My father has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Because of his age, he is not a candidate for surgery. So his local Dr has started him on hormone therapy to decrease the levels of testosterone. He gave him a hormone shot to be repeated every 4 months, plus ordered a prescription which will costs over $500.00 per month. My father does not have prescription coverage with Medicare, only the VA covers medicine, but only if he sees a VA doctor, which is very far away. He, of course, is on a fixed income so he cannot afford $500 per month. We are making an appointment to go to the VA.
Cancer - 11 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
I know of some medicines that help regulate hormone levels and lower testesterone levels, but mostly in women. Am not sure in cases of cancer as in your father. The medicines are Diane 35, Aldactone, Diamet, Fincar. As far as costs are concerned, try a health insurance or try some medical loans. All d best, I wish ur dad luck with his health!
2 :
Your father should continue to take the prescription that his doctor has recommended. There are no real substitutes here. This is your fathers life and it is far more important than money. If he needs financial assistance there are other options he can pursue. Please check with the local American Cancer Society who can direct you: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/MLT/content/MLT_1x_Medical_Insurance_and_Financial_Assistance_for_the_Cancer_Patient.asp You can also contact Cancer Care who provide free online counseling through their social workers. http://www.cancercare.org/ You can also ask for assistance directly through the pharmceutical companies who offer free prescriptions to those who cannot afford to pay: http://www.rxassist.org/ Good luck.
3 :
You may want to take a look here: http://www.dendreon.com/index They are running a clinical trial for men with advanced prostate cancer. Hope this helps. Good luck to you and your father.
4 :
Hi. My father also have had prostate cancer. He takes Zell oxigen, Comitris, Zyflamend and Vitamin D. He also drinks 1l of green tea and 1l of pomegranate juice. Medical doctors are astonishing!!! They don't believe it. my father had 35 in psa and now is in 1,2
5 :
Try saw palmetto. You did not say how old he is, but if his health is still fair, you may be interested in this. http://geocities.com/cure.cancer/
6 :
Your father's cancer may be very treatable depending on his Gleason score, PSA doubling rate and his general health. If your father is in good health (excepting the cancer), then hormone therapy may not be a good choice. It will make him feel tired, cause osteoporosis, and weaken him by causing him to lose lean muscle. You may get better value for your money by seeing a real prostate cancer doctor. That being said, here is an answer to your specific question. There are several natural products on the market which claim to control prostate cancer (PC). Most of these lower testosterone somewhat. If your father has not had much androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), and he has a clear bone scan, then he might try one of these products. The best of these products Medpro's prostasol from Holland and Medpro's PC SPES are expensive and hard to get shipped to the US (each cost $105 for just 60 capsules and you must take 9 a day to begin with). There are other cheaper prostasols sold by other companies (eg Dr Donsbach), but these are not as potent. They may work for your dad. There is a product Isoprost made by Pure Prescriptions. These cost $60-70 per 90 tablets. The daily dosage is 4 tablets per day; so you could get by with two bottles per month. Compliance would be an issue, since you must take the tablets at the right time of day and (I think) between meals. Besides the "side effects" mentioned above, ADT is in general not a good idea because the PC cells generally adapt to a low testosterone environment and becomes untreatable. The herbal remedies often continue to work indefinitely: that is, the PC cells do NOT develop resistance. It is hard to give you better advice, since you haven't included enough information about your father's case. If you want more information feel free to email me. BTW, it is likely that a new prostate cancer vaccine PROVENGE which is likely to be approved by the FDA. May 15th is the review date. If your father has a cancer which expresses Prostatic Acid Phosphatase (PAP), then he might try that. It is a one-time treatment which may help his immune system to recognize and eliminate some of his cancer cells. Best of luck. Warwick d
7 :
I have no answers but my heart goes out to you and your Dad. I am so sorry to hear about this. I pray that your Dad will be alright. We have been through cancer. God bless you.
8 :
help find a cure..............http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/
9 :
Hi. First, your doctor is focusing on testosterone levels because he can't tell you about the many natural things that really can help your father, even if he is aware of them and wants to, which may not be the case. He is locked into treating with prescription drugs by AMA policy, or face losing his license to practice medicine. You need to look at the bigger picture and put testosterone on the back burner for a minute, because just regulating his testorone won't do diddly for getting rid of the cancer--and that is a possibility if you can think in the alternative medicine area. Five hundred years ago, people said the world was flat. Today, people say that if the FDA and AMA haven't blessed something, it can't be real good. Well, here's something I know to be real AND good. It's a little different take on cancer treatment-- In 1990, I had Hodgkin's Lymphoma, stage 3-B, but I've survived. My doctors were great people, but they were limited to surgery, chemo and radiation by profitable AMA treatment policy. During the year in treatment, I started learning about alternative medicine. I'm a retired engineer, and this is what I've pieced together--our IMMUNE SYSTEMS become weakened by poor nutrition, lack of exercise and reduced oxygen. Once that happens, our body becomes vulnerable to common STRESSORS. Stressors can be environmental, like viruses, heavy metals, pesticides, food additives, electromagnetic waves or pollution. They can be internal things like emotional or job stress, or poisonous people in our lives. Aging is also a contributing factor. So this means: WEAK IMMUNE SYSTEM + STRESSORS = DISEASE (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc.) Our bodies have 60 trillion--yes, trillion--cells, and there are always some mutating into cancer cells, but a healthy immune system kills them before they have a chance to get a foothold in the body. It takes a LONG time, usually, or a high level of stressors, to weaken the immune system to the point where it won't do its job, but once cancer has formed, it will generally spread rapidly. THIS IS IMPORTANT! There are ways to BEAT cancer that are currently being used in Europe and around the world, and there are some great books on the subject. I know because I've read about 50 of them from cover to cover. Here's a list of the best ones. Some are out of print and getting hard to find-- "The Cure for All Cancers", ISBN 0963632825 "The Cure for All Advanced Cancers", ISBN 1890035165 "A Cancer Therapy", ISBN 0882681052 "Oxygen Therapies", ISBN 0962052701 "Hydrogen Peroxide--Medical Miracle", ISBN 1885236077 "The Natural Cure for Cancer--Germanium", ISBN 0533071410 "Killing Cancer", ISBN 0705000966 "Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About", ISBN 0975599518 I know of people whose cancer has 'spontaneously remitted' (WENT AWAY for no known reason) AFTER they went on programs of herbs and nutrition to restart their immune systems. You and your family must look out for yourselves to stand a chance of being healthy. This is not a joke, and I'm not selling anything--just trying to help. I am using the things I learned in those books right now to fight off a second infestation of cancer. I've been at it for over a year now, and think I'm going to make it. Use what works for you, and pass on your success. Best of luck. AMA AND FDA-- The American Medical Association (AMA) and the pharmaceutical companies control medical law and the FDA in this country with heavy lobbying and a revolving door policy. WHY would they want to do this? It's about the money. In 2006, medicine (doctors, hospitals, researchers and pharmaceutical firms) received 2.1 TRILLION dollars--15% of the total earnings (GNP 13.7 trillion) in the U.S. This is astounding! It means MILLIONS of people worked the whole year just to pay the nation's medical expenses!! That's totally astounding, and just too big to care about individuals. http://www.altcancer.com/vidgal.htm#hoxsey
10 :
there are certain foods that your body processes as estroge.
11 :
I know soy is good for alleviating the side effects of the hormone shots i.e., night sweats and hot flashes.
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