 2 six monthly CT scans since and they can find no sign of the cancer that was there (shown on CT scan) when she was discharged from hospital.

So, if it worked for her, there is no reason it won’t work for David. He has to stick to it rigidly for 90 days and then he can ease off just a little bit. But not much easing. Because I need/want him around for a long time yet!

If you looked at him, you wouldn’t know there was an issue. He is surprisingly upbeat, and he is enjoying the food so far - he was a bit miffed that he couldn’t have cheese scones the other day, but sees his long term health as more important. 

And don’t worry - when you come to our place for meals, I do still cook, and I will still feed you as befits the reputation of Cafe Rata. However, it’s likely you will also get what you see as your week’s vegetable requirement met in one hit…

Call him if you like but not right now - he’s doing the vacuuming - and it’s important there are no other distractions: he can create those all by himself, and has done - it is over an hour since he said he was going to get on to it right now ;-)