Hi, I'm 79 - diagnosed in 2012 with PCa Clinical Stage T3b, Gleason sum 3+4=7. The treatment prescribed was Hormone Therapy, administered by an injection at three monthly intervals.
The treatment went fine at the start, however as time passed, and my strength progressively disappeared, I found it impossible to perform even the simplest task, walking outside the house became a herculean effort, and as time progressed impossible, infact I had to invest in a mobility scooter for short distances, or a taxi for longer journeys; my body shape rearranged itself more along the lines of the opposite sex, I became subject to almost monthly infections, each requiring GP intervention and antibiotic treatment – my immune system was completely shot, I felt a total wreck and although the clinical results of this treatment were encouraging – PSA down to 0.03 ug/L, Testosterone down to 0.4, I began to wonder if it was all worth it, my quality of life was zilch.
Eventually, after four years on the hormone treatment the clinicians considered that it had done its job and I would be put on a Watch & Wait basis, meaning that the injections would now stop and I’d be required to attend a review at the Outpatients dept., every three months initially, then extending to six monthly as my system stabilised. This review would monitor my PSA and Testosterone levels, and enquire if I was in any pain or discomfort at all – they were basically waiting to see where the cancer would pop-up and spread to next – no advice or information was forthcoming that could possibly reduce the likelihood of the cancer spreading, or indeed to improving my depleted immune system, quite honestly I found these reviews to be rather macabre and unhelpful, i.e. watching my PSA and Testosterone fluctuating and being unable (apparently) to do anything that would stabilise the situation.
I searched around on the internet to see if there was any on-line help or advice to be had, as at that moment I felt totally cast aside, abandoned without any guidance, or advice. It was at this point that a good friend, who was visiting, suggested that I might find the book ‘The China Study’ by T. Colin Campbell, an interesting read. I immediately sent off for a copy and read it, no mean task as it comprises 400+ pages documenting the largest international study into the nutritional factors linked to cancer and other major diseases, comparing dietary habits and resultant incidence of diseases between China and the West i.e. USA and UK. The findings of this monumental study were, in my view, conclusive evidence that nutrition was the key element in relation to good health. The adage of ‘we are, what we eat’ couldn’t be more appropriate, and it’s no exaggeration to say that this study proves beyond any doubt that our western diet is the major element in poor health and high incidence of cancer, and other major diseases, in the west.
The link between nutrition and disease was indisputable, we in the west were literally eating ourselves into ill-health. I determined, at that point, that as a first move I would adopt a vegetarian diet – removing the principle elements inhibiting good health: meat, eggs, dairy and refined sugar completely from my diet, and this was no easy move, as I loved my meat, my omelettes, the fresh milk and sugar on my cereal, but it’s funny how committed you can become when your life is at risk, you view things in a totally different light, your priorities change literally overnight – as mine did.
My early searches covered the many health practices to be found in the East: China TCM, India Ayurvedic Medicine, Japan Kampo, all of these ancient practices, and many in the other smaller eastern countries, were Holistic in practice, this means that the whole body and it’s integrated systems are considered and investigated, rather than simply treating the individual symptom, as is done in Western Medicine. To me this made total sense, no organ or indeed individual cell works in isolation to others in our body, yet here we were, in the twenty first century, employing reductionist measures to treat life-threatening issues, by treating the offending organ in isolation.
The close relationship between nutrition and disease, starkly illustrated in the China Study, demonstrated that where native Asian peoples; Chinese, Japanese et al, who had previously not suffered from cancer, moved to the west and adopted the western diet, they became as susceptible to our diseases as we were ourselves.
For me, the change life style and diet is working wonders - I've gone from being a zombie couch potato, to being a vibrant 18yr old encased in the body of a senior citizen - but I'm working on that
. The vegetarian diet is a challenge when it comes to providing sufficient protein for muscle building, and the poor old muscles took a big hit whilst I was on the Hormone Treatment, but now that I'm off treatment I want my body back.
The treatment went fine at the start, however as time passed, and my strength progressively disappeared, I found it impossible to perform even the simplest task, walking outside the house became a herculean effort, and as time progressed impossible, infact I had to invest in a mobility scooter for short distances, or a taxi for longer journeys; my body shape rearranged itself more along the lines of the opposite sex, I became subject to almost monthly infections, each requiring GP intervention and antibiotic treatment – my immune system was completely shot, I felt a total wreck and although the clinical results of this treatment were encouraging – PSA down to 0.03 ug/L, Testosterone down to 0.4, I began to wonder if it was all worth it, my quality of life was zilch.
Eventually, after four years on the hormone treatment the clinicians considered that it had done its job and I would be put on a Watch & Wait basis, meaning that the injections would now stop and I’d be required to attend a review at the Outpatients dept., every three months initially, then extending to six monthly as my system stabilised. This review would monitor my PSA and Testosterone levels, and enquire if I was in any pain or discomfort at all – they were basically waiting to see where the cancer would pop-up and spread to next – no advice or information was forthcoming that could possibly reduce the likelihood of the cancer spreading, or indeed to improving my depleted immune system, quite honestly I found these reviews to be rather macabre and unhelpful, i.e. watching my PSA and Testosterone fluctuating and being unable (apparently) to do anything that would stabilise the situation.
I searched around on the internet to see if there was any on-line help or advice to be had, as at that moment I felt totally cast aside, abandoned without any guidance, or advice. It was at this point that a good friend, who was visiting, suggested that I might find the book ‘The China Study’ by T. Colin Campbell, an interesting read. I immediately sent off for a copy and read it, no mean task as it comprises 400+ pages documenting the largest international study into the nutritional factors linked to cancer and other major diseases, comparing dietary habits and resultant incidence of diseases between China and the West i.e. USA and UK. The findings of this monumental study were, in my view, conclusive evidence that nutrition was the key element in relation to good health. The adage of ‘we are, what we eat’ couldn’t be more appropriate, and it’s no exaggeration to say that this study proves beyond any doubt that our western diet is the major element in poor health and high incidence of cancer, and other major diseases, in the west.
The link between nutrition and disease was indisputable, we in the west were literally eating ourselves into ill-health. I determined, at that point, that as a first move I would adopt a vegetarian diet – removing the principle elements inhibiting good health: meat, eggs, dairy and refined sugar completely from my diet, and this was no easy move, as I loved my meat, my omelettes, the fresh milk and sugar on my cereal, but it’s funny how committed you can become when your life is at risk, you view things in a totally different light, your priorities change literally overnight – as mine did.
My early searches covered the many health practices to be found in the East: China TCM, India Ayurvedic Medicine, Japan Kampo, all of these ancient practices, and many in the other smaller eastern countries, were Holistic in practice, this means that the whole body and it’s integrated systems are considered and investigated, rather than simply treating the individual symptom, as is done in Western Medicine. To me this made total sense, no organ or indeed individual cell works in isolation to others in our body, yet here we were, in the twenty first century, employing reductionist measures to treat life-threatening issues, by treating the offending organ in isolation.
The close relationship between nutrition and disease, starkly illustrated in the China Study, demonstrated that where native Asian peoples; Chinese, Japanese et al, who had previously not suffered from cancer, moved to the west and adopted the western diet, they became as susceptible to our diseases as we were ourselves.
For me, the change life style and diet is working wonders - I've gone from being a zombie couch potato, to being a vibrant 18yr old encased in the body of a senior citizen - but I'm working on that
. The vegetarian diet is a challenge when it comes to providing sufficient protein for muscle building, and the poor old muscles took a big hit whilst I was on the Hormone Treatment, but now that I'm off treatment I want my body back.
